It all started with a vision: to highlight a style of dance that originated in the streets of New York during the early 1970s. Breakdancing evolved as music was transitioning from disco to hip hop, pioneered by the Black and Puerto Rican communities in New York City and spreading quickly across the country and the […]
Central Iowa
Posted inCentral Iowa
The couple behind new shop Thistle’s Summit encourage Des Moines to eat, drink, be gay and get witchy
After bidding adieu to their Eastern Iowa bed and breakfast in 2020, partners Marti Payseur and Ash Bruxvoort are carrying its spirit forward in a new downtown Des Moines bakery/retail space. Payseur — the owner, recipe developer and baker for Thistle’s Summit — and Bruxvoort — an ancestral astrologist, earth intuitive and herbalist — have […]
Posted inCentral Iowa
Dana James: State rankings lists are out once again. Here’s where Iowa (actually) stands.
Here we go again. Yet another news company propped Iowa up on a pedestal. Iowa fell a bit this year on the 2022 annual rankings by CNBC, but still ranked No. 12 on a list of America’s best states for business and No. 10 on a list of America’s best states to live. You’ll find […]
Posted inWeekender
Weekender Central Iowa! Upcycle | Marc Maron | Bookstore Romance Day
READ THE LATEST | SUPPORT LITTLE VILLAGE | SHOP PERKS THE WEEKENDER Your weekly editor-curated arts compendium Whether you’re enjoying the last days of the state fair or hanging around in town, there are plenty of opportunities for you to learn, listen, laugh and play! Top pick of the weekend? Catch comedian and interviewer extraordinaire Marc Maron in what […]
Posted inCentral Iowa
‘It’s just the most Iowan thing’: A day at the Iowa State Fair with fair mega-fans, the Stumps
Since his freshman year of high school in 1969, Gary Stump has not missed an Iowa State Fair. “I had a girlfriend whose father worked at the fair and he got free tickets for everything,” Stump recalls. “And then when I was in college, a friend of mine worked there and he was able to […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Five questions with: Bestselling crime author Karin Slaughter
To promote her new book, Girl, Forgotten, the aptly named Karin Slaughter will be visiting Des Moines on Wednesday, Aug. 24 as a part of the Des Moines Public Library’s Authors Visiting in Des Moines series (AViD). The Georgia native and Save the Libraries founder’s newest novel is the sequel to Pieces of Her, a […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Contact Buzz: The history of the Iowa State Fair’s old, inclusive art show
Shawn Palek doesn’t enter competitions any longer. Lately, he prefers to sponsor shows and competitions for emerging artists, mentoring many. He continues to paint new works, with many murals to his credit. But in the early 2000s, the contemporary visual artist and arts advocate decided to venture into the Iowa State Fair Fine Arts Competition. […]
Posted inCentral Iowa, Central Iowa Community/News, Community/News
Deep in a Des Moines golf course sits a haunted observatory with a far-out history
The Drake Municipal Observatory is probably the only scientific facility of its kind more familiar to local golfers than local school kids. Since 1921, it’s sat between the green on the 17th hole of Waveland Golf Course and the tee of the 18th. It’s an anomalous presence among the fairways and the nearby tennis courts, […]
Posted inWeekender
Weekender Central Iowa! Iowa State Fair | Local Author Fair | Local Emo Night
READ THE LATEST | SUPPORT LITTLE VILLAGE | SHOP PERKS THE WEEKENDER Your weekly editor-curated arts compendium With the Iowa State Fair starting up this week, it’s hard to have anything else on your radar! Rest assured, though: Even if you’re not taking in the fair, there are more than enough activities to help you get through this weekend […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Des Moines installs ‘art corridors’ along five bike trails, showcasing local artists
New art installations have changed the view along five of Des Moines’ popular bike trails. These “art corridors” include panels mounted to a line of metal posts, angled towards pedestrians and cyclists zipping down the trail. “If you’re familiar with kinetic art, or elliptic lenticular art, where no matter how you’re moving, you get to […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Des Moines Fire Department, IMPACT collect fans and A/C units to beat the heat
With temperatures lingering in the high 80s and 90s, creating heightened risk for heat-related illness, community action organization IMPACT has teamed up with the Des Moines Fire Department to provide families with a cooling solution. IMPACT asks the community to donate new fans and air conditioners to 11 fire departments during business hours. Station 1 […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
‘My Fair Lady,’ a problematic classic with amazing production, comes to Des Moines
My Fair Lady, presented by Lincoln Center Theater, opened at the Civic Center in Des Moines Tuesday night and almost every row was filled. The musical is an adaptation on George Bernard Shaw’s 1913 play Pygmalion, involving a professor of phonetics training a poor woman with a thick working class accent to pass as a […]
