The LGBTQ Iowa Archives and Library opened the doors to its new home on the second floor of the Close House on April 9. With large, sunny windows, a reading nook and a children’s area, the space will allow for more programming and events. Previously, the archives and library was located in the basement of […]
Public Space One
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Wild, raw and human: Children of the Clay explore the visceral and delicate in ‘Think Pink!’
Before I entered the current show at Public Space One’s 229 Gilbert gallery, the following cultural references came to mind: my favorite childhood t-shirt, neon pink circa 1991, with fringe across the front; Aerosmith’s “Pink” followed by Janelle Monáe’s “Pynk”; Victoria’s Secret’s athleisure lingerie; and Pepto Bismol disks eaten after a bad egg on a […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Photo Gallery: Families gather for the Trans Day of Visibility Rally in Iowa City
Approximately 50 people gathered on the Public Space One Close House lawn for the Trans Day of Visibility on Saturday, April 2. The event was hosted by the LGBTQ Iowa Archives and Library, which will soon reopen its doors at the Close House. Speakers condemned the recent waves of anti-trans legislation in Iowa, including the […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Fuzzy Daydream is mixed media awash in meaning
In Fuzzy Daydream — an appropriate show to see after the holidays — artists Lydia Diemer, Betsy Hunt and Lindsey Schmitt consider consumption, memory, waste, repurposing and personal identity through textiles. The group offered a virtual artist talk on Jan. 3, and what stood out to me was how much the pandemic loomed in the […]
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Exploring the Great Migration: Axis V installation at PS1 brings past into present
Axis V, on display at Public Space One‘s 229 N Gilbert St location, is a site-specific multimedia work by current Center for Afrofuturist Studies resident Bleue Liverpool, a New York-based interdisciplinary artist. The piece, according to copy provided, “conceptually transfigures the infrastructure of the gallery into a navigational axis line … travers[ing] both intimate geography […]
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Public Space One purchases historic Iowa City mansion
Public Space One bought a mansion. To be more specific, PS1 is expanding into the Close House, a historic building on the well-trekked corner of South Gilbert and Bowery streets in downtown Iowa City. The purchase marks a bold new chapter for the arts nonprofit, which spent the better part of the last decade in […]
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‘I hope it’s gonna be a catalyst’: City dedicates the Oracles of Iowa City mural
The Oracles of Iowa City mural is finally completed after months of work. The figures stand tall over East Burlington Street with two stark messages: “Black joy needs no permission” and “Weaponize your privilege to save Black bodies.” Artists Antoine Williams and Donté K. Hayes designed the nearly 70-foot murals that now decorate the Capitol […]
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The Iowa City Artists Registry is a great idea with a ‘clunky’ website and room to grow
The Iowa City Artists Registry, which the city’s Neighborhood Outreach division maintains as part of the Public Art Program, is intended to assist local artists by connecting them with the community as well as art organizations and venues. But since it went online in February, the registry is still struggling to get attention from both […]
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Watch: The art of an all-day art-a-thon
Searching for new ways to share art during the pandemic, Public Space One decided to reinvent the telethon — raising money like old-fashioned telethons, but also celebrating the work of the artists it collaborates with. PS1 Director John Engelbrecht said that for the 24-hour event, artists were asked to “share inside your studio, or share […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Public Space One gets flexible with its new spaces and online programming
Public Space One, over a variety of forms and spaces, has provided a home for art and artists in Iowa City for almost two decades. The newest chapter for the organization was just beginning as the COVID-19 pandemic reached Iowa and made in-person events and shared workspaces unsafe. Last year, PS1 purchased two houses at […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Watch: One trashy art show
Post Consumer Content, a series of art installations curated by artist Louise Fisher, featured the work of five area artists over the course of five weeks in July and August. Each week, one artist displayed work outside Public Space One that took used items most would discard, and showed how art can reveal the possibilities […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Watch: Kymbyrly Koesters tends to the artsiest garden in Iowa City
“Gardening is art and art is gardening,” Kymbyrly Koesters told Little Village. As artist/gardener in residence for Public Space One, Koesters has transformed the sod around the nonprofit’s new home into a space where nature, art and social issues meet. “I’ve always seen and understood how gardens reflect art and activism and change,” she said.
