Welcome to the Central Iowa Art Association Online

The Central Iowa Art Association is a Nonprofit 501(c)(3) dedicated to enriching the Central Iowa Community through teaching and providing awareness in fine arts.Since 1946, the CIAA has been serving the Marshalltown area by providing art classes and workshops for all ages, as well as hosting special events.

Volunteers are always needed. If you like art, helping children, are good at hosting a party, decorating, folding newsletters, answering the phone, or just being friendly we could use your help!

Why is art so important?
Some may think supporting the arts is frivolous when there are so many more important things in this world needing attention, but research shows that art has many unexpected benefits for the participants and for the society at large.

Participating in the arts nurtures cognitive, social and personal competencies:
1. Arts participation can increase academic achievement.
2. Participation can decrease youth involvement in delinquent behavior.
3. Art can improve youth attitudes toward self and others
4. Creating art contributes to improved critical thinking, problem solving and decision-making.
5. The arts involve communication, manipulation, interpretation and understanding complex symbols (as do language and math -- not so very different).
6. Art fosters higher order thinking skills: Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation.
7. Art engages multiple skills and abilities.
8. Art participation develops Imagination and Judgment.
9. Art participation helps overcome disadvantaged backgrounds.
10. There are opportunities to learn from Artist mentors.
11. The arts instill foundational employment skills: Reasoning, Decision Making, Creative Thinking, Problem Solving, and Visualizing.

---