Oral Histories LIVE!

Jim Kern
November 18, 2025
6:00 p.m.
 

Born and raised on a farm in Blairstown, Iowa, Jim Kern graduated from Benton Community High School in 1967 and founded the Benton County Community Theatre the following year. A 1971 graduate of the University of Northern Iowa with a BA in Theatre and English, he received the Purple and Gold Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theatre Arts and pursued graduate coursework at the University of Illinois and the University of Iowa.

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Jim's career has spanned education, the culinary arts, and nonprofit leadership. He taught Speech, Theatre, and English for decades—most notably at Cedar Rapids’ Washington High School, where he was inducted into the Performing Arts Hall of Fame. In the culinary world, he worked as a maître d’ in acclaimed Chicago restaurants and co-owned the Velvet Feedbag in Iowa.

As a director and actor, he has helmed nearly 85 productions for high schools, community theatres, and professional companies, co-founded several arts organizations including Classics at Brucemore, and performed with companies across Iowa and Illinois. He served as Director of Development at Theater Cedar Rapids and later Executive Director at Brucemore, greatly expanding its programming and leading it through the city’s post-flood arts recovery.

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A committed community leader, Jim has chaired the Cedar Rapids Visual Arts Commission, served on the Historic Preservation Commission, and co-founded multiple theatre and arts initiatives. Since 2019, he has lived in Michigan’s Art Coast, where he co-owns a bed and breakfast, sings with the Lakeshore Community Chorus, and recently co-founded a new theatre company. An avid traveler to 53 countries on all seven continents, art collector, and memoirist, he continues to embrace creativity and collaboration in all forms.