Maquoketa artist Rose Frantzen was recently awarded one of the highest honors in portrait painting. Out of 2,200 submissions, Frantzen’s piece Last Light won the Grand Prize in the Portrait Society of America’s 2026 International Portrait Competition. When Frantzen accepted the award on April 11 in Atlanta, she described Last Light as “a love letter […]
Iowa artists
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Queer history, pop culture and computers helped Iowa artist Ben Millett cover a gallery in quilts
Ben Millett’s quilts are tactile records, coded with color, memory and meaning. They look soft because they are, but their softness doesn’t dull their message. Instead, it amplifies it. On July 26, 2025, the Des Moines Art Center will open its first-ever quilt-based solo exhibition, “Iowa Artists 2025: Ben Millett,” a showcase of about 20 […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The pair of artists behind Des Moines’ Pride murals, Cat Rocketship and Dani Awesome, have a colorful love story
Artists Cat Rocketship and Dani Awesome have created some big, head-turning work together: massive rainbow murals in the East Village and Historic Valley Junction; human-sized Iowa wildlife painted along a bike trail in West Des Moines; pop-up art markets and a pair of Etsy shops with over 7,000 sales of original prints, stickers, jewelry and […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: Mainframe’s earth-centric First Friday centered stark realities and real reptiles
From month to month, Mainframe Studios in Des Moines is always changing. With each First Friday event, the sprawling creative hub sheds one artistic skin to reveal another. April’s energetic and interactive showcase “Diverse by Design” gave way this May to something quieter, deeper and more reflective. On May 2, 2025, Mainframe welcomed visitors from […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The importance of being Colleen Ernst
Colleen Ernst did not blend in, even in 1980s Iowa City. She was imposingly tall, with brightly dyed red hair, multicolored plastic glasses and homemade earrings. I met her because my sons were in a home daycare with her son Max, named for the surrealist artist Max Ernst. She’s best known now for striking up […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The million-matchstick masterpieces of Iowan Pat Acton
If you’re visiting Gladbrook in Tama County, it’s probably for Matchstick Marvels. And the nice people of Gladbrook know it — they’ve put “Home of Matchstick Marvels” on both of the city’s welcome signs. Matchstick Marvels is the hometown museum of one of Iowa’s most prominent folk artists, Pat Acton, who works primarily with wooden […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Basi Affia and other Black Iowa creators developing sci-fi ‘motion comic’
Afrofuturistic comic author Basi Affia is back with more intergalactic Black love in his new motion comic Lost With All Hands . Its release moves the Des Moines artist also known as Aniekan White closer to his dreams of animation. “This is just me kind of testing out the waters, learning the system,” he said. […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Sundara Tattoo owner Rayna Ross is a master of Mehndi — both henna and permanent ink
You may not find your path on your own time, if at all. Some give up, others find it later in life. Then you have those who’ve been on their own path since age 15, like Rayna Ross. Indian tattoo artist Ross has shaken the Central Iowa tattoo scene by utilizing her skill and background […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
What to see (for free!) at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art this summer
Summer heat got you down? Consider cooling off with A/C and art. Starting Friday, July 1 and continuing through Sept. 4, entry to the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art will be free to all for the 13th year in a row. This summer the museum’s curator Kate Kunau has put together a “fun, vibrant collection […]
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 inCommunity/News
Shop local online from these eastern Iowa artisans
When the “shop small” ethos combines with a slow supply chain and the urge to huddle at home, a lot of shoppers turn to Etsy. Turns out, you can do that and keep your pennies in your local community! Explore this baker’s dozen of fantastic online shops that craft in (and ship from!) Eastern Iowa. […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Art in the time of COVID-19: Miss Christine
This series, Art in the time of COVID-19, highlights musicians and artists in eastern Iowa whose life and work have been upended by the spread of the novel coronavirus in the state. If you would like to recommend someone to be featured in this space, please reach out to Little Village. Christine Moad, Singer/Songwriter The […]
