Grant Wood’s painting “American Gothic” made him a household name. However, his work with drawings is considerably less well-known.

Brunnier Art Museum’s current exhibit is the first time Wood’s entire collection of illustrations from Sinclair Lewis’ 1920 novel “Main Street” has been on display.

“This is an exhibition that came as a meeting of mind and mission,” says Lynette Pohlman, director of university museums.

“It combines a partnership of the visual arts and literary arts. This series of drawings has never been seen publicly as a whole,” she said.

Pohlman says a key figure in bringing this exhibition into reality was Lea Rosson DeLong, the guest curator for the show.

“This is the first time a scholarship has been done on Grant Wood as a master of drawing, and that’s pretty significant,” Pohlman says. “We know Grant Wood as a master of painting but not as a master of drawing.”

The nine illustrations Wood drew for Lewis’ book have never all been displayed together, Pohlman says. In the beginning of the project, the location of three of the drawings was unknown.

“I’ll never forget the first time Lea was in San Francisco, and I got her e-mail back after seeing one of the drawings for the first time,” Pohlman says. “Finding art like this is a detective story; you just have to keep going from one lead to another.”

One of the presentations accompanying the exhibit will include the story of DeLong’s quest to find all of the paintings.

Pohlman says one of the unique aspects of this exhibit is the way the themes of decades past relate to today.

“It’s an exhibition that’s almost 70 years old, yet really appropriate in today’s world,” Pohlman says. “It explores the trials and tribulations of what it’s like to be in a small community and how people relate to each other. If you can’t get along on Main Street, how do you expect to get along in the world?”

Pohlman says a great deal of thought was put into how the drawings would be displayed. Since the works are smaller than average paintings, a more intimate gallery room was created.

“We built the curved walls and installed them so that you could have a dialogue within the works of art,” Pohlman says.

The other goal was to present a sense of conversation between the portraits. For this reason, they weren’t installed in the same order as they are presented in the book.

Along the south curve are four portraits of characters who share more intimate relationships in the book.

The north wall holds portraits of three characters trying to influence the community, along with a drawing of a house.

The curved walls bring the characters together from across the sides, creating a sense of visual dialogue, something Pohlman says couldn’t have been accomplished if the paintings had been placed 40 feet apart on the existing gallery walls.

The final painting, “Village Slums,” is located at the center of the circle.

“Grant Wood did a great job of subtlety bringing in the nuances of characters,” Pohlman says.

What: Grant Wood’s “Main Street”

Where: Brunnier Art Museum

When: On display through Aug. 6