Sustaining arts and culture to inspire expression, expand opportunity, and strengthen communities

On any given day, the Waterloo Center for the Arts hums with possibility.

“Waterloo Center for the Arts is one of the most dynamic spaces in the Waterloo-Cedar Valley community,” said Chawne Paige, Executive Director, Waterloo Center for the Arts. 

What began as an art museum now includes a theater, children’s museum, amphitheater, classrooms, and gathering spaces where people come together to celebrate, learn, and connect.

It is more than a place to view art. It is a space built for community.

“We strive to be a space that’s safe for engagement and a champion of dialogue,” Chawne said. “We’re not just the stuff on the wall. We create experiences around ideas so people can connect with them together.”

That connection matters. “Creativity is one of the cornerstones of innovation,” he said. “It gives us the ability to see the world differently.” Exposure to arts and culture helps people understand one another. “It gives us the capacity to hear a different thought and not be so quick to shut it down.”

Art also carries something deeper. “Art has this beautiful ability to be the alchemy of humanity,” Chawne said. “If you support a community with a space where people can tune into that creativity, it has the ability to help heal.”

That belief is visible across downtown Waterloo. Investment in arts and culture has transformed public
space into a hub of activity, from performances at the RiverLoop Amphitheatre to hands-on learning inside the Phelps Youth Pavilion. Families, artists, and visitors of all ages find ways to engage, create, and belong.

“I would love to say we’re the disco ball spinning in the community, reflecting the vibrant light of its people,” he said. “We want to be a mirror.”

That vibrancy extends beyond the Cedar Valley. The Center stewards nearly 9,000 works of art, a collection owned by the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa and held in trust for the community. 

“The collection is owned by the Community Foundation, and we serve as its stewards,” Chawne said. Through partnerships and exhibitions across the country, that collection has helped put Waterloo on a broader cultural map. “There are people across the country who know about Waterloo because of this collection.”

Support through endowment funds held with CFNEIA and grants from the Foundation helps sustain programming, expand scholarships, and ensure continued access to the arts. “That support is essential, especially when the arts face funding challenges,” Chawne said.

Vibrant communities are built over time through creativity, partnership, and shared investment. In Waterloo, the Center for the Arts continues to create space where people gather, express, and see the world in new ways.

New fairgrounds built on a legacy of a county’s pride and a belief in the next generation

For 149 years, the Bremer County Fair called the same grounds home. Then it did something almost unheard of.

“We are the third fair in the state of Iowa over the last approximately 85 years that has ever relocated,” said Roy Petersen, Bremer County Fair Association Board member. “Fairs don’t move.”

But Bremer County did.

In 2025, the new fairgrounds became home to the 150th Bremer County Fair. It was a milestone marked not only by celebration, but by transformation. What began as an expiring lease became a bold, community-led vision to create a space designed for generations.

Today, the fair operates on nearly 50 acres, up from 18, representing a $6 million investment made possible by local families, volunteers, businesses, and donors who believed in strengthening their community.

At its heart, that investment is about young people.

“It’s about the kids,” Roy said. “They’ve been working on projects all year long. You’re only seeing the final results at the fair.”

For 4-H and FFA youth, the fair is months of responsibility, problem-solving, and growth. They learn to care for animals, manage projects, and present their work with confidence, building skills that last far beyond the fair.

But the impact extends beyond youth. The fair is one of the few places where an entire county gathers. Grandparents watch grandchildren in the show ring. Neighbors reconnect. Families spend time together. In a busy world, the fair creates space
to slow down and belong.

“The gates are open,” Roy said. “This is the people’s.”

Designed for year-round use, the fairgrounds now host events that draw visitors from across the region and beyond, which fuels local businesses and generates meaningful economic activity.

“We’re not talking hundreds of thousands,” Roy said. “We’re talking possibly millions in impact.”

Grant support from the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa, including a $100,000 Mission Fulfillment grant in 2025, and the Bremer County Community Foundation, helped bring this vision to life.

“It is an investment in our youth,” Roy said. “The kids we have at the fair are the leaders of tomorrow.”

In Bremer County, the fair is more than an event. It is a place where people come together and where
a community invests in its future.