“Cornbelt Camouflage Experts: The Untold Role of Iowans in Modern Camouflage" at the German American Heritage Center -- August 9.
Sunday, August 9, 1:30 p.m.
German American Heritage Center, 712 West Second Street, Davenport IA
The latest event in the German American Heritage Center's popular “Kaffee und Kuchen” series, Cornbelt Camouflage Experts: The Untold Role of Iowans in Modern Camouflage will be presented on August 9, Dr. Roy Behrens delivering a richly illustrated slide talk about the little-known involvement in modern camouflage by artists, architects, stage designers, and scientists, a surprising number of whom were originally from Iowa.
The co-founder in World War I of the American Army’s Camouflage Corps was a sculptor from Creston, Iowa, while the painter who oversaw the ship camouflage designers during both world wars had grown up in Vinton. Another prominent ship camoufleur was a theatre designer from Ottumwa, and two of the country's top science advisors on camouflage during World War I had been high school classmates in Maquoketa. As is often noted, Iowa artist Grant Wood served (if briefly) as an army camouflage expert during World War I, as did others who are less well-known. This entertaining fast-paced program Cornbelt Camouflage Experts: The Untold Role of Iowans in Modern Camouflage includes rare historic photographs and research collected over 50 years.
Program presenter Roy R. Behrens is Emeritus Professor and Distinguished Scholar at the University of Northern Iowa. During more than four decades of teaching, he published 10 books on aspects of design (including four on camouflage), as well as scores of essays in books, magazines, encyclopedias, and documentary films, including broadcast interviews (including NOVA on PBS and 99% Invisible) and museum exhibitions. This year, Behrens was chosen to write the catalog introduction for Camouflage: Designed to Deceive, a three-year exhibition at the International Spy Museum in Washington DC. His most recent books are Frank Lloyd Wright and Mason City: Architectural Heart of the Prairie (History Press 2015) and Dreams of Fields: Memory Traces of Iowa’s Past (Ice Cube Press 2025).
Cornbelt Camouflage Experts: The Untold Role of Iowans in Modern Camouflage will be presented at Davenport's German American Heritage Center on August 9, with refreshments for this “Kaffee und Kuchen” event served at 1:30 p.m. and the program beginning at 2 p.m. Guests are welcome to bring their own mugs if they wish; disposable cups are provided, but mugs from home will help the venue reduce waste. Participation is free for Heritage Center members and $8 for non-members, and more information is available by calling (563)322-8844 and visiting GAHC.org.
