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.