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.

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 20^th 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

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 22^nd, 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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