Editing Mason City, Iowa (section)

==Arts and culture==
The [[MacNider Art Museum|Charles H. MacNider Art Museum]] includes a permanent collection of American art, the famous [[Bil Baird]] puppets, and a wide range of ceramics.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The MacNider Art Museum - A North Iowa Cultural Treasure |url=https://visitmasoncityiowa.com/places/united-states/iowa/mason-city/culturalhistoric/charles-h-macnider-art-museum/ |access-date=2022-04-06 |website=Visit Mason City |language=en-US}}</ref>

Music Man Square is located near downtown and features multiple exhibits related to [[Meredith Willson]] and ''[[The Music Man]]'', including Willson's boyhood home, the Meredith Willson Museum, and a replica streetscape from the musical.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Right Here in River City |url=https://themusicmansquare.org/ |access-date=2022-04-06 |website=Music Man Square |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Events and festivals===

In late May or early June Mason City holds an annual celebration of its musical heritage called [http://www.nibandfest.com/ The North Iowa Band Festival]. School bands from across the Midwest compete during the parade to be named the best band. The home bands, Mason City High School and Newman Catholic High School Marching Bands, do not compete but do perform in the parade.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://globegazette.com/news/local/band-festival-royalty-shocked-and-honored/article_758c09fb-87b4-506b-bca8-a3df70f0eae4.html|title=Band Festival royalty shocked and honored|last=Skipper|first=John|website=Mason City Globe Gazette|date=May 23, 2015 |access-date=2016-04-27}}</ref> Meredith Willson returned to participate in the festival many times.

===Landmarks===
[[File:G C Stockman House Front-Left.jpg|thumb|right|{{center|The [[Dr. G.C. Stockman House]]}}]]

; Architecture and the Prairie School
Mason City is widely known for its collection of [[Prairie School]] architecture. The [[Rock Crest–Rock Glen Historic District|Rock Crest-Rock Glen Historic District]] is the largest concentration of any city in Iowa. At least 32 houses and one commercial building were built in the Prairie Style between 1908 and 1922, 17 of which are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa|National Register of Historic Places]] and eight more are contributing properties to a historic district.<ref>
{{cite web
  | last = Panning
  | first = John A.
  | title = Iowa
  | work = The Prairie School Traveler
  | year = 2009
  | url = http://prairieschooltraveler.com/html/ia/ia.html
  | access-date = June 25, 2010}}</ref><ref>
{{cite web
  | title = IOWA – Cerro Gordo County
  | work = National Register of Historic Places
  | url = http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/IA/Cerro+Gordo/state.html
  | access-date = June 26, 2010}}</ref>

The first two Prairie structures, the [[Dr. G.C. Stockman House]] (1908) and the [[Park Inn Hotel|Park Inn Hotel and City National Bank Buildings]] (1909–1910) were both designed by [[Frank Lloyd Wright]]. The hotel and bank, a [[mixed-use development]] at the corner of State and Federal Avenues was the first to be commissioned by local attorneys James E. E. Markley and James E. Blythe. Within a year, Wright was hired to design the Stockman House by Markley's neighbor.<ref>{{cite web|last=McCoy |first=Robert |title=Frank Lloyd Wright |work=Wright in Iowa |publisher=GlobeGazette.com |url=http://www.wrightiniowa.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000818132531/http://www.wrightiniowa.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2000-08-18 |access-date=2010-12-04 }}</ref>

Both the Park Inn Hotel and Stockman House suffered from neglect and unsympathetic alterations before they were saved by community organizations. In 1989, the Stockman House was moved four blocks to prevent its demolition; it was subsequently restored and opened to the public by the River City Society for Historic Preservation.<ref>
{{Cite news
  | last = Douglas
  | first = Martin
  | title = Averting a Wright Wrong
  | newspaper = The New York Times
  | location = Mason City, IA
  | date = September 2, 1993
  | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/02/garden/averting-a-wright-wrong.html?pagewanted=all?pagewanted=all
  | access-date = June 25, 2010}}</ref> Likewise, Wright on the Park, Inc. began restoration on the Park Inn Hotel in 2005 and the former City National Bank building in 2007. The organization reopened both buildings as a [[boutique hotel]] in August 2011.<ref>
{{Cite news
  | last = Skipper
  | first = John
  | title = Restorers will buy, renovate Wright's bank
  | newspaper = GlobeGazette.com
  | location = Mason City, IA
  | date = April 1, 2006
  | url = http://www.globegazette.com/news/local/article_ab18ce9f-eb3f-5ef5-9e4b-1c48369c828b.html
  | access-date = June 29, 2010}}</ref><ref>
{{Cite news
  | last = Johnson
  | first = Dick
  | title = Wright on the Park completes purchase of former City National Bank building
  | newspaper = GlobeGazette.com
  | location = Mason City, IA
  | date = September 14, 2007
  | url = http://www.globegazette.com/news/article_f84065a7-fed9-52bd-bb6c-e68704952066.html
  | access-date = June 29, 2010}}</ref> The Park Inn Hotel is last remaining of the few hotels that Wright completed during his career and is considered a prototype for Wright's [[Imperial Hotel, Tokyo|Imperial Hotel]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Park Inn Hotel & City National Bank Building: A Brief History |work=The Historic Park Inn Hotel |publisher=Wright on the Park, Inc. |url=http://www.wrightonthepark.org/history |access-date=June 29, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101005112802/http://www.wrightonthepark.org/history/ |archive-date=October 5, 2010 }}</ref>

The Rock Glen and Rock Crest National Historic district is a small enclave of single-family homes situated along the banks of Willow Creek five blocks east of downtown. It is the largest collection of prairie-style homes in a natural setting in the world.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} It features both Prairie School and [[Usonian]] design.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} Five of these houses were designed by [[Walter Burley Griffin]] and [[Marion Mahony Griffin]], two by [[Francis Barry Byrne]], and others by William Drummond, Einar Broaten, and Curtis Besinger.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}}

In addition to [[Prairie School|Prairie Style architecture]], Mason City is home to extensive [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]], [[American Craftsman|Craftsman]], and [[Bungalow]] style homes, as well as historic commercial structures, dates from between 1892 and 1940, including the [[Brick and Tile Building]] at the intersection of State and Delaware Streets.

The [[Mason City Public Library]] was designed by Chicago architects [[Holabird and Root]] in 1939.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcpl.org/library-information/history2|title=Library History – Mason City Public Library|access-date=2010-03-29}}</ref>

The [[Len Jus Building (Mason City, Iowa)|Len Jus Building]] on North Federal Avenue has an extremely rare sheet-metal facade, it had been placed on the [[Iowa Historic Preservation Alliance]]'s Most Endangered list because of its poor repair and indifferent ownership,<ref>''Cedar Rapids Gazette'', Cedar Rapids historic buildings make 'most endangered' list: http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090124/NEWS/701249934/1002/NEWS</ref><ref>Iowa's Most Endangered Properties, {{cite web|url=http://www.iowapreservation.org/endangered.php |title=IHPA Most Endangered Properties |access-date=2008-12-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007124431/http://iowapreservation.org/endangered.php |archive-date=2008-10-07 }}</ref> but is now being rehabilitated by the new owner.

===Public Art===
Since 2014, Mason City has hosted ''River City Sculptures on Parade,'' an annual public art walk featuring rotating artists.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fisher |first1=Bob |title=Artists flock to Mason City to install 20 new public sculptures |url=https://www.radioiowa.com/2024/05/16/artists-flock-to-mason-city-to-install-20-new-public-sculptures/ |website=RadioIowa |publisher=KRIB, Mason City |access-date=3 December 2024 |date=May 16, 2024}}</ref> Each year, the city purchases the most-popular rotating sculpture to add to the permanent collection.<ref>{{cite web |title=River City Sculptures on Parade |url=https://www.sculpturesonparade.com/ |access-date=3 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203220652/https://www.sculpturesonparade.com/ |archive-date=3 December 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<gallery caption="Selection of Sculptures"  mode=packed heights=170>
Public art of Mason City, Iowa 01.jpg
Public art of Mason City, Iowa 02.jpg
Public art of Mason City, Iowa 03.jpg
Public art of Mason City, Iowa 04.jpg
Public art of Mason City, Iowa 05.jpg
</gallery>