It's Jazz Festival time!

 Rowell Rudd's Trombone Tribe, headliner on Saturday

Iowa City swings...Check out the Iowa City Jazz Festival, Friday through Sunday July 2-4. Saturday nights' 8pm headliner is Roswell Rudd’s Trombone Tribe. Sunday night's is the Dr. Lonnie Smith Trio. And the list of ensembles is long- read more here.

Live music takes place on various stages in downtown Iowa City, Friday 4:30 pm to 9:30 pm; Saturday 1:30 pm to 9:30 pm
  and Sunday 1:30 pm to 9:30 pm. Sunday's performance will be followed immediately by fireworks in Hubbard Park on the UI campus. Three stages include the Main Stage at Old Capitol Building; the Youth Stage at Iowa Avenue; and the Local and College Stage at Clinton Street. Grab a bite, bring your lawnchairs and let the fun begin.

Public Property, a local favorite

The Summer of the Arts website introduces a new feature to this year's Jazz Festival: Listen, Learn and Ask Questions of Three Unique Jazz Performers. This presentation will take place Saturday, July 3rd 10am to noon in the Carver Room at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Iowa City and is sponsored by aGrant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Here's a chance to listen to some of our internationally known mainstage performers tell stories about their musical odysseys, their approaches to learning how to play jazz and answer your questions. The workshop will include:

Roswell Rudd, trombonist and composer & leader of the Trombone Tribe, performing on the mainstage at 8:00 pm Saturday evening. This year Rudd was selected as one of the top jazz trombonists in the Downbeat Magazine’s Critics poll and leader of the best jazz CD’s of the year by the Village Voice. In addition to having played with such jazz notables as Carla Bley, Archie Shepp and his long-time collaborator, Steve Lacey, Rudd also has performed and recorded world and ethnics music with traditional musicians from Mongolia, Mali and Puerto Rico.

Bob Washut, pianist, composer, arranger and educator is Professor of Music at the University of Northern Iowa. He has received numerous commissions for collegiate jazz ensembles and directed the award-winning UNI Jazz Band One. Washut was also the founder of the well-known salsa band, Orquestra Alto Maiz. Washut’s Dream Band will also be the headliner on the mainstage Friday evening.

Deborah Weisz, jazz trombonist and educator. From playing in the Sahara Desert, just North of Timbuktu, to creating music in a grain silo at an artist colony in upstate New York, to traveling all over the world with Frank Sinatra (1987 - 1994). Weisz will be performing with the Trombone Tribe on Saturday evening.

Riverside Theatre's Shakespeare Festival- now through July 11

There's still time to visit Riverside Theatre's Shakespeare Festival, ongoing in Lower City Park now through July 11. If you've never attended, you're in for a treat, and the spectacular weather of the last week makes it even more fun. Riverside alternates Shakespeare's Love’s Labour’s Lost with Romeo and Juliet. Love's Labor's Lost is directed by Theodore Swetz and is shown on July 3, 6, 8, 11. Romeo and Juliet is directed by Riverside Theatre founder Ron Clark and can be seen on July 2, 7, 9, 10. Read more about these performances on the Iowa Theatre Blog or in reviews in the Gazette or Daily Iowan posted on Riverside Theatre's website.


Based in downtown Iowa City, Riverside Theatre is celebrating 30 years of excellence. The Shakespeare Festival is one portion of the Theatre's lineup. In order to pull of the Festival, Riverside showcases a separate 2010 Acting Company, as well as a 2010 roster of interns. Riverside has been on the Iowa City Press Citizen's "Best of the Area" list for 2001-2009, and KCRG's A-list  as "Best Theatre Group 2009." The Iowa Theatre Blog was founded by Matt Falduto in 2007.

Glassando's interview with stained glass artist James Thomas

Glassando owner Abby Restko shares her interview with stained glass artist James Thomas, whose work is on display now in the store through July 9.  Abby comments, "for formal art shows, artists are often asked to write an artist statement. While this highly edited formal statement can be informational, many times some of the original answers that helped develop the statement can  be more insightful." Visit Glassando's website or Facebook page for more information about this store, which is located in the Old Capitol Town Center.

And now, meet James Thomas: What first got me interested in stained glass? 
I enjoy  experimenting with the effects that stained glass has on the beauty of light.  This interest was probably sparked through researching the chemistry of plant pigments in graduate school. Many of the extracts I worked with in science were quite rich in color and interacted with light in interesting ways.  I enjoy the virtually limitless availability of stained glass colors, appreciate how opalescence affects the transmission and reflection of light and how different textures bend, concentrate and obscure light.  The essence of the artwork I aspire to create captures a dynamic interaction between light and glass. My stained glass often exhibit subtle and sometimes striking changes in brilliance and color depending on the intensity of light and angle of the sun over the course of a day or throughout the year. 

How long have you been working in stained glass?
Many of the techniques I currently use evolved from a formal class I had in 1997, are learned by reading literature and improvised through the process of doing stained glass.

What influences the subject matter of your pieces?

• I generally make geometric designs, landscapes, plants and animals
• Strength is taken into consideration in design process, reinforcement is used when needed.
• Piece shapes are designed according to what can be successfully scored and broken from glass sheets
• Curved pieces and irregular polygons may require multiple scores and breaks to yield a final shape.
• Most of my pieces are composed of irregular shaped polygons.
• My larger pieces tend to have areas of rather tiny pieces to show detail.

Beside Glassando, where has your work been displayed?
In the last year I have been accepted into the following juried shows:
1)    University of Iowa Fine Arts Council Thieves Market, Nov 2009
2)    HeartFest - at the Valley West Mall in Des Moines, Feb 2010
3)    University of Iowa Fine Arts Council  - Riverbank Art Festival, April 2010
4)    The Beaux Art Festival- Figge Museum Plaza – Davenport Iowa, May 2010
5)    Snake Alley Art Festival – Burlington, IA, June 20, 2010
6)    Before 2009, I made a commissions and for private individuals and for a non-profit group.

Fiber of all kinds... Wanna learn to knit?

Home Ec Workshop reports the following tidbit on their Facebook page:
the Iowa City Farmer's Market is hosting a Knit in Public Day event this Saturday, June 12, at the market from 7:30 - 12pm. There will be volunteers teaching people to knit, spinners and hopefully, a whole bunch of knitters!

Home Ec Workshop is a fun little shop in the near Northside Neighborhood. Owners Codi and Alissa sell yarns and fabrics, have a "Knitting nurse," offer classes and workshop rental (sewing machines, etc.)

After the Iowa Arts Festival...

It's hard to know what was more fun, seeing everyone show up for the art fair in downtown Iowa City, or seeing all those great kids and families having a blast during Kids' Day events and at the playground. And then there was the music... hmmmm....! We thank Mother Nature for cooperating during this great Iowa Arts Festival 2010!

Check it out: Iowa City Green Drinks Gathering on June 10

The next Iowa City Green Drinks gathering is happening this Thursday, June 10th at The Red Avocado (521 E. Washington St.) beginning at 5:30 pm. Green Drinks is an international organization in 700 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.

Countdown to Iowa Arts Festival: Friday Gallery Walk & Music galore!

 Glass at AKAR

Friday evening, listen to music and walk on the artful side! Gallery Walk is the kickoff to the three-day Iowa Arts Festival, and it's surrounded by great music, including Sarah Jarosz at 7pm and Darrell Scott at 9pm on the Main Festival Stage.

Bao Pham, Chait Galleries

Gallery Walk takes place Friday, June 4, 5-8pm, at 16 venues in downtown Iowa City. This is the biggest Gallery Walk of the year; it's self-guided, free, family-friendly and open to the public. This time, check out Arts Iowa City’s new exhibition space, in the lower level of the Wells Fargo Bank Building, 114 S Dubuque St. Also special to this event is the Big Brothers, Big Sisters photo display at US Bank. Gallery Walk venues include AKAR, Arts Iowa City, Bella Joli, the Chait Galleries, the Englert Theatre, Glassando, Iowa Artisans Gallery/D.J.Rinner Goldsmith, MidWestOne Bank, MC Ginsberg, Revival, the Senior Center’s Old Post Office Gallery, Textiles, United Action for Youth (UAY), and US Bank. Other Gallery Walk participants in the Near Northside are Home Ec Workshop and RSVP.

 Emily Reason, Tulipiere, clay, at Iowa Artisans Gallery. Emily was an intern at the energyXchange in North Carolina, an innovative approach to using landfill methane to power artist studios

And just wait til you see what's up for Saturday & Sunday. More information about the Iowa Arts Festival schedule may be found on the "At a Glance" column on this weblink.

 at Chait Galleries, Youngjoo Yoo

 sterling silver bracelet, Louise Rauh at DJ Rinner Goldsmith