The Drawing Legion
Legion Arts began in the early 80s as the Drawing Legion, a performance art company
directed by Mel Andringa. For ten years he and the company were based in Iowa City, while
touring broadly in the US and Europe. Now based at CSPS in Cedar Rapids, the company
continues to generate original, award-winning pieces such as American Nervousness, The
Man Who Discovered Iowa and Parties.CSPS
In 1991, Legion Arts opened CSPS, a contemporary arts center located in
a renovated, Czech social hall near downtown Cedar Rapids. Since then CSPS has become an
outstanding regional venue for art, music, dance and theatre from across the US and other
countries. In a typical season, CSPS hosts 12 to 15 art exhibits, and 85 to
100 performing arts
events featuring artists from a dozen countries or more. (Click for a
roster of past artists and
performers, a schedule of upcoming
performances or directions
to CSPS.)
Neighborhood
Arts Project
Through a series of local partnerships, Legion Arts is bringing artists and
community groups together to address common concerns in innovative ways. Many of these
activities are based at the Paul Engle Center for Neighborhood Arts, located in a
renovated corner grocery in the Wellington Heights section of Cedar Rapids.
Tractor
Legion Arts encourages the imaginative exploration of contemporary ideas and experience
through discussions, lectures, publications and conferences. These activities have included a
series of artist conferences taking place during the late 1990s, as well as Tractor,
an irregular magazine of Iowa arts and culture.
