Iowa Barn Foundation

About the Iowa Barn Foundation

What You Need to Know About the Iowa Barn Foundation

Founded in 1997, the Iowa Barn Foundation is dedicated to preserving Iowa's rural buildings, symbols of Iowa's early agricultural heritage.  The Iowa Barn Foundation is an Iowa non-profit corporation with tax-exempt status under paragraph 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

The Iowa Barn Foundation, its board of directors (scroll down), and county representatives (click here) work to preserve Iowa's agricultural history and endangered barns by educating people in Iowa - and beyond - about our rural heritage and the importance of barn preservation.  This is being accomplished through the bi-annual Iowa Barn Foundation Magazine, the Iowa Barn Foundation Web site, the annual All-State Barn Tour, and through picnics, open meetings, and through worldwide publicity in newspapers, magazines, and television.

We provide matching grants to property owners to help restore qualified barns

Also, the Iowa Barn Foundation gives Awards of Distinction to those property owners who restore or rehabilitate their barns at their own expense.

In addition, the Iowa Barn Foundation is committed to farm conservancy and now accepts economically and financially self-sustaining farms and farmland.  These farms and farmland are saved in perpetuity for agricultural purposes according to the owner's wishes.

As of August 3, 2015, the Iowa Barn Foundation has been providing incentives for barn owners to take advantage of tax credits that are available from the federal government and the state of Iowa.

Funds for Matching Grants, Awards of Distinction, and the Iowa Barn Foundation Magazine, are raised from individuals, corporations, and foundations.  To date, all of the funding has been generated from private sources.  Financial, legal, editorial, and administrative work is carried out by volunteers.

We need your help to preserve Iowa's barns.  Please make a donation or become a member of the Iowa Barn Foundation today!

If you have questions or would like more information about the Iowa Barn Foundation, contact Jacqueline Andre Schmeal, with the subject line "I would like more information about the Iowa Barn Foundation".

Board of Directors of the Iowa Barn Foundation

Mollie Aronwitz
Ames, Iowa

Andrea Corcoran
  Des Moines, Iowa

Mary Mills Dunea
Osage, Iowa

Jeffrey Fitz-Randolph
Fairfield, Iowa

Don Geiger
  West Des Moines, Iowa

Erin Herbold-Swalwell
  Altoona, Iowa

Thomas A. Hertz
  Nevada, Iowa

Dwight Hughes
  Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Carrie Jones
  Ocheyedon, Iowa

Paul Kruse
  Granger, Iowa

Tom Lawler
  Parkersburg, Iowa

Steve Lawler
  Ogden, Iowa

Joe Lyon
  Toledo, Iowa

Roxanne Mehlisch
  Zearing, Iowa

Kurt Meyer
  St. Ansgar, Iowa

Craig Pfantz
  State Center, Iowa

Carole Reichardt
  Clive, Iowa

Roy Reiman
  Greendale, Wisconsin

Jacqueline Andre Schmeal
  Houston, Texas
  and New Providence, Iowa

Steve Sukup
  Clear Lake, Iowa

Darrell Sunderman
  Carroll, Iowa

Kelly Tobin
  New Market, Iowa

Dan Witt
  Clinton, Iowa

A Message from the President of the Iowa Barn Foundation -
The Iowa Barn Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 1997 and dedicated to preserving Iowa barns, continues to work to save vulnerable barns on our countryside. The foundation, an all-state, all-volunteer effort, gives matching grants to barn owners, sponsors an all-state barn tour which educates old and young about the important role of barns in Iowa’s history, and publishes the semi-annual Iowa Barn Foundation Magazine.