With just five weeks remaining until the grand opening of the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, officials announce the details of an exciting, fun-filled two-day festival to celebrate the new museum and library on Saturday, July 14 and Sunday, July 15.

"We are throwing a big party for the people of Cedar Rapids and Iowa, along with members, friends and Czech and Slovaks across the country," said President/CEO Gail Naughton. "We want to come together to celebrate our grand recovery and remember and rejoice in what we have accomplished in just four years, one month and one day since the flood."

The opening will include the premiere of three new exhibitions: the blockbuster, "Alphonse Mucha: Inspirations of Art Nouveau," that will continue through Dec. 31; "Weird & Wonderful: Award Winning Art for Children's Books," an exhibit from Slovakia featuring 73 Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava (BIB) award-winning children's book illustrators from around the world. The colorful, whimsical artworks, which will charm the young and young-at-heart, will be on display through Oct. 7.

For the third new exhibit, textiles that were damaged in the 2008 flood will return to the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library. Painstakingly restored at the Chicago Conservation Center, richly embellished folk costumes (kroje), scarves, ritual cloths and household linens will star again in the exhibit, "It All Comes Out in the Wash."

"When the flood hit, we thought we might lose the immigrant home and watch it float down the river in pieces. But surprisingly, the 130 plus year old structure survived intact, in part due to the solid construction and strong plaster walls, but I suspect in most part due to the skill of the builders so many years ago," said Naughton. The home where five generations of the Sleger family lived has always been a favorite among visitors.  In the fall of 2011, the Sleger home was moved closer to the expanded building and completely restored to the 1900 time period.

Along with touring the exhibits and the building, visitors may listen to several speakers inside Heritage Hall including John Mucha, grandson of Alphonse Mucha; Tomoko Sato, curator at the Mucha Foundation; artist Sonya Darrow of LadyFits discussing folk dresses; Vít Ho?ejš of the Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre of New York and Jerry Patzwald discussing the history of Staropramen, a Czech beer. Films about Mucha and the building's monumental move will be showing in the new theatre.

On the terrace, Babi's Bakery, sponsored by the National Czech & Slovak Museum Guild, will sell kolá?e and other ethnic baked items. For youngsters, a creation station will begin at noon in the new classroom. Children of all ages may create a variety of make-and-take crafts.

Saturday, outdoors on the museum grounds, visitors will find a host of entertainment and cultural activities. The concert stage will present the "Czech Plus Band" and the "Craig Erickson Band" featuring Natalie Brown, followed by the headline event, "Caravan of Thieves" from Connecticut at 7 p.m.

The outdoor amphitheatre will feature six authentic folk dance troupes from throughout the Midwest. Visitors will enjoy a hog roast with all the fixings, plus beer, water and soft drinks, all of which will be available for purchase. A grand finale of the evening will be a colorful, custom-designed, illuminated video covering the entire front of the building beginning at 9:45 p.m. Created by Matthew Kluber and John Richard, with technical support from Sound Concepts of Cedar Rapids, this original show set to the music of Smetana will celebrate the renewal of this important cultural landmark with images, text, light, color and sound. The title of the work is "Nesmírnost" (Czech and Slovak for immensity), for the immensity of the flood and the immensity of the spirit, determination and effort to rebuild and renew the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library.

Sunday, activities begin with a building blessing featuring clergy from six area churches that have been historically associated with the Czech and Slovak heritage of the city. Attendees are encouraged to bring a flower to place near the building and, after the blessing, guests may take a different flower home. The day continues with Babi's Bakery, creation station for children, ice cream social, children's activity tent and a food and beverage tent featuring hot sandwiches. Bohemian swing vocalist and musician George Grossman of Orlando, FL will perform on the concert stage.

The day's highlight event will be two performances of "The White Doe" by the Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre at 1 and 3 p.m. in Heritage Hall. Based out of New York City, this theatre group performed at the first grand opening in 1995.  Two foot colorful puppets will entertain both youngsters and adults alike. At 5 p.m. the festival and museum close.

Large Scale Illuminated Video Culminates Saturday Activities

A large-scale video projection set to music will illuminate the front of the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library at 9:45 p.m. on Saturday, July 14. The video will celebrate the renewal of this important cultural landmark with images, text, light, color and sound. Titled, "Nesmírnost" (the Czech and Slovak word for immensity), the work represents the immensity of the flood and the immensity of the spirit, determination and effort to rebuild and renew the museum and library.

"We didn't want to do a round of fireworks just 10 days after Independence Day, so the idea of a giant light show on the entire face of the building was much more exciting to us," said Diana Baculis, marketing and communications director.

Matthew Kluber and John Richard created the video, with technical support from Sound Concepts of Cedar Rapids. Richard, a native of Iowa City, began his career as a photojournalist and has now shifted his focus toward film and video production.  His work has appeared in numerous publications including Slate.com, USA Today, The Washington Post, and ESPN. He is currently working in collaboration with UNESCO and the University of Iowa to produce a documentary about the history of literature in Iowa City.

Matthew Kluber has exhibited his paintings/projections, films, and drawings at galleries and museums including: the Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, China; FOCUS09/Art Basel, Switzerland; the Micro Museum, Brooklyn; Klein Art Works, Chicago; Dolphin Gallery, Kansas City; the Austin Museum of Art, Texas; the Grand Rapids Art Museum, Michigan; the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art in Omaha; the Des Moines Art Center. He holds a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and a MFA from the University of Iowa. He is a fifth generation Cedar Rapidian of Czech heritage; he lives in Cedar Rapids and is an associate professor of art at Grinnell College.

 

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10 Winners Announced at White House Youth Summit, Featured in Jon Bon Jovi Video

June 4, 2012 (Washington, DC) - Jasmine Babers of Rock Island, IL, is a winner of the SparkOpportunity Challenge, an innovative "crowdsourcing" competition that asked young people to share their ideas on how to create local jobs and opportunities for youth. Babers, 16, won for Love, GIRLS Magazine, which teaches teenage girls about work skills, marketing, sales, writing, and photography.

The ten winners, all between the ages of 15 and 35, were announced at the White House Youth Summit and in a video featuring Jon Bon Jovi, musician and member of the youth-focused White House Council for Community Solutions. The winners receive an iPad, start-up grants of $1,500, and mentoring from recognized business and civic leaders to help make their ideas a reality.

At a time when more than 6.7 million young people are unemployed and not in school, Jon Bon Jovi traveled the country talking to thousands of young people who had practical, yet inventive ideas to help their struggling peers. Again and again, they asked how they could share their solutions and where they could be heard.

The Challenge created an opportunity for youth to turn their ideas into concrete solutions and generate support through their social networks. One hundred and thirty-five people from across the country submitted ideas on topics ranging from making higher education more affordable to helping autistic youth find meaningful employment. More than 10,000 votes were cast in just 10 days.

To all who entered, Jon Bon Jovi said, "Your ideas are promising and inspiring solutions to the employment crisis for young people."

The Challenge was developed by SparkAction and The Youth Leadership Institute in partnership with 35 leading youth organizations across the country.

The organizers developed the Challenge in support of the White House Council for Community Solutions' call for the nation to do more to reconnect young people with the education, training and comprehensive social supports that are critical for long-term employment and lifelong economic independence.

Visit www.sparkopportunity.org to see Jon Bon Jovi announce the winners on video and for more detailed information on the winning ideas.


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ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP

The SparkOpportunity Challenge is led by three organizations:

The Forum for Youth Investment is a nonprofit, nonpartisan "action tank" dedicated to helping communities and the nation make sure all young people are Ready by 21®: ready for college, work and life. It was founded by Karen Pittman, a nationally recognized pioneer of the field of youth development in the United States.

SparkAction, which developed the Challenge idea and platform, is a collaborative journalism and advocacy website to mobilize action by and for children and youth. Its stories and action tools help concerned young people and adults get informed and get involved across the full range of issues affecting children, youth and families.

The Youth Leadership Institute has been an innovative leader in field of youth development for over 20 years, working to build communities that invest in youth and support young people in their work for effective community change. YLI serves youth and communities through advocacy, training and consulting services, and through community-based programs.

Research shows that broadband access gap in Iowa shrinking; 93% of residents now have access to fixed broadband speeds of 3 Mbps download

Explore the numbers

Des Moines - New research unveiled today by Connect Iowa shows that the broadband availability gap in the state is shrinking, with 93.5% of Iowa residents now having access to fixed broadband of 3 Mbps download or higher, compared to 92.5% last year.

Nonprofit Connect Iowa has been working since 2009 to ensure that Iowans have access to the economic, educational, and quality of life benefits derived from increased broadband access, adoption, and use.

Among the findings of the new broadband availability research are:

• 82.2% of Iowa households can access broadband at advertised speeds of 6 Mbps download/1.5 Mbps upload, meaning that nearly 218,000 households are in areas that may be eligible for Universal Service Fund broadband deployment subsidies
• 80.5% of Iowa households can access broadband at speeds of at least 10 Mbps download/1.5 Mbps upload (excludes mobile and satellite services)

• 96.1% of rural households in Iowa have access to broadband of at Least 768 Kbps download/200 Kbps upload (excludes mobile and satellite services)
• 3.3% of Iowa households have access to broadband speeds of at least 100 Mbps download/1.5 Mbps upload. In October 2011, only 3.2% of households in Iowa had access to these broadband speeds (excludes mobile and satellite services)

• Broadband of at least 768 Kbps download/200 Kbps upload is available to 97.7% of Iowa households, up from 97.6% last October, leaving 28,000 Iowa households unable to connect to basic high-speed Internet (excludes mobile and satellite services)
• 87.2% of Iowa households have the ability to choose broadband service from two or more non-mobile broadband providers (excludes mobile and satellite services)

Note: The data in this report are subject to data validation.

"We are thrilled to see the investment being made by providers and that the work we are doing with our state partners is paying off," said Connect Iowa State Program Manager Amy Kuhlers. "These latest access numbers show we are starting to bridge the broadband access gap and motivates us even more to focus on bringing broadband to the remaining 28,000 Iowans who remain unserved."

Last month, Connect Iowa released an innovative new broadband mapping tool called My ConnectView _TM offering unmatched views of Iowa's technology landscape. Residents and businesses are encouraged to use the interactive map to find area providers and help validate the data. Residents are also encouraged to join their local  Connected technology team to help tailor the broadband expansion plan for their community.

Connect Iowa's research was conducted as part of the State Broadband Initiative (SBI) grant program, funded by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The data was gathered in accordance with the requirements of the Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) and subsequent clarifications set forth by NTIA. The process begins by contacting all known providers in the state and providing information about the broadband mapping project. Information on broadband service areas is collected from each willing provider through voluntary participation. A nondisclosure agreement (NDA) is offered to all providers prior to the submission of data; the data protected through the NDA is limited to highly sensitive network infrastructure information, including middle-mile locations. Connected Nation strives to maintain a flexible mapping process in order to be able to collect data from providers in a variety of formats based on providers' technical capabilities and resources.

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About Connect Iowa: Connect Iowa is a subsidiary of Connected Nation and operates as a nonprofit in the state of Iowa to promote broadband access, adoption, and use. The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) is leading the initiative to increase broadband Internet access throughout rural Iowa. Connect Iowa was commissioned by the state to work with all broadband providers in Iowa to create detailed maps of broadband coverage and develop a statewide plan for the deployment and adoption of broadband. For more information visit: www.connectiowa.org.