In his discerning review for Defector, England argues that One Battle After Another lacks the heart and soul required of texts seemingly devoted to political revolt, a spectacle synonymous with many left-leaning signposts that rely on performances of politics, rather than action. His piece received substantial attention, most disputing England’s argument, but it was not the discourse that spurred my conversation with England. At the tail end of his review, England surprisingly mentions Iowa City…
Iowa City art
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The Stanley Museum of Art’s homecoming
In 2019, the University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art was celebrating its 50th anniversary. It also had been nearly 11 years without a home. The floods of 2008, which wreaked havoc across Iowa, hit Cedar Rapids and Iowa City the hardest. The Cedar and Iowa Rivers crested at 31.12 ft and 31.5 ft, respectively, […]
Posted inEastern Iowa
Cortado: Artistas inmigrantes dejan su huella en Iowa City
Iowa City podría ser vista como una ciudad de tránsito, una ciudad aeropuerto, en la que uno solo está de paso, entre uno y cuatro años, para luego mandarse a cambiar a otra ciudad distinta, dentro o fuera de los Estados Unidos. Y este rasgo de Iowa City se debe a la Universidad de Iowa, […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Andre’ Wright creates space in downtown Iowa City for BIPOC people to heal, create and protest
It was the kids who came up with the name. When designer and Humanize My Hoodie co-founder Andre’ Wright accepted an offer from Revival owner Sheila Davisson to make use of her then-vacant Ped Mall space, he didn’t have a name in mind. All he had was a vision, to “really show this community what […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Riverside Theatre offers peek into their future space, launches new capital campaign
In late summer 2017, a building on the Ped Mall owned by the Swisher Trust, home to Union Bar and Revival, went up for auction. Little Village got access to the top floor of the building, derelict and covered in haunting graffiti: demons, clowns, skeletons, and even a bit of apocalyptic street poetry. “No ghosts […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Art in the time of COVID-19: Elizabeth Moen
When Iowa City’s Elizabeth Moen dove into songwriting, it was head-first and no looking back. In the less than five years Moen’s been writing and recording, she’s released three albums, and has one in the wings. Her self-titled debut prompted our reviewer Kent Williams to write, “This is a remarkable first album, that seems to have come — as the best things sometimes do — out of nowhere.”
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Public Space One celebrates 16 years of making art ‘radically accessible’
Public Space One, also known as PS1, evokes the idea of the commons, a venerable tradition that allows all members of a society to have access to the same materials and spaces. “The name has always struck me as challenge,” said John Engelbrecht, PS1 director.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Visit Robert Longo’s ‘The Sleep’ on the anniversary of the Jonestown massacre
Iowa City has a public artwork inspired by the Jonestown massacre, according to New York City artist Robert Longo. His sculpture, The Sleep, was also inspired by a fashion photograph that the artist said he found in New York Times Magazine.
Posted inCommunity/News
‘I want to support artists’: Iowa Artisans Gallery highlights local artists in its Second Sunday Series
Iowa Artisans Gallery is a home for Midwestern and local art in Iowa City, and the next artist the gallery is spotlighting in its Second Sunday Series has deep Iowa roots. Painter Gordon Kellenberger lives and works in the Amana Colonies, where his family have been part of the community for four generations. Kellenberger’s pastel paintings are rich in color and usually feature Midwest landscapes.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
New tour and augmented reality app explore Ana Mendieta’s Iowa City
Artist Ana Mendieta came to Dubuque in 1961 at age 12 as a refugee from Cuba. She discovered her love of art there, navigating junior high school with limited other means of expression (her English was not yet good). But it was in Iowa City where her signature brand of bloody, violent and boldly feminist artwork was honed. She earned both a BA and an MA in painting as well as an MFA in intermedia at the University of Iowa, studying under Hans Breder, intermedia program founder who passed away last year.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Alphabet City fills RADinc with graffiti art
A one-week show of Midwest graffiti artists entitled “Alphabet City — Style Reading” will be at RADinc (123 E. Washington St) this week. It’s a temporary show that includes a collaborative mural by five artists: Mike Stenerson, Gary White, Kenny Morgan, Brian Schultz and Gage Cox.
Posted inCommunity/News
Home-like art installation coming to Black Hawk Mini Park
The Black Hawk Mini Park in downtown Iowa City will host a temporary art installation called the Prairie Box designed by Hannah Givler, a sculpture and design instructor at the University of Iowa, from August through the end of October. The plan was unanimously approved by the Iowa City Council last week.
