Groundbreaking Artwork of New Hampton Native Featured in Cedar Rapids

The life’s work of a northeast Iowa native, also the first person to receive a master of arts degree from the University of Iowa in 1924, is being celebrated in a special exhibition now open at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art.

Museum curator Kate Kunau says Eve Drewelowe was a New Hampton native who remained relatively unknown during her long career, but who did stunning, vibrant work.

Drewelowe was married to the dean of the University of Colorado at Boulder and around age 40, she had a health emergency that demanded surgery, something that made her reassess herself. 

After Drewelowe died in 1988, the large collection was gifted to the University of Iowa. From the hundreds of works, Kunau narrowed it down to 23 pieces for the exhibition, including a self-portrait Drewelowe painted in 1984 (when she was 85) which she entitled “Maverick.”

Many of Drewelowe’s paintings feature spectacular colors with swirling, contorted perspectives which Kunau says are simply fun to gaze upon. The exhibition, “Eve Drewelowe: Painting Her Way,” will be on display through late August.