Eddie Bowles Blues: The Exhibit

From 17 February—27 March, 2022, Hearst Center for the Arts hosted "Eddie Bowles's Blues," an exhibit on the life and work of Eddie Bowles. This exhibition was prepared in conjunction with English Senior Seminar students in the UNI Department of Languages & Literatures under the advisement of Professor Jim O'Loughlin. Support for this project was provided by the Cedar Falls Community Foundation's Saul and Joan Diamond Arts & History Fund, Humanities Iowa and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Cover photo by Rick Chase / Cedar Falls Record.

Eddie Bowles's Postcard Hearst Center for the Arts

The links below will take you to reproductions of the displays that were part of the exhibition. The original exhibition also included footage of a 1976 video interview with Eddie Bowles and Bowles's mailbox with his distinct handprinting, which is his only remaining physical artifact. 

  1. Introduction
  2. Timeline of Eddie Bowles's Life
  3. Eddie Bowles's New Orleans
  4. A Many Armed Man, the Jobs of Eddie Bowles
  5. The Saw
  6. Eddie Bowles & James Hearst
  7. Eddie & Sarah
  8. Eddie Bowles in Cedar City
  9. Cedar Falls as a Sundown Town
  10. The Blues Revival Comes to Cedar Falls
  11. Eddie's Original Blues
  12. Eddie's Guitar Playing Style
  13. Living Legend
  14. The Wisdom of Eddie Bowles

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