READ THE LATEST | SUPPORT LITTLE VILLAGE | SHOP PERKS THE WEEKENDER Your weekly editor-curated arts compendium Spend your long weekend taking in all the region has to offer, from phenomenal operas to community potlucks! Top pick? The release show for William J Locker’s sophomore effort, Friday night at xBk. Enjoy! Jasper Winery The Nadas […]
Central Iowa
Posted inEastern Iowa Community/News
The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, rescinding a right for the first time in its history
“As of today, this Court holds, a State can always force a woman to give birth, prohibiting even the earliest abortions,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote, summing up what the Republican-appointed majority on the U.S. Supreme Court did in its decision Friday that stripped Americans of the federally protected right to abortion. “A State can thus […]
Posted inCentral Iowa
An Indianola farm girl finds her way with animal pottery
Folk ceramic creator Caroline Freese found her love for animals and art starting at a young age on a farm in Indianola, Iowa. Art has been a driving force for her since then, into college and now owning a studio with orders coming in quicker than she can create. Freese is returning to Art Fest […]
Posted inCentral Iowa Community/News
Five questions with Megan Casey and Jamie Lamb of Paws & Pints, a ‘doggy Disneyland’ in DSM
Des Moines dog-owners have been anxiously awaiting the opening of Paws & Pints, an indoor-outdoor dog park complete with a bar, grooming center, doggie daycare, and restaurant that serves food for both humans and pups. Little Village sat down with co-owner, Megan Casey, and marketing director, Jamie Lamb, ahead of the soft opening of the […]
Posted inWeekender
Weekender Central Iowa! Des Moines Arts Festival, Tank Anthony, Rainbow Safari, and ArtsFest Midwest
READ THE LATEST | SUPPORT LITTLE VILLAGE | SHOP PERKS THE WEEKENDER Your weekly editor-curated arts compendium Congratulations to the Des Moines Arts Festival, which celebrates 25 years this weekend! They’re bringing in performers like G Love & Special Sauce and William Elliott Whitmore to their stages to complement 188 of the nation’s best artists. […]
Posted inCentral Iowa
Five questions with: Basket maker Ibechaobi Leishangthem
Ibechaobi Leishangthem (Ibe to her friends) moved into her house in Grimes with her family in October of 2020. In the middle of the pandemic, the Manipur, India native was looking for something to do that would also make their new house feel a little more like home. So she turned to basket-making. Not long […]
Posted inCentral Iowa
Art was Robert Moore’s ‘saving grace.’ Now his work graces T-shirts, walls and buildings in Iowa and beyond
A boy with a hidden talent fell into the wrong group of people, leading him down a scary path. His job in corporate IT and project management left him feeling empty. It took Robert Moore going to the hospital in 2019 after a night of too much drinking for him to turn his life around […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
‘We never do anything remarkable just for ourselves’: ‘Buffalo Women’ opens on Juneteenth
Three minutes to curtain on June 19, 2022, the Kate Goldman Theatre at the Des Moines Playhouse was mostly full. The blackbox was decked in a sparse yet effective smattering of western themed set pieces and there was an excited hum emanating from the audience about what was to come. Buffalo Women, which was produced […]
Posted inCentral Iowa
Iowa Supreme Court slashes abortion rights protections, Reynolds calls decision ‘a significant victory’
Just four years after its landmark decision establishing the fundamental right to an abortion as not only protected by the Iowa Constitution, but having greater protection under the state constitution than under the U.S. Constitution, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the right is not in the Iowa Constitution, allowing a state-mandated 24-hour […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Central Iowa, Central Iowa Arts & Entertainment
‘Buffalo Women’ offers a new conversation on Black female camaraderie, set against a Juneteenth backdrop
Buffalo Women, which opens this Sunday, Juneteenth, is a new play by Omaha-based playwright Beaufield Berry. Subtitled “A Black Cowgirl Musical Dramedy,” the play tells the story of how five Black women, including interpretations of historical figures, find solidarity with one another and use the strength of sisterhood to overcome adversities of motherhood, racism, new-found […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Jo Allen celebrates being both Black and queer with Pride and Soul skate night
Pride and Juneteenth have so many intersections to navigate. Jo Allen has challenged Des Moines to take those roads and realize that every marginalized community in the city are fighting for the same rights against the same people. “I was just recognizing that there wasn’t anybody that was doing something that focused on the intersections […]
Posted inCentral Iowa
Ride your toad into battle: The Rook Room encourages adults to play games, get creative
Because of their similar sounding surnames, their shared love of board games and their charming banter, Annelise Tarnowski and Tony Tandeski almost seem like siblings. But the pair of best friends met while volunteering for the Drake Alumni Board. It was there they realized that they had a lot more in common. “After most meetings, […]
