Right now at London’s Tate Modern, there is a single room in which select works from late University of Iowa alumna Ana Mendieta are displayed on a wall directly opposite the multi-paneled painting, Conservatory (Portrait of Frida Kahlo) (1988), by late University of Iowa alumna Miriam Schapiro. And the Iowa connections don’t end there. Hanging […]
Arts & Entertainment
Posted inBook Reviews
Book Review: ‘The Natural Order of Things: Poems’ by Donika Kelly
Donika Kelly has a system: the award-winning poet and University of Iowa associate professor brings poems to her reader that are accessible and welcoming. Then, they build into an overwhelming and holy crescendo of piercing, evocative vignettes. Kelly’s latest, The Natural Order of Things (Graywolf Press), is hearty, nourishing. The crescendo in this collection brings […]
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New Mary Oliver documentary inspires Iowa City orgs to celebrate a poet often disregarded in elite circles
Film director (and former University of Iowa professor) Sasha Waters first recalls being struck by the work of Mary Oliver as a new parent, listening to A Prairie Home Companion in her Iowa City kitchen. Years later, PBS would ask her to make a documentary about the late Pulitzer Prize-winning poet for the American Masters […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Phantom Threat — ‘Phantasmagoria’
In the five and a half decades since metal began to find its footing as an established genre, metal bands have gone to increasingly great lengths to answer the question: how does one make the most intense music possible? One such band is the Quad Cities death metal outfit Phantom Threat, who released their latest […]
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Keep an eye out of ‘Selena’ and other acclaimed films in the Quad Cities Latino Cinema Series
For many, Selena, released in 1997, was one of the first films about Latino culture they watched. It was for me. While Mexican television shows such as El Chavo del Ocho and telenovelas like Rubí were frequently playing in the living room, Selena, a biopic about Tejano musical artist Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, is one of the earliest movies about Latinidad I can recall being shown.
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Review: Des Moines Metro Opera stages Steinbeck, corruption in Rome and a 100-year-old ‘mysterium’ for summer season
Opera lovers braved the sweltering summer weather this past holiday weekend for some world-class productions, care of Des Moines Metro Opera. The opera company was the subject of a series of Des Moines Register articles last fall reporting allegations that crew behind the scenes were routinely overworked, underpaid and occasionally put in dangerous positions to […]
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Fully Booked at DMPL: Books best read aloud
Long before we learned to read, we learned to listen. Some of my favorite reading memories are not just about the books themselves, but about the voices that brought those stories to life: A grandparent sharing a favorite tale, a teacher making a character unforgettable, a librarian turning storytime into a magical experience. Reading aloud […]
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Kembrew McLeod’s Prairie Pop column has covered the culture of flyover country since 2001
When I wrote about Awful Purdies’ 20th anniversary for last month’s column, Kate Rowe joked that the band was her longest-running relationship. “It’s actually been part of my entire adult life,” she said. “I was one year out of college when I joined this band.” Rowe’s quip struck a chord because…
Posted inBook Reviews
Book Review: ‘Cave Mountain: A Disappearance and a Reckoning in the Ozarks’ by Benjamin Hale
I thought I knew what I was getting into when I picked up Benjamin Hale’s Cave Mountain: A Disappearance and a Reckoning in the Ozarks (HarperCollins Publishers). It is billed as a combination of true crime and memoir; the author investigates an event that shook his personal history to draw connections to the broader world. Reading […]
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In the age of Live Nation, Iowa’s indie venues hang on by putting people over ticket fees
The last time you paid to see live music, you probably didn’t think much about the venue itself. You thought about the band, the traffic you would endure, whether you could get a drink before the opener finished. But the venue was thinking about you — whether the parking garage was running at capacity, about […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Matt Terronez — ‘Tell Me A Story’
Matt Terronez wants to tell you a story — one of true love, heartbreak and conflicted feelings. It plays out across the 10 tracks, or perhaps chapters, of his debut solo album, Tell Me A Story. But make no mistake, this is anything but the start of Terronez’s story, or his music career. Terronez came […]
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Painter Marcia Wegman’s final exhibition includes nods to Things & Things & Things, her beloved bygone Iowa City store
Marcia Wegman has been in the Iowa City zeitgeist since arriving here in 1957 to study printmaking with Mauricio Lasansky at the University of Iowa. Now at the age of 90, Marcia is presenting what she is calling her final show, one that also serves as an homage to her time running a beloved retail store in the heart […]
