Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Contributions + Rewards: Crisis Center/Downtown Can Drive

Business participants seated at Discerning Eye (left to right): Nathan Gould from the Englert, Sarah from the Crisis Center, Karen Kubby (Beadology), Astrid Bennett (Iowa Artisans Gallery), Joni Schrup (Discerning Eye), Donna Zender (Zender's), and Nikki Neems (R.S.V.P.)


Participating downtown merchants helped the Crisis Center during its lean time of year by sponsoring a two week can drive. During a two week period of July 14-31, customers who contributed a can were eligible for one of three Grand Prize gift certificate baskets valued at $500 each, and customers could enter for each can contributed. Congratulations to all three Grand Prize winners who were chosen:  Jenevieve Nelson, Mary Priske and Lucy Joseph.

Grand Prize winner Lucy Joseph


Participating businesses include Akar, Active Endeavors, Beadology, Bella Joli, Catherine's, The Chait Galleries, Discerning Eye, Dulcinea, Englert Theatre, Fired Up, Glassando, Home Ec, Hands Jewelers, Iowa Artisans Gallery, Lorenz 2.0, M.C Ginsberg, Oasis Falafel, Om, RAYGUN, Revival, R.S.V.P., Sweets & Treats, Textiles and Zender's.
Jenevieve Nelson submitted her cans to Home Ec Workshop.
For those that would like to contribute to the Crisis Center, here is a list of their top-10 donation needs:
1. Financial contributions
2. Canned fruit and fruit juice
3. Canned meat
4. Hearty soups and stews
5. Canned vegetables
6. Toilet paper
7. Baby formula
8. Baby diapers
9. Laundry detergent
10. Pasta and rice






Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Earth Day + Iowa City Green Drinks

The next Green Drinks gathering is happening this Thursday, April 14th at The Red Avocado (521 E. Washington St.) beginning at 5:30 pm.

At the March gathering, we talked about a variety of issues, including the farm bill and the new bill which would transfer water quality monitoring from the DNR to the Dept. of Agriculture. We also talked about farming in Iowa, including ethanol plants and the price of corn; year-round farmers' markets, Prairie Preview, composting and more!

At the April gathering, we will be talking about Earth Day events, including Eco Iowa City's EcoFair at the downtown rec center on April 22 from 3-6 pm.

Green Drinks is an international organization in 789 cities worldwide. Iowa City Green Drinks, one of 8 in Iowa, meets every 2nd Thursday. Everyone is invited to join this informal group for food and/or beverages while discussing a wide range of environmental issues (and ideas) in the Iowa City area. Green Drinks is a great way to connect with other local environmentally-minded people.

For general info and a list of local green events visit the website. To receive email reminders and info on Iowa City Green Drinks, join the email list.

Swing Dancing on the Ped Mall!

Spring banished winter from Iowa City this past weekend, and the Ped Mall was in bloom with the Hawkeye Swing Festival, sponsored by the University of Iowa Swing Dance Club. Accompanying them was a lively jazz band from the University of Iowa. The Festival, which ran April 9 & 10, attracts college dance club members from as far away as Chicago and Des Moines. Music included traditional Lindy Hop style all the way to ultra smooth jazz. Downtown workers were much distracted by all the festivities, as shown in these pictures taken by staff members at Iowa Artisans Gallery. The Hawkeye Swing Festival is held every spring.





Thursday, March 24, 2011

Iowa City's TOP CHEF competition!

Don't miss your chance to sample the finest food and drink Downtown has to offer - all under one roof! The Downtown Association of Iowa City is inviting Downtown chefs and bartenders to participate in the first annual "Top Chef: Downtown" competition. 

Top Chef and DTA reception takes place Wednesday March 30th, 5 - 7:30pm at hotelVetro in downtown Iowa City. A portion of the proceeds from Top Chef: Downtown will benefit the "Make Change with your Change" parking meter donation program in downtown Iowa City. The Downtown Association of Iowa City (DTA) is providing this forum, as its annual membership meeting and reception. The forum allows chefs and bartenders to showcase their culinary and mixology talents and market their food and drink to a wide audience of Downtown business people and patrons.


Chefs will face off and compete to wow both judges and patrons with one signature dish from their restaurant. Additionally, bartenders from will compete for the title of "Master Mixologist" by serving their most creative cocktail.  

A panel of judges will sample dishes and drinks from every contestant and will determine the winners. Patrons will vote for the People's Choice winners.  A limited number of tickets are still available for thus event are $10 and RSVPs are required. Please RSVP via email to DTA Executive Director Nick Arnold or by calling 319.354.0863.

Time to think... About Summer!

Our venerable Summer of the Arts (SotA) organization plans to unveil its summer lineup of events in a not-your-usual news conference, Tuesday March 29, 11:30 am. The event takes place in the lower level ballroom of the Sheraton Hotel in Iowa City. "Not-your-usual," you say? Yes, because the public is invited to bring lunch and enjoy an appearance by Kevin Burt.

Summer of the Arts will release the 2011 event line-up for the following festivals:
  • The official schedule for the Iowa Arts Festival main stage performances
  • The Iowa City Jazz Festival will present main stage acts including local, national and international talent 
  • The Friday Night Concert Series presented by the Iowa City Press-Citizen will outline 13 weeks of bands from Johnson County
  • New in 2010! – Downtown Saturday Night presented by the Downtown Association of Iowa City and MidWestOne Bank will expand to 13 weeks in 2011 featuring some incredible regional performers
  • The Free Movie Series presented by M.C. Ginsberg Jewelers and The Daily Iowan will provide the schedule for 9 weeks of movies
  • Sand in the City presented by Bank of the West 

Iowa City’s Summer of the Arts (SotA) is an umbrella organization for local arts and culture events which include: Iowa Arts Festival, Iowa City Jazz Festival, Free Movie Series, Downtown Saturday Night and the Friday Night Concert Series.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Time for Art! Downtown Iowa City Gallery Walk this Friday

AKAR: Karl Borgeson, lidded jar

The March Gallery Walk takes place on Friday, March 4, 5-8pm, at 17 venues in downtown Iowa City. Gallery Walks are scheduled for March, June and October and are self-guided, free, family-friendly and open to the public.  Maps are available at each location. We'll have appetizers for all of you foodies, but our wonderful downtown restaurants stand ready to feed you before, during and after the Walk.

Gallery Walk venues include AKAR, Arts Iowa City, Bella Joli, the Chait Galleries, the Englert Theatre,  Glassando, Home Ec Workshop, Iowa Artisans Gallery/D.J.Rinner Goldsmith, The Mansion, MidWestOne Bank, MC Ginsberg, Modela, RSVP, the Senior Center’s Old Post Office Gallery, Textiles, United Action for Youth (UAY), and US Bank.


Chait Galleries
features Juxtaposition of Time – the Artwork of Beardon and Lyvers. Beardon, a sculptor, and Lyvers, a painter, measure time in this show. “Time is never still.  What is contemporary today is retro tomorrow.  Today’s shiny metal is rusty and tarnished tomorrow; eventually, the future becomes the present.” Balancing dynamic movements from a single fulcrum, investigating controlled construction with chaotic finishes, James Anthony Beardon mixes elements of contemporary steel sculpture with the corrosion of time.  The abstract paintings of Matt Lyvers portray a study in time.  From the ancient hieroglyphic and geometric shapes superimposed on long organic stains of color, to the orbs and flames of light of a timeless space, the steady progression of time plays an important role in Lyvers’s work.  Chait Galleries is located at 218 E Washington St.

Matt Lyvers, painting, at Chait Galleries

Modela hosts Souvenirs: recent paintings from Rebecca Hermann sketchbooks. Rebecca Hermann includes art trips as part of her artistic process, traveling to Southern France and other European countries to collect visual forms in her sketchbook. These sketches often end up as large rubber stamps used to layer repeated patterns of acrylic paint onto her canvases. Modela is located at 323 E. Market St.
Rebecca Hermann, at Modela

The Old Post Office Gallery (Senior Center)
now encompasses two exhibit spaces. In the main gallery is Rok Williams: Paintings & Drawings. “If I could guess where my paintings and drawings come from, it might be from daydreams or unintentional rearrangements of wispy visions I do not want to put to words or tunes. I like to work quickly, fighting off words that try to invade my brain or brush, so I mostly work with acrylics and pencils and markers, sometimes adding oil or kitchen concoctions.” Paintings by Bill Ginks will be on display in the top floor gallery. I paint out of a need and the subject matter is realized after a time of getting acquainted with the canvas. Whatever the original intent, your work always ends up as a signature, or a self - portrait of your psyche. Merrill Sparks will provide entertainment. The Old Post Office Gallery is located at 28 S. Linn St.

Iowa Artisans Gallery/D.J. Rinner Goldsmith
presents Jane Chukas: Landscapes in Oil Pastel & Acrylic. DJ Rinner Goldsmith exhibits Jewelry by Bethany Young. Jane Chukas specializes in fanciful colorful landscapes abstracted from her travels. Also a musician, Chukas incorporates visual rhythm and emotive connections in her paintings. Chukas is a former Iowan now living in Galena, IL. Bethany Young specializes in custom bridal jewelry. This exhibition includes several examples of her work in pearls and natural gemstones. Iowa Artisans Gallery/DJ Rinner Goldsmith is located at 207 E Washington St.
Jane Chukas, Rural Nocturn, at Iowa Artisans Gallery

AKAR presents New Ceramic Works by Karl Borgeson & Robert Briscoe. Karl Borgeson is a studio potter and Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. His utilitarian pottery is architecturally derived from West African and Indonesian culture, and finished in a salt firing kiln. Bob Briscoe is a full time Minnesotan potter as well as long-standing contributor to Studio Potter Magazine. Briscoe's work features large scale pottery finished with robust wood ash glazes. AKAR is located at 257 E. Iowa Avenue.

 “Space Available,”
photography by Jessie James Sinclair is on display at MC Ginsberg Jewelers, 110 E. Washington St. Sinclair’s work focuses on the connections and collisions between the natural and man-made worlds, exploring the ways in which nature overcomes and beautifies spaces previously claimed by man. The artist works with a large format 4x5 camera, and shoots digitally with Canon EOS SLR cameras.
Jesse James Sinclair, at MC Ginsberg

Home Ec Workshop features a Mixed-media window installation by Jillian Marie Chapman.  "This collection has been the exploration of finding a way back from the in-between when life takes you on an unexpected turn and you need someone to guide you. These images are a combination of sculpture and photography." Home Ec Workshop is located at 207 N. Linn St., in the near Northside Neighborhood.

Located at 109 S. Dubuque St., Textiles shows Melody Wallace: A Feeling in Time. Each painting represents an emotion felt at a specific moment in my life.” Works include landscapes, portraits, flowers, done in oils or watercolor.

Bella Joli features paintings by Jennifer Boender in her show entitled "rebirth." This series is about how becoming a new mother has in one moment reawakened my soul, and given way to new life. When my baby boy took his first breath, I felt as though I was taking mine. Using elements of the shapes and colors of motherhood, fertility, and new life, I can tell the story of how motherhood has reshaped my life. Bella Joli is located at 125 S. Dubuque St.

Arts Iowa City highlights the work of foil stamping pioneer and UI faculty member Virginia Myers plus her students. Entitled Foil Imaging: Virginia Myers & her students, the show location occupies a newly remodeled space in the lower level of the Wells Fargo Bank Building, 114 S Dubuque St.

Glassando, features Sculptural Jewelry Creations from Sandy Baker. Declared one of the top 100 jewelry designers in the last 30 years by National Jeweler magazine, Sandy Baker has been creating jewelry since the late 1960s.   Sandy’s fine art training can be clearly seen in her bold designs. She approaches each piece of jewelry as a miniature sculpture, taking into account three-dimensional space. Glassando is located in the Old Capitol Mall.

UAY (United Action for Youth) shows works made by 3rd through 6th grade participants in UAY’s after school outreach programs at Grant Wood, Roosevelt, and Coralville Central Elementary Schools.  Artworks include painting, drawing, sculpture, collage, and printmaking. The UAY Youth Center is located at 355 Iowa Avenue.

MidWestOne Bank features two exhibits. In ICCSD Artist Educators, 10 current or retired art teachers in the Iowa City Community School District show ways of “making art” using oil, pastel, paper, pencil, fabric, metal, clay and acrylic media. (Ends April 30). The MidWestOne's Kids' Art Exhibit highlights works by area school students. (ends March 31.) MidWestOne Bank is located at 102 S. Clinton St.

US Bank, 204 E Washington St. hosts Deanne Warnholtz Wortman & Darrell Taylor: Reassemblies. Wortman and Taylor work with large reassembled billboard materials. Music provided by Jeanne Nelson.

The Timothy Tarot by Jacks’son Timothy is the featured exhibit at the Englert Theatre. The exhibit is located on the second floor in The Douglas & Linda Paul Gallery of the Englert, 221 E Washington St.

The Mansion hosts Lindey Anderson: Revealing Color. Anderson creates mixed media paintings. The Mansion is located at 538 S Gilbert St, at the intersection with Bowery.

RSVP showcases recent work from the UI Center for the Book: Calligraphy, Book Art, Paper Making, Letterpress Printing. RSVP is located at 140 North Linn St, next to the Motley Cow.

For more information on Gallery Walk, call Iowa Artisans Gallery (319)351-8686 or Chait Galleries, (319)338-4442.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON GALLERY WALK: The downtown Gallery Walk was started in the early 1990’s as a way of showcasing MC Ginsberg’s exhibit of work to be auctioned at the Domestic Violence Intervention Program’s Fine Art and Fun Fundraiser. At that time, participants numbered five: MC Ginsberg, Iowa State Bank & Trust, Iowa Artisans Gallery/DJ Rinner Goldsmith, Arts Iowa City and the Barn Collections (no longer downtown.) For several years, the DVIP fundraiser continued to be the centerpiece of the March Gallery Walk, but other Walks were added in June, during the Iowa Arts Festival and in October. Gallery Walk is administered by volunteers. Several of the exhibition venues are devoted to businesses other than art but demonstrate the vibrant cultural scene in Iowa City. Anyone wishing to exhibit work in one of the exhibition venues should contact Terri Miller Chait, (319)338-4442, or Astrid Bennett.


Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Think Green! Iowa City Green Drinks meets Thursday February 10

The next Green Drinks gathering is happening this Thursday,  February 10th, 5:30pm, at The Red Avocado (521 E. Washington St.) At the January gathering, we talked about camping trips and Earth Day events, so we were obviously thinking about Spring already! We also talked about Prairie Preview which is happening on Tuesday, March 8th at Parkview Church on the corner of Dubuque and Foster Road. If you haven't been, it's definitely an event worth going to, sponsored by the Johnson County Heritage Trust.

Green Drinks is an international organization in 745 cities worldwide. Iowa City Green Drinks, one of 7 in Iowa, meets every 2nd Thursday.  Everyone is invited to join this informal group for food and/or beverages while discussing a wide range of environmental issues (and ideas) in the Iowa City area. Green Drinks is a great way to connect with and get ideas from other local environmentally-minded people.


For general information and a list of local green events visit the website. To receive email reminders and info on Iowa City Green Drinks, join the email list