♪♪ [Sean Ulmer] Right now we're sitting in the Grant Wood Studio.

It is where he created many of his most famous works, including American Gothic.

Grant Wood was well aware of art movements throughout time.

He was well aware of renaissance and classical antiquity.

He just chose to live and work in Iowa where he found plenty of material to paint.

♪♪ [Sean Ulmer] A lot of the success of Grant Wood was due in part to the people of Cedar Rapids.

They supported him.

Being able to move into this studio, Grant Wood was able to live here rent free and that was really a gift from the Turner's who owned the mortuary next door who had employed him to help convert the mansion into a funeral home.

It was originally supposed to be a studio, a place where he would work, but he realized very quickly that with a little bit of creativity this could be a place where he not only worked but also lived, not only for him but also for his mother Hattie and for his sister Nan.

And, as a result, it allowed him to give up his job teaching and work full-time as an artist.

♪♪ [Sean Ulmer] He really refabricated sort of the whole interior here.

Look around at the studio and realize it was just an empty shell.

It was just an empty hay loft.

♪♪ [Sean Ulmer] One of the first things that Grant Wood had to do was heat the place.

So, he installed this fireplace in the middle of the studio, of the hay loft.

And he built it all himself out of the brick and then for the hood he used an upside down bushel basket, metal bushel basket.

And it was centrally located in the middle of the studio so it would warm the entire place.

It was adjacent to what they call the hot dog stand.

And it has been heavily modified by subsequent tenants.

But this was an area where these doors would open and then a table would pull out and, on that table, they would set the linens and they would sit on this side and eat and there is a pass through to the kitchen.

[Sean Ulmer] So, over here we see more of his built-ins.

He's got these built-in cabinets that would hold the blankets and the linens and some other clothing as well, although they had dressers.

But more importantly, underneath this built-in is where, on either side of the rood, is where they stored their beds.

So, at night they would pull the beds out, they would sleep in the beds and in the morning, they would push them in and they had little curtains that they would draw to close it off so you wouldn't actually see it.

[Sean Ulmer] So, this bedroom area, which was multiuse, was also an area where Grant Wood would stage little plays.

There were curtains that hung right here.

And they would have little plays.

The audience would sit out there.

This would be the stage.

And this really was the birth of the first community theatre in Cedar Rapids, which is still going strong today.

[Sean Ulmer] This space really does reveal a whole different side of Grant Wood than most people know.

It's charming.

It feels kind of cozy.

And yet it was a place of great creativity for Grant Wood.

He produces some of his most famous works of art.

♪♪