The Grover Cleveland Art Appreciation Society

Before we get too deep into Groverland, I should probably say a word about the Grover Cleveland Art Appreciation Society (and Occasional Pop-up Museum). This blog is a companion project and friends of the Grover Cleveland Art Appreciation Society.


I created the Grover Cleveland Art Appreciation Society on July 4, 2018. The Society is inspired by Grover’s quote: “Someday I will be better remembered.” It is dedicated to supporting young artists and keeping alive the memory of America’s Most Average President. 

Here’s how it came to be.

I’ve attended the Denver Pop Culture Con for several years now and happily wander Artist’s Alley looking at cartoons and drawings made by hundreds of cartoonists. Many offer commissioned drawings during the weekend, meaning for a price they’ll draw your picture or a picture of you in your cosplay outfit, or a mash-up of favorite characters and super heroes in their own style.

I’ve watched them and wanted to support the younger artists especially, but was too shy to ask because I had no subject matter I cared about deeply enough. So for a year or two I was thinking, what can I ask these artists to draw for me? Could I create a time-traveling Grover Cleveland cosplay* costume, and have them draw that? Or.... my dog? 

Then, in 2018: Inspiration!

Our town’s annual Fourth of July celebration features concerts of patriotic music by the local symphony, a choir, and a youth orchestra. People bring blankets and picnics and enjoy the day. The orchestra guild also hosts a picnic contest, awarding prizes to people who set up All America-themed picnics. Lots of Stars and Stripes. Lots of apple pie.

One of the contest entires last year featured Realtors and their friends and children wearing  masks of the U.S. presidents. There were at least 20 presidents represented and I got pretty excited. I wandered over to their tent to get my picture taken with a Grover Cleveland, pushing past your Washingtons, your Jeffersons, your Lincolns, your Roosevelts. But — shock! — no Grover. They had a Millard Fillmore (Really? Millard Fillmore??), but they did not have a Boss Steve Cleveland. This was a slight too far.

I was, of course, mock angry. And then — boom! — it all made sense: 

Next year, I would have a Grover Cleveland themed picnic. 

Better yet, I would commission artists at Denver’s Comic Con to draw pictures of Grover Cleveland! Grover Cleveland as a super hero. Grover Cleveland as a robot. Grover Cleveland drinking beer! Whatever they wanted to draw in their own style!

Better yet: I’d create a Grover Cleveland Art Appreciation Society and recruit other artists to create pictures or images or portrats of whatever they wanted as long as it included a recognizable Grover to help remember our nonconsecutive executive and support young artists.

Best of all: I’d bring all these pictures and portraits of Grover Cleveland to the Fourth of July Picnic every year and enter — nay, WIN! — the picnic contest!

And, perhaps when I had enough paintings or sculptures or needlepoints or LEGO Grovers , I’d show the “pop-up museum” at other local events too: the farm market, brew pub walls, or — yes! — the library, which has a couple of glass cases dedicated to sharing local’s collections of weird stuff. My dream is to show it in public 2-3 times per year.

The Grover Cleveland Art Appreciation Society is going to be just weird enough for consideration and attention.

So that’s what I’m doing. To help keep the memory of America’s Most Average President alive, and to help support young artists, (and to show those Realtors!), I now curate and collect images of Big Steve, our Nonconsecutive Executive, Uncle Jumbo, the Veto King, POTUS 22 AND 24, the one and only Grover Cleveland!

Since July of 2018, I’ve been recruiting artists and commissioning portraits and paintings and cartoons and drawings of Grover Cleveland, both at Denver’s pop culture convention and on the internet. I’ve asked friends and family. I’m building our collection for the debut of the Grover Cleveland Art Appreciation Society Pop-up Museum this summer. 

As of January 2019, we have about ten pieces, and we hope to have 5 or 6 more by the time we hang our collection for the first time this summer.  You can see our collection on Instagram if you search for or visit our feed at “@GroverClevelandArtSociety”  

And if you’re an artist who’s considering creating an image of Grover for us, thank you for visiting and feel free to look around the blog to find inspiration for your work of art. We love it already!

PS: If you love what we’re doing, we also accept donations of Grover-related art (since our budget is very small and comes entirely out of my pocket).




* Time Travling Grover Cleveland is a cosplay idea that’s still on the table.....

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