Revel poolside amid flickering tiki torches and listen to the beat of steel drums with a cool beverage in hand during the fourth annual Tahitian Party on June 22 from 6:30 to 10:00 p.m. Throw on a hula skirt and or Hawaiian shirt and relish the atmosphere of Tahiti in Cedar Rapids thanks to Howard Hall's famous Tahitian Room located in the basement of the Brucemore mansion.  Enjoy roast suckling pig, noshes, and Polynesian drinks. Bid on exclusive Brucemore experiences in the silent auction such as special floral packages from the Brucemore Cutting Gardens Flower Shop, VIP ticket packages for Brucemore events, and exclusive group experiences on the estate. Food and drinks will be provided by Benz, Braise, First Avenue Wine House, Ruzicka's, Wright Touch Bake Shoppe and Catering, and Zins Restaurant.  All proceeds will benefit the rehabilitation of the Garden House. This is an event you will not want to miss.

Sarah Olson, member of the Tahitian Party Steering Committee, said, "The Tahitian Party is one of the events I look forward to most each year. Relaxing poolside with friends, soaking up the historic charm of the Brucemore mansion and estate, and enjoying exotic beverages and foods is the perfect way to spend a summer night out in Iowa."

The Garden House has had many tenants and uses over the past 100 years. Mold, mildew, crumbling plaster, and rotten wood have caused the building to become uninhabitable. This summer, Brucemore will repoint the chimneys, replace the roof, repair the recessed gutters, consolidate the rotten wood, and paint this building.

Tickets are $60 per person.  Please call (319) 362-7375 to make reservations by Wednesday, June 13. Sponsorship levels are also available beginning at $100 and offering additional benefits. Tahitian Star Title Sponsors include Kathleen and Tom Aller; Bradley and Riley PC; Brenda Duello; Klingler Painting and Decorating; Paulson Electric Co.; Rinderknecht Associates, Inc.; Shuttleworth and Ingersoll PLC; Simmons Perrine Moyer Bergman PLC; and Wells Fargo. Mercy Medical Center is the Printing Sponsor.

Brucemore, Iowa's only National Trust Historic Site, is located at 2160 Linden Drive SE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The 26-acre park-like estate in the heart of Cedar Rapids boasts a Queen Anne style mansion built between 1884 and 1886. Brucemore has been home to three prominent families who used the estate as a center for culture and the arts. The estate continues to be a hub for cultural, philanthropic, and educational activities. Each year thousands of visitors attend specialty tours, concerts, fine arts performances, children's programs, holiday celebrations, preservation events, and garden workshops on the estate. For more information, call (319) 362-7375 or visit www.brucemore.org.

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ART GUMBO CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS FROM INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS OR CREATIVES

[DUBUQUE, IA.] Art Gumbo, a quarterly soup dinner that supports local art projects with community-supported micro-funding, is now accepting applications from individual artists or individual creative ideas for the winter funding cycle.  Applications for Art Gumbo mini grants for the Summer funding cycle are available now through Thursday, June 14. Applications are available at artgumbodubuque.blogspot.com

Submission guidelines include the separation of individual artists and organizations or groups during funding cycles. Arts groups, organizations, or group creative projects are not eligible to apply during the winter funding cycle. The first seven eligible applications received by 11:59 p.m. on June 14 will qualify to compete for funding.

Since its launch in September 2010 ART GUMBO has funded 10 projects raising a total of $5,650 for Dubuque art projects.  Art Gumbo is an independent community-based initiative that funds local arts projects using money collected at quarterly soup dinners. During each Art Gumbo funding cycle, artists or arts organizations are invited to submit a brief project proposal that demonstrates an impact on the Dubuque community. The public is invited to attend and vote for their favorite proposal. A $10 donation at the door entitles the attendee to a locally prepared soup dinner and the opportunity to review all submitted proposals and to vote for their favorite. The Art Gumbo fund's nightly proceeds will be awarded to the proposal that gets the most votes. Art Gumbo sessions will be hosted at new locations each quarter featuring soup by a regional food source.

The next Art Gumbo Soup Dinner is scheduled for Thursday, June 21, 6-8 p.m., at St. Mark Community Center. The evening will feature soup and bread by L. May Eatery, micro brew beer tasting by the Dubuque Society of Brewers, and a progress report from March winners Dubuquefest Fine Arts Festival and Loras College Creatives.

For more information visit artgumbodubuque.blogspot.com or contact Paula Neuhaus or Megan Starr at art.gumbo.dbq@gmail.com.

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On Thursday, May 24, the Figge will host an Art Talk that explores the topic of sculpted fiber.  Figge Associate Curator Rima Girnius will introduce the artists represented in the exhibition, Sculpting with Fiber, and Rowen Schussheim- Anderson, fiber artist and Professor of Art at Augustana College, will explain the materials and techniques used to create the works on display. The Art Talk begins at 7pm and is offered in conjunction with Thursdays at the Figge.

Sculpting with Fiber showcases fiber works created during the 1960s and 1970s. Prompted by the feminist inquiry into the social constraints imposed on women, fiber artists challenged the distinctions made between craft and fine art. They appropriated the very techniques and materials that had been associated with domestic labor and transformed them into abstract, non-representational compositions that implied rather than described narratives. Using coarse and raw natural fiber like hand-spun wool, sisal and jute ropes over the fine silk and linen threads of conventional tapestries, artists built out from the two-dimensional plane and into the three-dimensional space of sculpture.

The works included in Sculpting with Fiber are on loan to the Figge Art Museum from the Deere & Company corporate art collection.  This is the third exhibition from the John Deere Collection at Figge since 2010. The corporate collection, acquired during the mid to late 20th century, contains artworks from countries where Deere & Company conducts business. The collection features art from East Asia, northern Africa, Eastern Europe and the Americas. In addition to textiles, the collection includes oil paintings, works on paper, photography, and sculpture. By exhibiting their collection at the Figge, Deere & Company gives the community unique access to rarely viewed works of art.

Sculpting with Fiber is one of two exhibitions on view at the Figge featuring Fiber.  Interplay: Material, Method and Motif in West African Art, an exhibition included in the Legacies for Iowa: A University of Iowa Museum of Art Collections Sharing Project will be on view at the Figge through October 21, 2012.  Interplay explores the dynamic intersections of materials, methods and motifs in four West African contexts.  Pieces included in this exhibition are from the University of Iowa Museum of Art's permanent collection.

About the Figge Art Museum

The Figge Art Museum is located on the riverfront in downtown Davenport at 225 West Second Street. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday and Sundays 12-5 p.m.  Thursdays the museum is open until 9pm. Admission to the museum and tour is $7. Admission is free to Figge members and institutional members. To contact the museum, please call 563.326.7804, or visit our website, www.figgeartmuseum.org.

Bettendorf, IA - On May 16, 2012 in Des Moines, Iowa, the Community Attraction and Tourism Board and the Vision Iowa Board voted in favor of a $195,000 grant to help support the Family Museum's upcoming gallery renovation project Rethink, Reshape, Reinvent. The entire project cost is estimated at $1.3 million.

Rethink, Reshape, Reinvent is a project more than two years in the making with the purpose to renovate and reuse the Family Museum's existing 7,100 square feet of exhibit gallery space in order to provide a new set of learning experiences and environments specifically designed to meet the needs of young learners age 8 and younger and their adult caregivers. After renovation, The Museum's new learning environments will encompass approximately 7,690 square feet, with an additional 2,000 square feet devoted to the traveling exhibit gallery.

Support from the community, both public and private, has been committed by the City of Bettendorf, the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust, the Alcoa Foundation, the Family Museum of Arts and Science Foundation, the Dorothea LeClair Bequest, Modern Woodmen of America, the Scott County Board of Supervisors, the Riverboat Development Authority, the 3M Foundation, Miriam Kelm, the Community Foundation of the Great River Bend, the Scott County Regional Authority, and Friends of the Family Museum.

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Washington, DC - Tomorrow, Tuesday May 22nd, 2012, Rep. Bruce Braley (IA-01) will visit North Fayette High School to recognize the 2012 winner of the Iowa First District Congressional Art Competition, Kelsey Feldman.

The Congressional Art Competition, first held in 1982, is a nationwide high school arts competition sponsored by the US House of Representatives.  One winning piece of artwork from each House district is selected to be displayed in the Cannon Tunnel of the US Capitol Building in Washington for the following year.  In addition to having her artwork displayed in the Capitol, Feldman will receive two round-trip airline tickets to Washington, DC.

Kelsey's painting, Streetlight, was selected from 64 entries as the best eastern Iowa has to offer.  Kelsey is a junior at North Fayette High School.  The winning artwork, a list of winners, and a gallery of all the submissions can be viewed here: http://braley.house.gov/art-competition

TOMORROW, Tuesday May 22nd, 2012

 

3:00pm Recognize Kelsey Feldman, 2012 Congressional Art Competition Winner

North Fayette High School

600 N. Pine St.

West Union, Iowa

 

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On Thursday, June 7th Governor Terry Branstad will proclaim June 11-17, 2012 as Iowa Museum Week.  During this week, Iowa's museums will raise awareness of their programs and celebrate what makes them unique community assets.  Iowa's ninety-nine counties are home to hundreds of historical societies and specialized museums as well as to major regional collections in art, history, agricultural, botanical and living collections.  Iowa's museums are important community assets, attracting  visitors to area hotels, restaurants, and recreational areas;  providing education and outreach for all ages; driving both incoming tourism revenue and job creation; and contributing to the overall quality of life that makes Iowa's communities great places to live, work, and raise a family.

Governor Branstad has recognized the importance of Iowa's museums in his proclamation, stating that Iowa Museum Week will celebrate the crucial role of Iowa's museums in preserving the historical fabric and memory of our state through preservation of artifacts and archives; in providing educational resources and programs which expand learning opportunities for all ages; in contributing to a vibrant community and state economy through job creation, purchase of goods and services, and by attracting tourism revenue to the community and state; and in their significant role in enhancing community quality of life.

A 2011 survey of 174 Iowa museums (about half of all Iowa museums) found that they maintain 5.4 million artifacts of all types.  They employ 1,464 individuals and depend upon 28,416 volunteers.  Surveyed Iowa museums served 4.2 million visitors in 2010 and provided 11,105 public programs.  Those museums participating in the survey had a total operating budget of $57 million in 2010, portions of which derived from individuals, community, county, state and federal sources.

Brucemore, Iowa's only National Trust Historic Site, will offer buy one get one free mansion tours in honor of Iowa Museum Week June 12 through 17. Mansion tours are offered March through December, Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 3:00 p.m. Tours begin on the hour and last approximately 50 minutes. Admission is $7.00 for adults, $3.00 for children between the ages of 6 and 18, and free to Brucemore members. Purchase tickets in the Brucemore Store and Visitor Center. Please contact Brucemore at (319) 362-7375 or visit www.brucemore.org for more information.

Iowa's museums are supported in their missions by the Iowa Museum Association, a statewide association of museums including art centers and art museums, botanical gardens, children's museums, historic sites, historical societies, living history sites, nature centers, natural history museums, planetariums, science and technology centers, and zoos.

The mission of the Iowa Museum Association is to provide quality training and development to Iowa museum professionals and volunteers, advocate for support of Iowa's museums, and build a strong community of museums and museum supporters in Iowa.

For more information on Iowa museums or the Iowa Museum Association, please visit www.iowamuseums.org or contact Cynthia Sweet at imasweet@cfu.net.
Davenport, IA- The German American Heritage Center will host Matt Gaul as he presents "Autos meet Architecture" on Sunday May 20th at 2pm. His talk will take us through the green architecture of German auto firms and how they incorporate iconic symbols off the road and into the landscape! Matt Gaul is a recent graduate in Architecture at Iowa State University and alum of Bettendorf High School. Admission is $5 adults, $4 seniors, $3 children 5-17, and free for members and will be held on the 4th floor of GAHC at 712 W 2nd St Davenport, IA. This event is sponsored in part by Brake, Hayes, Miller, Mahon Architects. Please call 563-322-8844 or visit gahc.org for more information.


APPLICATION DEADLINE: June 1st, Midnight CST . Images: 6 . Jury fee: $35

 

LOCATION: Inside Capital Square at 400 Locust Street in the heart of Downtown Des Moines.A cornerstone of business activity in downtown with an attractive eight-story landscaped atrium.

AMENTIES: Indoors, Skywalks, 24-hour Staffed Security, Exclusive hospitality area, Artists only restrooms, Complimentary dinner Friday night and breakfast Saturday and Sunday mornings.

PARKING: Free on the weekends with two garages near Capital Square and the skywalk system connects it all.

HOTEL: Our preferred provider has free wifi and is directly across the street from Capital Square with it's own parking structure, valet and connection to the skywalk.Renaissance Des Moines Savery Hotel ($99 a night)

 

 


We are very artist friendly. Please do not hesitate to call or send an email.

 

 

Metro Arts Alliance
305 East Court Ave.
Des Moines, Iowa 50309

sponsored by Alumni Relations at St. Ambrose University, Davenport.

Exhibition to run from June 8, 2012 until September 7, 2012 at the Catich Gallery in the Galvin Fine Arts Center on the campus of St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa.

The opening reception is Friday, June 8th from 5pm until 7pm.

Gallery hours are Fridays and Saturdays, 9am until 4:30pm through August 18th.

Gallery info and updates are available at www.sau.edu/catich or by contacting QuinnKristin@sau.edu.

The public is invited to join the Muscatine Art Center in welcoming Carol Ehlers, art history speaker, as she presents a 45 minute lecture on the art of French painter and sculptor Henri Matisse. The lecture will take place Thursday, May 24 at 5:30 pm in the Muscatine Art Center's Music Room. Admission is free.

Henri Matisse was an artist known as a draftsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter and for his use of color. Matisse was one of the leaders of the "Fauves", a group of painters united by their use of fresh color, pure pigments and distortion of form. Years later he would be hailed as a champion of the classical tradition in French painting. His mastery of the expressive language of color and drawing, displayed in a body of work spanning over a half-century, won him recognition as a leading figure in modern art.

Henri->mile-Benoît Matisse was born December 31, 1869 in France. He first started to paint in 1889, after his mother brought him art supplies while he recovered from appendicitis. He discovered "a kind of paradise" as he later described it, and decided to become an artist, deeply disappointing his father, who wanted him to study law.

In late 1890's Matisse was introduced to Post-Impressionism, which changed his style completely. Many of Matisse's paintings from 1898 to 1901 make use of the pointillist technique he adopted from Georges Seurat and Paul Signac.

Later in life and wheelchair-bound, Matisse started creating cut paper collages, called gouaches découpés. He called this technique "painting with scissors". In 1951 he finished a four-year project of designing the interior, the glass windows and the decorations of the Chapelle du Rosaire de Vence, often referred to as the Matisse Chapel. Matisse died of a heart attack at the age of 84 in 1954.

In 1992 the Muscatine Art Center's collections were significantly enriched by a gift of twenty-seven works of art by Toulouse-Lautrec, Matisse, Degas, Boudin, Chagall, Renoir, and other European artists. The collection was a gift from the estate of Mary Musser Gilmore in honor of her parents, Richard Drew Musser and Sarah Walker Musser. The paintings are on permanent display in the Laura Musser Mansion.

EVENT DETAILS:

Lecture: "The Wonderful World of Color: Henri Matisse"

Who: Carol Ehlers

When: Thursday, May 24, 2012

Time: 5:30 PM

Where: The Muscatine Art Center's Music Room

Admission to this program is FREE.

 

Please contact Katy Doherty, Program Coordinator, with any questions or concerns at  563-263-8282 or by email at kdoherty@muscatineiowa.gov.

The Muscatine Art Center is open to the public Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 AM to 5 PM, Thursday from 10 AM to 7 PM and Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 5 PM Admission is FREE.

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