The Muscatine Art Center will feature one of Muscatine's own in the upcoming exhibition, "Jon Fasanelli-Cawelti: A Retrospective." The exhibition of the printmaker's works will open on May 5 and run through June 9, 2013.

As a twenty-one year resident of Muscatine, Fasanelli-Cawelti is known to many local residents through his artwork, trumpet playing in groups such as the Muscatine Symphony Orchestra and the Mad Creek Mudcats, as a former instructor at Muscatine Community College, through his involvement in the Kosovo Project in 2005 and 2008 and through simple encounters in everyday life.

Originally a student of history, Fasanelli-Cawelti studied briefly at the Art Institute of Chicago before acting on his father's suggestion of studying art at the University of Iowa where he learned from Virginia Myers and obtained his BFA in 1983. Fasanelli-Cawelti received his MFA from the University of Iowa in 1985 and was a student of Mauricio Lasansky, who was once referred to by Time Magazine as "the nation's most influential printmaker." Fasanelli-Cawelti was personal assistant and printer for Lasansky from 1985 to 1998. His relationship to the Lasansky family continues. Fasanelli-Cawelti printed works for Tomas Lasansky's monograph, Icons and Muses, in 2008 and exhibited prints alongside Richie Lasansky. Tomas is Lasansky's
son, and Richie is his grandson.

Fasanelli-Cawelti is an accomplished printmaker and artist in his own right and his work often features the people, places and objects, especially musical instruments, which are woven into his daily routines. His technique of intaglio printing dates back to the 1400s but Fasanelli-Cawelti has found innovative ways to present a traditional technique. Viewers to the exhibition will see the progression of his work from early prints that are objective and in black and white to recent pieces that are abstract and sometimes feature vibrant color and woven strips of paper.

Fasanelli-Cawelti's printmaking has evolved since having discovered seven years ago that he has a progressive, motor-neuron disorder. In a way, he credits the disorder with "liberating" his work from being "strictly objective." Having accepted that he may not be able to physically achieve the same level of precision, some of Fasanelli-Cawelti's recent prints have built-in allowances such as printing on woven paper which is then re-aligned to create a different image.

Fasanelli-Cawelti is pushing boundaries - the boundaries of traditional printmaking, the boundaries of his own style and the boundaries of his physical capabilities. The process of creating a plate, preparing materials for printing - Fasanelli-Cawelti makes his own ink, and physically running the print is demanding. Yet Fasanelli-Cawelti did not shy away from creating a seven-foot tall print of Diana Calzaretta, his wife of 30 years. This print, which was created in January 2013, will be on public view for the first time during the retrospective at the Muscatine Art Center.

The exhibition, "Jon Fasanelli-Cawelti: A Retrospective," offers a look at the technique of printmaking and the evolution of a printmaker. The opening on May 5th will feature Fasanelli-Cawelti's other passion, playing trumpet, with a performance by the Mad Creek Mudcats from 1 to 2:30 p.m. The reception will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. The public is invited to attend. Admission is free.

The Muscatine Art Center is located at 1314 Mulberry Avenue in Muscatine, Iowa. Hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Thursday evenings until 7:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Admission is free. Donations are appreciated.

Don't miss Courtney Lyon's exquisite choreography, as

Iowa Public Television presents

CINDERELLA: A PERFORMANCE BY BALLET QUAD CITIES & ORCHESTRA IOWA

Monday, May 6, 2013 8:00 PM
Sunday, May 19, 2013 3:30 PM

The classic fairytale is brought to life by Ballet Quad Cities and Orchestra Iowa on the stage of the Adler Theatre in Davenport, Iowa.

 

Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) provides resources, education, and advocacy about quality child care to Parents, Child Care Programs, Employers, and Community Members.

CCR&R is holding a Choosing Child Care class for anyone wanting information about child care. These short one hour sessions are being held at the local Iowa Hospitals. Want to know more about Quality Child Care?

Thursday, May 9^th

Genesis East in the Interconnect Lounge at 10:30 AM or 6:30 PM

Thursday, May 16^th

Trinity Bettendorf in Room A/B at 10:30 AM or 6:30 PM

Please call to RSVP 1- 855-CHILD-01 (855-244-5301)

CCR&R is a nonprofit organization that is part of a statewide system and a nationwide network. The local CCR&R office (IA Region 5) is located in Davenport, IA and serves 20 counties in southeast Iowa.

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Grassley works to stop federal interference and restore state-level education decisions

WASHINGTON - Senator Chuck Grassley is leading an effort to ask leading Senate appropriators to restore state-level decision making about academic content in public schools in response to the way federal incentives have interfered and put a heavy hand on states to adopt the Common Core State Standards Initiative.

Grassley said the Common Core program was initially billed as a voluntary effort, and that current federal law makes clear that the U.S. Department of Education may not be involved in setting specific content standards or determining the content of state assessments.

"The reality is that the U.S. Department of Education has made adoption of standards matching those in Common Core a requirement for getting waivers and funds," Grassley said.  "This violates the structure of our education system, where academic content decisions are made at the state level giving parents a direct line of accountability to those making the decisions.  The federal government should not be allowed to coerce state education decision makers."

Grassley is inviting senators to join him in a letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee that funds education.  The letter urges appropriators to set clear restrictions on the U.S. Department of Education from setting academic content standards either directly or indirectly when they put together legislation to fund the U.S. Department of Education for the next fiscal year.

Here is the text of the letter that Grassley is inviting senators to sign by April 25.

 

April 26, 2013

 

The Honorable Tom Harkin

Chairman, Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education

Senate Appropriations Committee

 

The Honorable Jerry Moran

Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education

Senate Appropriations Committee

Dear Chairman Harkin and Ranking Member Moran:

We ask that the Fiscal Year 2014 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Bill include language to restore state decision-making and accountability with respect to state academic content standards. The decision about what students should be taught and when it should be taught has enormous consequences for our children. Therefore, parents ought to have a straight line of accountability to those who are making such decisions. State legislatures, which are directly accountable to the citizens of their states, are the appropriate place for those decisions to be made, free from any pressure from the U.S. Department of Education.

While the Common Core State Standards Initiative was initially billed as a voluntary effort between states, federal incentives have clouded the picture. Current federal law makes clear that the U.S. Department of Education may not be involved in setting specific content standards or determining the content of state assessments. Nevertheless, the selection criteria designed by the U.S. Department of Education for the Race to the Top Program provided that for a state to have any chance to compete for funding, it must commit to adopting a "common set of K-12 standards" matching the description of the Common Core. The U.S. Department of Education also made adoption of "college- and career-ready standards" meeting the description of the Common Core a condition to receive a state waiver under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Race to the Top funds were also used to fund two consortiums to develop assessments aligned to the Common Core and the Department is now in the process of evaluating these assessments.

We ask that you eliminate further interference by the U.S. Department of Education with respect to state decisions on academic content standards by including the following language in the Fiscal Year 2014 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Bill:

Sec. __. (a) Funds appropriated under this Act or any prior Act shall not be used by the Secretary of Education–

(1) to directly develop, implement, or evaluate multi-State or other specified standards (defined in this section as any set of academic content standards common to multiple States, including the Common Core State Standards developed by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers, or any other specified set or type of academic content standards selected by the Secretary) or assessments aligned with such standards;

(2) to award any grant, contract, or cooperative agreement that requires or specifically authorizes the development, implementation, or evaluation of multi-State or other specified standards, or assessments aligned with such standards;

(3) to condition any award of funds to a State on the adoption of multi-State or other specified standards, or to include, as a component of an application for Federal funds, a requirement or preference related to multi-State or other specified standards; or

(4) to enforce any provision of a waiver issued by such Secretary under section 9401 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7861) related to the adoption of multi-State or other specified standards.

(b) Nothing in subsection (a) shall be construed to limit the discretion of an individual State to use funds provided through a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement for any uses that are authorized under the grant, contract, or cooperative agreement, if the State so chooses.

Thank you for your consideration of our request.

Sincerely,

 

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