Eastern Iowa Arts Academy
The EIAA provides equitable arts experiences that inspire our community towards creativity, acceptance, and personal empowerment.
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ABOUT
The Eastern Iowa Arts Academy is a vibrant nonprofit arts organization in Cedar Rapids dedicated to making high quality arts education accessible to children, teens, adults, families, artists, and community members of all abilities. What began as a small but passionate arts education effort has grown into a dynamic creative home serving thousands of people each year through visual arts, music, recording, performance, open studios, workshops, school partnerships, and community programs.
For many years, the Academy has worked closely with schools, families, artists, musicians, and local organizations to remove barriers to arts participation. Through programs like Rock Academy, TalkBack Studios, AccessArts, Teen Hang, North Star, Healing HeArts, Community Art Huts, adult workshops, private lessons, and school based arts classes, EIAA provides creative opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds. Many students receive financial aid, free supplies, instruments, transportation support, and individualized encouragement so that cost, ability, transportation, or life circumstances do not keep them from taking part.
In 2024, the Eastern Iowa Arts Academy moved into the historic Arthur Elementary School, a 1914 building now being transformed into a full community arts hub. This move has allowed the Academy to expand programming, welcome more students and families, support local artists, and create a permanent home where creativity, learning, and connection can thrive. Since moving into Arthur, the Academy has seen tremendous growth in foot traffic, community partnerships, classes, performances, and public interest.
Today, the Eastern Iowa Arts Academy is more than a place to take an art class or music lesson. It is a place where young people discover confidence, where adults return to creativity, where artists find community, where musicians perform and record, and where people who may not always feel seen are welcomed, valued, and encouraged. As the Academy continues to grow, its mission remains rooted in access, inclusion, creativity, and the belief that the arts can change lives, strengthen communities, and open doors for everyone.