On Friday, June 16, Art Week Des Moines kicks off its ninth year showcasing area artists and connecting them with one another, as well as their community.
This year, Art Week has introduced Art Week Fellows: a handful of artists tasked with overseeing specific art pop-ups within five neighborhoods around the Des Moines metro, drawing inspiration from their assigned communities.
Ryan Hanser, a consultant with Group Creative Services — the public art consultancy behind Art Week — said the intention of the event is to motivate “people to go out and be with the art,” by localizing displays in these neighborhoods.
“Art is for everybody,” said Hanser. “Expression is all around you.”
Those communities include Columbus Park, the Drake Neighborhood, the Franklin Area, Oak Park and Valley Junction. The Art Week Fellows are artists chosen based on their history of working in these areas.
Rachel Buse, a creative strategist for Group Creative Services, noted that the most exciting part of Art Week for her is empowering these inaugural fellows to “inspire artists to collaborate to continue things they start [together] during Art Week.”
Among those selected is Jordan Brooks — a creator and owner of KNWSLF, a local nonprofit dedicated to positively informing children’s racial-identity development — who will host the Franklin Neighborhood’s art pop-up. The title of his event is “Art of Movement.”
In creating this pop-up, Brooks considered the Franklin Neighborhood and how people may have moved in and out of the neighborhood over time. Brooks said this train of thought led to his central theme, the idea that “there’s many ways we can use movement for creativity.”
The exhibit will be at Perkins Elementary School in the Franklin Neighborhood on June 20 from 5-8 p.m. More Art Week events are scheduled across the city June 16-22.
Brooks’ exhibit will center around the idea of “creating a space for our whole bodies to be in art, in movement.” The exhibit includes an Augmented Reality Walk and a Sketch Walk with interactive prompts to complete your own art. There will also be activities like hip-hop cardio and yoga. Brooks invites everyone to bring blankets and mats, walking shoes and a friend to experience the art of space.
The pop-up will also features a large splatter mural for participants to add to before Brooks puts the final community-created product on display.
Brooks welcomes all forms of creating and invites everyone in the community to come be themselves in the space he is hosting.
Other fellows creating art through the week include local hip-hop artist Billy “B. Well” Weathers in Oak Park, illustrator and musician Ramona Muse Lambert in Valley Junction, muralist and fashion designer Siriaco “Siricasso” Garcia and a shared fellowship between Jill Wells (Mainframe Studios’ first artist in residence) and Cameron Gray (founder of The Buxton Initiative) in the Drake Neighborhood.
For longtime art lovers and those new to art, there are many ways for artists and people to connect to the central Iowa community during Art Week. There will be kid friendly activities and unique art pieces available for purchase.
“A good place to start is finding something you’re familiar with, maybe a place or an artist you know,” said Buse of the event.
For more information and details about Art Week, visit artweekdesmoines.com. For more information and updates about Brooks’ exhibit as they arise, text “Move” to 515-454-0733, and download the Artivive app to participate in the exhibit.
