Iowa City art Archives | Little Village

New tour and augmented reality app explore Ana Mendieta’s Iowa City

Posted on Apr 27, 2018 by Genevieve Trainor

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. […]

Alphabet City fills RADinc with graffiti art

Posted on Aug 19, 2017 by Jiyun Park

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. […]

Home-like art installation coming to Black Hawk Mini Park

Posted on Jul 24, 2017 by Emma Husar

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. […]

Updated: PS1’s annual Awkward Portal auctions area art

Posted on Nov 9, 2016 by Genevieve Trainor

Awkward Portal art auction and community potluck Public Space One — Saturday, Nov. 12 at 6 p.m. UPDATE: The auction will now be exhibited through Friday, Nov. 18. The originally planned closing event on Saturday, Nov. 12 has been changed to a community potluck focused on art action and creating a safe place for discussion, […]

IC’s Luther Bangert surprised to find himself the subject of Lagunitas marketing campaign

Posted on Sep 2, 2016 by Tim Taranto

So a juggler walks into a bar and orders a beer, and the bartender pours him one, but he’s astonished by what he sees at the bottom of his glass — there on the coaster is the image of a man juggling beers while swallowing a sword, a man well-known to most eastern Iowans: Luther […]

Ciao Chait: An Iowa City institution closes its doors in retirement

Posted on Jun 2, 2016 by Anna Haglin

Final Retrospective: Benjamin Chait Opening reception for the sixth and final artist retrospective at the gallery Chait Galleries — Friday, June 3 at 5 p.m. (Showing through June 15). As Chait Galleries prepares to close on June 15, everyone is asking the same question: Where will we go now? For 14 years, Chait has been […]

Dawn Frary’s pastoral psychedelia at White Rabbit

Posted on May 17, 2016 by Kassia Lisinski

Did you ever watch Six Feet Under? Do you remember that part where the mom accidentally drops ecstasy and trips enthusiastically through a now enchanted woodland? Stepping into the White Rabbit from a spring Iowa downpour, that’s all I can think of upon discovering (former LV photo editor) Dawn Frary’s Vibration Frequencies of the Spirit […]

New deal: Interactive public art installation comes to downtown

Posted on Apr 19, 2016 by Tim Taranto

When it became clear that a sewer renovation project on Washington Street in downtown Iowa City would obscure the streetscape for nearly eight months, the Iowa City Downtown District turned to local artist Thomas Agran for help. Agran has been responsible for the murals at both the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City New Pioneer Co-op […]

Chait Galleries to close in June

Posted on Mar 8, 2016 by Lucy Morris

Chait Galleries Downtown (218 E. Washington St.) announced today that it will be shuttering on June 15, when owner Benjamin Chait retires. A Gallery Retrospective-themed series will be held on six Fridays in the lead-up to the gallery’s closing. The Mar. 18 event, Our Go-To Artists, will include work by Sarah Slee Brown, Nancy Lindsay, […]

‘Tracing the Paths Between Sprout and Rot’ art exhibit explores resilience and decay

Posted on Mar 5, 2016 by Kassia Lisinski

Tracing the Paths Between Sprout and Rot: Work by Emily Jalinsky and Frances Cannon The Paper Nest — through Apr. 29; hours: Wed.–Fri. 1–6 p.m. and Sat. 12–4 p.m. Iowa City artists Emily Jalinsky and Frances Cannon have cross-pollinated a collection of scientific curios that will be on exhibit at the Paper Nest until Apr. […]

Humanity on the inside: Artist Benjamin Wills reaches behind bars for inspiration

Posted on Feb 19, 2016 by Anne Easker

When Benjamin Wills picked up the phone in 2011 and heard that a friend from his music scene received a 25-year prison sentence, he was with his dad, a man 25 years older than himself. “I looked over at him, and it was like, if this was me, the next time I got out of […]

A farewell to Stone Pharaohs

Posted on Feb 10, 2016 by Genevieve Trainor

Closing Reception: Phil Ochs’ Stone Pharaohs Little Village HQ — Friday, Feb. 12 at 5 p.m. Drawings and paintings by local artist Phil Ochs have been on display at the new Little Village office since its opening in December. The series, Stone Pharaohs, depicts buildings in the Iowa City area that either are slated to […]