Young girl wearing the flag of Sudan at the Pentacrest protest on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. — Jason Smith/Little Village
Like 2020, this year was dominated by COVID-19 and bad decisions by state officials regarding the pandemic. Like last year, 2021 ends without the Iowa Department of Public Health hiring a full-time director, but now it is also lacking a medical director and state epidemiologist. Also like 2020, the year comes to end with the Iowa State Auditor and the Inspector General’s Office of the U.S. Treasury Department reporting Gov. Kim Reynolds has misused federal pandemic relief funds.
But the widespread distribution of COVID-19 vaccines helped many things get back to almost normal, and some favorite local events that were canceled or went virtual in 2020 due to the pandemic returned.
In the fall, Cedar Rapids elected a new mayor, as did Coralville. Iowa City voters reelected their mayor to the city council. (Iowa City is one of the few cities in the state where the mayor is a city councilmember selected by other councilmembers to serve in that role for a two-year term.) This year’s city and school board elections were the first since the legislature passed a new law restricting voting and access to the ballot, which Republican leaders claimed was necessary based on the lies Trump supporters repeat about the 2020 election.
Donald Trump’s shadow loomed over Iowa Republicans in 2021, as he returned to Des Moines for a rally where Reynolds, Sen. Chuck Grassley and the state’s other leading Republicans pledged their allegiance to him. Meanwhile, the QAnon conspiracy enthusiasts united around lies about Trump and lies Trump peddles to his most gullible followers, grew from just a subculture of cranks — including one who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 — to an emerging force in Iowa conservative politics.
A new commission to provide oversight on policing started its work in Cedar Rapids, and after internal fighting, a temporary suspension and differences with the city council, the Iowa City Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission was preparing to get underway with its work of documenting systemic racism. Meanwhile, in Des Moines, the Republican-led Iowa Legislature passed a “Back the Blue” bill, which expanded legal protections that often stop police officers from being held accountable and increased penalties for protest-related offenses, and another bill limiting training on issues involving racism and sexism.
Some promising new restaurants and businesses opened this year, and some favorites closed. A longtime center of Iowa City’s unique culture closed, and another that closed in 2020 is scheduled to be torn down early in 2022. But the vast fields and flowing rivers of the Hawkeye State offered sweetescapes from it all (or at least most of it), even though Iowans were still faced with the consequences of decades of bad policies boosting Big Ag that follow anyone just trying to enjoy some quiet moments in nature.
The Republican-appointed justices of the U.S. Supreme Court are preparing to end the constitutional protections provided to those seeking an abortion, while the Iowa Legislature works to remove the even stronger abortion rights provided by the Iowa Constitution. The latest effort by the legislature and Gov. Reynolds to undermine the rights of transgender Iowans, however, was stopped by the courts, when a judge found it violated by the Iowa Civil Rights Act and the state constitution.
As a long year draws to a close, Little Village asked our videographer Jason Smith and our multimedia reporter Adria Carpenter to select some of their favorite images from their work this year, which you’ll find, along with images from contributors Chad Rhym and Tate Hildyard.
Self-taught Iowa City artist Heith Banowetz is photographed during a Little Village Studio Visit in March 2021. Banowetz crafts portraits using “humble” materials like pen, pencil and charcoal. — Jason Smith/Little Village
LaTasha DeLoach and her twins, Nathan and Lauren, pose for a portrait on Sunday, March 28, 2021. LaTasha, director of the Iowa City Senior Center, shared her experience parenting during the pandemic. “I wanted to cry, to scream, to just laugh,” she said. — Chad Rhym/Little Village
Visual artist Talya Mille is photographed during a Little Village Studio Visit in June 2021. “Kindness is a huge aspect of my work,” Miller said. But not “that fluffy idea of ‘Iowa nice.’” — Jason Smith/Little Village
Iowa City Mayor Bruce Teague hands out campaign shirts with his nieces Ariana James (left) and Candice Gordon (right) outside the Chauncey in downtown Iowa City during a Juneteenth Barbecue on Thursday, June 17, 2021. The event was sponsored by the local Teamsters union and was capped off with a screening of Miss Juneteenth sponsored by FilmScene. — Tate Hildyard/Little Village
Peyton Meiers skateboards at Terrell Mill Park in May 2021 in Iowa City, Iowa. Meiers, who has skateboarded for over 18 years, said that Terrell Mill has made his skating more unique, fast-paced and spontaneous. — Jason Smith/Little Village
A view from above the Iowa City Jazz Festival on Saturday, July 3, 2021. — Jason Smith/Little Village
Attendees play volleyball at the annual Block Party, held by the Iowa City Downtown District, on Saturday, July 24, 2021. The event, now in its fourth year, was cancelled last year due to the pandemic. — Jason Smith/Little Village
Nora Jean Wallace performs during the Soul and Blues Festival in downtown Iowa City on Saturday, July 31, 2021. — Jason Smith/Little Village
Katrina Benning stands in her home, severely damaged in last year’s derecho, on Sunday, July 25, 2021, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Benning and her partner Jeremiah Hopkins’ house was destroyed when a large tree fell through the middle of their home. “It’s been a wild ride,” she said. “I would say that yes, we’re stronger than ever. We’ve gone through hell together. I can’t imagine facing this with anyone else.” — Chad Rhym/Little Village
An old metal windmill peaks out behind a filed of sunflowers at the Sunflower Experience at Pheasant Run Farm in Belle Plaine, Iowa, on Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021. — Adria Carpenter/Little Village
Students protest University of Iowa’s Phi Gamma Delta fraternity on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021, in Iowa City, Iowa. More than 2,000 students gathered following an alleged sexual assault by members of the fraternity last year, calling for the university to close down the fraternity.— Adria Carpenter/Little Village
COGS holds a die-in protest at the Pentacrest on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, in Iowa City, Iowa. “COGS is here to demand better COVID policies across campus. Things like vaccine and mask mandates as well as creating alternatives for teaching and learning online, other things that will save lives, prevent disease,” said Caleb Klipowicz, a doctoral student in Sociocultural Anthropology. — Adria Carpenter/Little Village
Slim Chance & The Can’t Hardly Playboys performance at Wildwood in Iowa City, Iowa, on Friday, September 3, 2021. — Jason Smith/Little Village
The Fund Excluded Workers Coalition occupies a American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) public input session held by Johnson County’s ARPA leadership team on Monday, Sept. 13, 2021, in Coralville, Iowa. For months, FEWC has been petitioning both the Iowa City Council and the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to provide relief to excluded and essential workers. — Adria Carpenter/Little Village
The Close House, a historic landmark on 538 S Gilbert St in Iowa City and the home of Public Space One, on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021. — Jason Smith/Little Village
Community volunteers helped paint in the newest mural on Gilbert Court in celebration of Iowa City Climate Fest, on Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021. The mural was designed by Erika Danner, and it celebrates the role of composting and healthy soil on the environment. — Adria Carpenter/Little Village
Drag queens and kings perform during the Pride Royalty Drag Show at Iowa City’s 50th Pride Celebration on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021. — Adria Carpenter/Little Village
Former President Donald Trump speaks to a crowd at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines on Oct. 9, 2021. Trump repeated the lie that the election was rigged and stolen. — Jason Smith/Little Village
Dave Moore plays at the final performance ever at Uptown Bills in Iowa City, Iowa, on Sunday, October 17, 2021 — Jason Smith/Little Village
Sunny Gilbert carries her bike up Mt. Krumpit at Jingle Cross Cyclo-Cross Festival in Iowa City, Iowa, on Saturday, October, 16, 2021. Gilbert placed second in the Elite Women’s race on Day 2. — Adria Carpenter/Little Village
Sneha Bhansali fixes her rear tire at the Bike Library’s WTF Night on Tuesday Oct. 5, 2021, in Iowa City, Iowa. Bhansali, as well as Bike Library volunteers Annette Vernon (background) and Jenna McCoy, all had stories of stolen bicycles in Iowa City. — Adria Carpenter/Little Village
Participants learn to use synthesizers and collaborate with the recordings of Dieter Moebius during the Moog Interactive Workshop during Witching Hour on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021, in Iowa City, Iowa. The festival is presented by Little Village Magazine & the Englert Theatre. — Adria Carpenter/Little Village
Iowa City Community School District students and supporters hold a walk-out protest at the Pentacrest and march through the streets of downtown on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021, in Iowa City, Iowa. Students protested racism within the district and what they consider the failure of schools and district administration to address it. — Adria Carpenter/Little Village.
Community members join nationwide protests across the country to advocate for the preservation of aboriton rights, on Saturday Dec. 4, 2021. The United States Supreme Court has heard oral arguments in a case from Mississippi, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, that threatens to overturn Roe v. Wade. — Adria Carpenter/Little Village
The Johnson County Board of Supervisors meet to discuss the Sheriff’s Office budget, which includes an item for the purchase of a Bearcat vehicle, on Monday, Dec. 6, 2021. Community members gathered in the board room to protest the Bearcat and the department’s existing MRAP vehicle. — Adria Carpenter/Little Village
Xtream Arena hosts Skate & Donate, an event to support the Coralville Community Food Pantry on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021, in Coralville, Iowa. People paid $10 to skate for two hours and can donate hygienic items to waive the $5 skate rental fee. — Adria Carpenter/Little Village
