Amidst the multitude of art and craft fairs in the Iowa City area where you can choose to do some (or all!) of your holiday shopping, Friday’s Holiday Art Sale at United Action for Youth is a stand-out. The works available for purchase not only benefit, but were created by, youth in our community. From 5–8 p.m. at UAY’s Swaim Youth Center (355 Iowa Ave.), you can explore the creative minds of local teens while searching for a perfect, unique gift. One hundred percent of the proceeds go to the artists.
Genevieve Trainor
Genevieve Trainor lives in Iowa City, Iowa. Passions include heavy music, hoppy beer, and hidden rooms.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Scott County Wrestling wishes everyone ‘Season’s Beatings’
This Saturday, in Walcott, Iowa, even local sports are getting into the holiday spirit! Scott County Wrestling (SCWPro) offers up a smash of a program: Season’s Beatings. All wrestlers are either students and graduates of The Black and the Brave Wrestling Academy or have been participating in this pageantry since the beginning…
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Radkey returns to Gabe’s for another night of hard-hitting garage rock
Missouri garage-rockers Radkey are swinging back into Iowa City for another round at Gabe’s on Saturday, Dec. 12. With hints of the Melvins mixed with a bit of a John Doe vibe, these home-schooled brothers sound like the best version of everyone’s 20s…
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New Public Space One exhibit explores the relationship between art and work
Public Space One will host a new gallery exhibition, opening Dec. 11, titled Maintenance Mode. The pieces explore the often tense relationship between art and work, and the ways in which artists interact with the “maintenance work” that is a necessary part of their lives…
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Mission Creek announces Saul Williams, Marc Maron, Alison Bechdel and more
Mission Creek Festival has made its first lineup announcement for the eleventh annual event, set for April 5–10, 2016. Festival passes ($135/$350 — see below for details) will go on sale Dec. 11 at noon, online at Midwestix…
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Essay: On ‘The Nutcracker’ and ballet’s diversity problem
The Nutcracker The Englert Theatre ($16-$18) Fri., Dec. 4, 7:30 p.m. Sat., Dec. 5, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sun., Dec. 6, 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Paramount Theatre ($87-$128) Sat., Dec. 5, 2:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m. Sun., Dec. 6, 2:30 p.m. The Nutcracker has a wild and complicated history. The original creepy tale by […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews, Arts & Entertainment
Album Review: Hailey Whitters’ ‘Black Sheep’
Hailey Whitters Black Sheep www.haileywhitters.com I hesitated, at first, to review this album. I’m not generally a fan of country music, and I didn’t know if I could pull off something both generous and honest, without getting caught up in genre biases. I listened to Black Sheep, set it aside, walked away. Then something strange […]
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Saturday at CSPS Hall: One-man play tells the story of labor hero Joe Hill
Joe Hill’s Last Will CSPS Hall — Saturday, Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. On Nov 19, 1915, after a questionable trial over a trumped-up murder charge, labor activist and songwriter Joe Hill was executed by firing squad in Utah. Since his death, he has become a legend, memorialized in poetry, prose, song and the play […]
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Theatre Cedar Rapids’ improv series takes audiences on a JOYRIDE
JOYRIDE Theatre Cedar Rapids’ Grandon Studio — Fri-Sun, Nov. 13-15 Theatre Cedar Rapids breaks new ground this week with its very first Studio Improv Series. Once the sole purview of the independent theater and college scenes, and dedicated companies like the Magnet Theatre and the IO, improvisational theatre has found an unlikely home at TCR […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Welcome to the family: How a UI alum helped unearth a new species of early man
In Nov. 2013, an expedition that would have a profound impact on our understanding of our human ancestry commenced at the Rising Star cave system in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Funded by the University of Witwatersrand (“Wits”) and the National Geographic Society, the excavation was part of a particularly social media-savvy engagement with science. National […]
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Interview: Astrophysicist Cornelia Lang talks black holes, creativity and Witching Hour
Beyond Visible Light: Searching for Clues to the Unknown in the Heart of the Milky Way Galaxy Iowa City Public Library — Friday, Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. Cornelia Lang is something of an anomaly on the Witching Hour line-up. As a friend noted joyfully when I shared a post about the festival on Facebook: […]
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Impassioned actors carry campy ‘Psycho Beach Party’
Psycho Beach Party Johnson County Fairgrounds — Through Nov. 1 In his program notes for Psycho Beach Party, director Louis Edward Doerge says of the show that, “at its core, it’s a love letter to film.” That homage is evident from the start, and many elements of the production highlight and emphasize those aspects of […]
