​Marcia Manning-Kruse was born and is currently living near Lansing, Iowa. She and her husband Mark are owners/operators of Kruse Family Farms, an organic dairy farm, south of Lansing.
Marcia attended Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art and Education in 1975, a Masters in Technology in Education in 1993 from Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa, and a Masters in Educational Administration in 2000 from Iowa State University.
Marcia taught art at Eastern Allamakee Community School District, grades K-12, for 24 years, focusing on traditional art forms such as ceramics, watercolor painting, oil painting, and textiles. As she moved into technology applications, she was an early adapter of computer graphics, programming, publishing, and photography. Marcia has also taught at the college level: Introduction to Painting and Introduction to Drawing at Loras College in 1976 and later, Art History for non-majors at Viterbo University.  Additional professional endeavors include 10 years as a school administrator and 8 years as a school improvement facilitator for Keystone Area Educational Agency. She currently maintains the Iowa Artists website, http://www.iowaartists.us,  and Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/iowaartistsofficialpage/ . 
Though she enjoys exploring all media, her artistic expression lately has been focused on oil, acrylic and watercolor painting. Since Marcia grew up on a farm and is still currently farming, landscapes and agricultural themes have always been a favorite subject and will continue to be in the future.
She has 5 children and painted portraits of each them and has started to paint her grandchildren-plenty of material for a lifetime of artistic endeavors!
*Note about navigating the website:
Present- Available paintings looking for a home.
Past- Paintings who have moved to a new home.
Prints- Cards or prints of selected paintings.