ia: The best of Iowa arts and culture

The Stanley Museum of Art in Iowa City is celebrating its grand opening this Friday, Aug. 26, with a ribbon-cutting at 3 p.m. After the event, visitors can enjoy tours of the building and its galleries as well as live entertainment. Photo courtesy of BNIM.

Iowa City's Stanley Museum of Art Opens Friday

It’s here! The University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art is opening to the public in Iowa City. Following historic flooding in 2008, the UI Museum of Art was closed and its exhibits scattered. After 14 years, the newly built Stanley Museum will reunite the city with the world-class collection.

A grand opening celebration will take place Aug. 26-28 following the official ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony tomorrow at 3 p.m. Hear remarks from UI President Barbara Wilson and museum director Lauren Lessing, tour the new facilities and the inaugural exhibit, “Homecoming,” and enjoy food trucks, live music and art activities in the museum and Gibson Square Park. Watch a livestream of the event here. The free festivities will continue through the weekend. “Homecoming” will remain on display through July 2025.

With more than 150,000 square feet of glass and over 200,000 black bricks, the modern building designed by Rod Kruse of BNIM in Des Moines stands proudly on the banks of the Iowa River. Top attractions include “Mural,” a 1943 work by Jackson Pollack, and the stunning new floor-to-ceiling mural “Surround” by Odili Donald Odita. The Nigerian-born abstract painter was raised in Iowa City and his father studied printmaking under artist Mauricio Lasansky.

Find the museum at 160 W. Burlington St. Hours for the free museum are Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Sundays from noon to 4:30 p.m. To learn more about the museum and plan your next visit, click here.

Head to Cedar Falls Sept. 10 for ARTapalooza, the city's annual juried art show featuring exhibiting artists from across the Midwest. Photo courtesy of the Cedar Falls Tourism & Visitors Bureau.

Start With Art Along Main Street in Cedar Falls

By Michael Morain
Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs

The wavy stretch of Main Street in downtown Cedar Falls offers plenty to see and do year-round. There’s a mix of more than 40 shops, bars, restaurants, hotels and a community theater.

But the Iowa Cultural & Entertainment District is especially lively during ARTapalooza, which lands this year on Sept. 10. Now in its 16th year, the annual juried art show features exhibiting artists from across the Midwest, along with art demonstrations, entertainment and activities for kids.

While you’re there, take a self-guided tour of the downtown historic district, which is bookended on the north by the 100-year-old Ice House Museum and the Black Hawk Hotel, both listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and on the south by the Victorian House Museum, which offers various interesting and even offbeat programs throughout the year. (This past Sunday's lecture focused on the origins of the TV dinner.)

If you'd like to wander farther afield, you're in luck: Downtown is also a hub for a growing network of more than 100 miles of paved trails that cover the entire Cedar Falls and Waterloo metro area.

Well-known cover band the Pork Tornadoes will make an appearance at Sheldon Celebation Days (Sept. 1-5), joining the long list of entertainment options in store for the city's anniversary part. Photo: The Pork Tornadoes

Festival to Celebrate Sheldon's Sesquicentennial

Starting Sept. 1, Sheldon will hold its annual Sheldon Celebration Days festival. The event coincides with the city’s sesquicentennial anniversary (that’s 150 years!), and as such is expected to be jampacked with reasons to celebrate.

The five-day revel includes community events like free movies, theater performances, a picnic and classic car show. Plus, see live musical performances by the Pork Tornadoes and the Johnny Holm Band during the weekend. Stop by the Sheldon Festival of Brews Sept. 4 for craft beer samples from local breweries. Food trucks will be stationed throughout for you to refuel for the party.

The festivities wrap up on Sept. 5 with a pancake breakfast, vendor fair of local artisans, food booths and a parade. View the full schedule of events here, and visit sheldoniowa.com for updates and information.

Owner and baker Aaron Hall makes fresh bread of all kinds, from brioche buns to bagels and sourdough loaves. Just think of the endless sandwich possibilities. Photo: Aaron Hall via @the_local_crumb on Instagram

Visit the Local Crumb in Mount Vernon

If you find yourself in Mount Vernon, make it a mission to get your hands on fresh bread from neighborhood bakery the Local Crumb.

Chef Aaron Hall began the business after a pursuit of better bread. He wanted a tastier, healthier bread that wasn’t filled with enough preservatives to keep a loaf alive for weeks on end. Hall soon fell in love with baking, perfecting his recipes ever since. Earlier this year, he was named a 2022 James Beard semifinalist in the Outstanding Baker category.

Find bagels, buns and baguettes galore, all baked using Iowa-milled organic flours. See what Hall is baking up and even put in an order for pickup (if you’re from Iowa City, Cedar Rapids or Mount Vernon) on his Instagram, or visit the website.

During Sept. 3 and 4, meander through the Sioux City Art Center campus to find art demonstrations, live music and vendor booths. Photo: Tim Mossholder

Make a Splash in Sioux City at Juried Art Show

Sioux City’s 28th annual ArtSplash event is happening Labor Day weekend at the Sioux City Art Center campus downtown. See a variety of work from exhibiting local artists in the juried art show, including ceramics, digital art, printmaking, jewelry, painting and sculpture.

In addition to the art show, musicians will perform Saturday and Sunday on the main stage. Look for big names like the Langleys and Cardinal Sound. Need a snack in between sets? Diverse food vendors will be on hand with everything from barbecue, pizza and funnel cakes to Hawaiian poke bowls, kebabs and mochi ice cream. Hands-on activities, plus a kid’s zone, will keep everyone busy creating art of their very own.

Find a map of the festival and a list of exhibiting artists and vendors on the Sioux City Art Center website.

Backpocket Brewing (pictured) of Coralville will be among the 25 Iowa breweries participating in Oktoberfest in Marion. Photo courtesy of the Marion Chamber of Commerce.

Willkommen to Marion's Oktoberfest Street Party

By Michael Morain
Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs

You don’t need an excuse to enjoy beer and polka. But just in case, try this: Marion will celebrate its inaugural Oktoberfest on Sept. 17.

The sudsy street party is the first big festival in Uptown Marion’s newly transformed Seventh Avenue, by City Square Park, where years of planning and streetscape renovations are almost complete. So now, the designated Iowa Great Place is ready to toast Oktoberfest with 25 Iowa craft breweries, plus musicians like the local Boot Jack Duo and Lyle Beaver & the Bass Notes from Iowa City.

Revelers can also play a few traditional German games, like a Hammerschlagen nail-driving contest and a stein-holding test of endurance. “We’ve heard it’s the skinny guys who always win,” says Tami Schlamp from the local chamber.

Click here for ticket information.

Business Publications Corp., the parent of ia magazine, will host a free virtual event Aug. 30 from noon to 1 p.m. focusing on what businesses and community leaders can do to combat hunger. Photo: Joel Muniz

Iowa Stops Hunger: Business Leaders Fight Food Insecurity

By Michael Cumb
Senior Staff Writer at the Business Record

Business Publications Corp. will showcase another year of its Iowa Stops Hunger Initiative on Aug. 30 with a virtual event and the publication of its annual Iowa Stops Hunger magazine.

BPC and its publications, including the Business Record, dsm magazine and ia magazine, began Iowa Stops Hunger in 2020 as the number of people experiencing food insecurity increased during the early months of the pandemic. The goal was to bring attention to those who are food insecure and to shed light on those who have made it their mission to help.

Now, two years later, food insecurity has surged as inflation rose and prices of food and fuel soared. That created an added burden to SNAP recipients who saw their benefits reduced earlier this year. The benefits were increased during the early days of the pandemic, only to be reduced on April 1 as inflation was reaching its highest levels in more than 40 years.

SIgn up for the free Iowa Stops Hunger event here.

Iowa Stops Hunger is a Business Publications Corp. initiative to bring awareness and action to food insecurity in Iowa. Read additional stories on iowastopshunger.com.