READ THE LATEST | SUPPORT LITTLE VILLAGE | SHOP PERKS THE WEEKENDER Your weekly editor-curated arts compendium The weekend is almost here, so plan carefully what you’re going to do each day to stay out of the cold. Catch some music at places like xBk, Gas Lamp, Platform, Noce and more. Hear music from the […]
Central Iowa Arts & Entertainment
Five questions with Kelly Baum, Des Moines Art Center’s new director, who’s looking forward to the future of art history
After longtime Des Moines Art Center director Jeff Fleming announced last year that he would step away after a quarter century, the question of who could replace him quickly arose. Now, as the Art Center begins its 75th anniversary year, the answer has come in the form of Dr. Kelly Baum, who was announced as […]
Liz Lidgett Gallery threads together four artists ‘pushing the boundaries of textile-based artwork’ in new exhibit
The Liz Lidgett Gallery and Design opened a new group show, “Textiles,” on Feb. 24, featuring 20 textile-based pieces that can brighten the darkest of rooms. “Each work will make you stop in place to contemplate and try to discover more about the technique and brilliance of the artist,” according to the show’s description. The gallery […]
Weekender Central Iowa! Mad God | Wine, Food & Beer Showcase | Big City Ball
Need a reason to get dressed up? Grab that outfit you’ve been saving and head out Friday to experience over 40 restaurants, caterers, wineries, breweries and distilleries from around the area at Des Moines Metro Opera’s…
Ballet Des Moines earned their right to perform a Balanchine classic, debuting Friday: ‘It is really just a badge of honor’
Ballet Des Moines will bring elements of classical and contemporary dance to Iowa with its performance of Balanchine+ this Friday and Saturday at Hoyt Sherman Place. The piece’s title refers to George Balanchine, co-founder and founding choreographer of New York City Ballet. The company will perform Balanchine’s Who Cares?, a beautiful jazz-tinged dance unbound by […]
Weekender Central Iowa! The Hundred Dresses | Ballet Des Moines: Balanchine+ | Feminine Wiles Burlesque Revue
This Thursday, learn about important topics that affect our communities at the Be Heard Youth Townhall (Des Moines Central Library) or at the Culture and Society Colloquium with Prof. Nell Gabiam of Iowa State (Cowels Library, Drake University)…
Weekender Central Iowa! The Dip | Gabriel Espinosa’s ASHANTI | Elision EP Release
On Thursday, head on down to the Des Moines Public Library to learn about the Inner Light Sanctuary near Carlisle, who’s mission is to rescue farm animals. On Friday, you can also join Des Moines’ coffee painter, Betty Walker…
Contact Buzz: Create your heart out across Central Iowa
Few countries have monetized making an annual expression of love more than America. Thankfully, true love does not place the almighty dollar as the main ingredient for its most alluring recipe. The arts offer a myriad of avenues to explore variant facets of love. Just as the beauty of nature is always around us, if […]
Two Des Moines theater companies, founded a century apart, join forces to stage August Wilson’s ‘The Piano Lesson’
When last year’s revival of August Wilson’s 1987 play The Piano Lesson closed on Broadway on Jan. 29, it was the highest grossing show that week. In fact, the production, which opened Oct. 13, became the highest grossing play revival and highest grossing Wilson play on Broadway. Wilson is regularly among the most-produced playwrights in […]
Paint this staircase: Des Moines artists wanted for neighborhood beautification project
Even if you pass it every day on Ingersoll Avenue in Des Moines, you may not have noticed the staircase. Lauren Kollauf wants to change that. “People have probably walked by or driven by this staircase and not really noticed it, it’s drab … and when you go up the staircase, it’s not entirely clear […]
Weekender Central Iowa! Forbidden Broadway | God of Carnage | Ax and the Hatchetmen
READ THE LATEST | SUPPORT LITTLE VILLAGE | SHOP PERKS THE WEEKENDER Your weekly editor-curated arts compendium Black History Month is upon us. Learn about the Black culture that once thrived in downtown Des Moines on Center Street at Mainframe Studios with their First Friday event. That culture continues with a celebration of Black artists and their contributions to […]
A new Oakridge mural celebrates the life of 14-year-old Yore Jieng
Six years following the death of 14-year-old Yore Jieng, who was killed by a stray bullet while riding in his older sister’s car, a new mural in the Oakridge Neighborhood will memorialize his life. This is the second mural dedicated to Jieng. Des Moines-native Jordan Weber designed and painted “King Yore I,” which was completed […]

