Linn County (IA) Supervisor Linda Langston received the 2009 County Arts Leadership Award for her ardent support arts and culture in Cedar Rapids and throughout Linn County. As a county supervisor, Langston provided $75,000 in funds toward recovery efforts at the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation, in response to last year’s major flooding that devastated Linn County and eastern Iowa. Langston is currently promoting a one percent public art fund for new construction and re-construction as part of the flood rebuilding efforts. She is also a strong supporter of the Linn County Historical Society.

Before being elected to the Linn County Board of Supervisors in 2002, she served as Director of the History Center in Cedar Rapids for more than four years, overseeing a $3.2 million fund drive and the building of a new facility in the city. Langston has been very active in supporting the arts on a national level as immediate past chair of the National Association of Counties’ (NACo) Arts and Culture Commission.