Every town contains layers of information and history. Those living in Grinnell today have an image of Grinnell as it is now. Long-time residents might remember a building now gone, or the people who used to live in a neighborhood but moved away. Those memories are part of local knowledge and form an invisible structure carried within daily lives.

In Grinnell Crossroads, Walter Hood sought to bring some of those memories into the physical present. On a series of exploratory walks conducted by his staff in fall 2016, he led students, campus employees, and Grinnell residents down alleys and along unexpected routes from campus to town, and vice versa. Along the way, the “guides” asked probing questions about things often ignored or taken for granted. Who uses the alleys? Why do so many houses have “barns” behind them? Why are some alleys better maintained? Why aren’t there more pedestrians in town?

Their fascination with Grinnell’s history led them to do research. Some people remember a crowded and cluttered gas station on the corner of Highway 146 and Highway 6, but few people know there were once two homes on this lot. Grinnell one hundred years ago was a very different place: no cars, a real need for barns and carriage houses, and, a greater variety of business. In other ways, it would be quite familiar: a college town, a home to professors and shopkeepers alike, and a crossroads for people moving through north to south, east to west by railway and road.

For the artist, the concept of a crossroads stood out, both literally at this site, and metaphorically as a locus of crisscrossing memories. He designed a place where people can pause, remember what was once on this spot, think about the traffic moving past, and mark a moment in time. Grinnell Crossroads adds a new path to move through town, and a space to pause and reflect.

Hood’s wooden structure recalls some of the walls and windows that stood here, references local construction practices, and creates an overall sculptural identity. It’s both a work of art and a park, a marker for a corner where some people turn to go to the College, and others turn to head out of town. Grinnell Crossroads has enough presence to raise the question, “what is it?” Good art bears a closer look. Intriguing from a car, it is also intended to be explore up close and its diagonal wood panels break up the jumble of poles, signs, and signal posts that define a contemporary crossroads. He deciphered memories to make an empty corner memorable.

Houses formerly on the site at different points in history

Installing the Work

Crossroads by Walter Hood at the corner of highway 146 and highway 6, July 7, 2020. (Justin Hayworth/Grinnell College)