dsmWeekly: March 6, 2018

DMACC provost Anthony Paustian created ciWeek in 2010 as a way to inspire the general public as well as students. The event draws big-name speakers and an audience of more than 8,500 people.

INSPIRING CiWEEK OPENS TODAY

CiWeek, a thoroughly engaging annual series of free presentations, begins today and continues through Friday at the west campus of Des Moines Area Community College.

CiWeek (Celebrate Innovation Week) gives students and the community opportunities to interact with people (some famous, all inspired) who have dreamed, created and accomplished. The event was created on a simple premise: The most meaningful approach to storytelling is interaction with the people who are the stories—creators of new ideas and developers of the latest innovations. Presenters this week are numerous and diverse:

Archeologist and TV personality Josh Gates
Actor and director Jonathan Frakes
Deep sea explorer Jill Heinerth
Legendary rock drummer Kenny Aronoff
NASA engineer Rob Manning
Author and filmmaker James Barrat
Author and innovator Gabor George Burt
Science writer and author Nathalia Holt
Primatologist Dr. Jill Pruetz
Space writer and filmmaker Rod Pyle
Antiques picker Rob Wolfe

Seating for presentations at the DMACC West Campus, 5959 Grand Ave. in West Des Moines, is on a first-come, first-served basis. The main seating area accommodates about 300 people, and overflow seating in a nearby auditorium holds another 150 people who can watch presentations on a large screen. For information about CiWeek's schedule and presenters, click here. For a story on the conference in the new issue of dsm magazine, click here.

You can find gose-style beers in fine taverns and taprooms, or at your grocery store behind this stylish label.

JUST SAY 'GOZE-UH' AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS

By Wini Moranville

I'm pretty new to the craft beer party, but I'm starting to note patterns in what I like. And I like gose-style beers.
If you, like me, are a wine lover looking to make inroads into the craft beer world, gose is a good place to start.

As local beer kingpin Jeff Bruning explains, gose has tart characteristics akin to dry styles of white wines, like pinot grigio, sauvignon blanc and dry varieties of Riesling. While gose is considered a sour beer, unlike other sours, "it's not as vinegary or funky," Bruning says. It's not surprising, then, that gose pairs especially well with food.

"The tart angle comes from the same kind of lactic acid bacteria that's used to make pickles," he says. He added that the beer originated in Goslar, Germany (hence its name), but was most popular in Leipzig, where there were around 80 gose houses in 1900. The beer almost died out after World War II.

Walking beer encyclopedia Andy Grooms of the Cheese Bar adds another bit of lore. Back in the day, "Leipzig remained one of two German cities whose specialty became this lightly sour wheat beer, while the rest of the country obsessed over making the cleanest beer possible," he says.

So if you're looking for a food-friendly beer with character, go for gose. And, by the way, it's pronounced goze-uh.

Find gose-style beers at El Bait Shop, which has Seaquench (on tap) as well as bottles or cans of Two Roads Geyser Gose, Crane Grapefruit Gose, Crane Orange Gose and Sixpoint Jammer. At the Cheese Bar, you can find Omnipollo Bianca, a Swedish beer based on the gose style. I've personally been very happy with the Sierra Nevada "Otra Vez" gose-style beer I've found in supermarkets.

El Bait Shop is at 200 S.W. Second St., 515-284-1970; elbaitshop.com.

Helium-filled balloons will represent victims of school killings in a thoughtful exhibit at the Des Moines Social Club's Viaduct Gallery.

ARTIST LOFTS BALLOONS WORTHY OF TEARS

Des Moines artist and dsm contributor Jami Milne has created a heartfelt art installation in response to American school shootings. The free exhibit at the Des Moines Social Club's Viaduct Gallery is titled "The answer comes when we consider what pressure is." It consists of 164 balloons, each representing a life taken by gunshots in and around schools (from elementary through college levels) since the slaughter of 26 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in New Jersey five years ago. This number includes more than 72 students and teachers killed in random shootings (such as those at Sandy Hook and 17 in Parkland, Florida, last month), plus victims of fights, robberies and premeditated attacks on family members or other specific targets.

"Over the course of the installation, we’ll witness the anthropomorphic quality the balloons possess — the loss of helium akin to the loss of life," Milne says in a statement accompanying the exhibit. "We’ll navigate the presence of these balloons much like we’ll navigate this latest mass school shooting. We’ll cry. We’ll feel impacted. We’ll view this display in a state of disbelief and discomfort. ... But ultimately, we’ll watch them begin to lose life, and much like this country, choose to do nothing. Once they’ve fallen, they’ll be discarded and forgotten — making way for the next delivery of balloons; the next unnecessary school shooting."

The installation opened yesterday and will be on display through March 18.

Don't worry, he'll be back. In the midst of a stream of new stage productions, Mr. Scrooge will return in December.

THE FUTURE IS DRAMATIC AT IOWA STAGE THEATRE

Iowa Stage Theatre Company has announced an impressive series of productions for its 2018 season, from this September through June 2019. Shows range from classics through recent Broadway hits. The schedule runs true to the company's mission to produce "truthful, relevant and intimate theater that inspires, enlightens and entertains."

"Fun Home," Sept. 28–Oct. 14
"It’s a Wonderful Life – Radio Play," Nov. 16–25
"A Christmas Carol," Dec. 14–23
"The Lion in Winter," Feb. 22–March 3
"Gruesome Playground Injuries," April 5–14
"Disgraced," May 10–19
"Macbeth," June 13–18

For more information about Iowa Stage, its productions and tickets, visit the website iowastage.org.

Three-time Grammy winner Ramsey Lewis is a jazz legend known for a swinging style that has spanned generations and genres.

CIVIC MUSIC ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES SEASON

Jazz legend Ramsey Lewis will open the Civic Music Association’s 2018/2019 season in September. The association announced this lineup yesterday:

A Night of Chicago Jazz, Featuring Ramsey Lewis and Ann Hampton Callaway – Sept. 28, Hoyt Sherman Place
Emanuel Ax – Oct. 25, Sheslow Auditorium
Hot Club of San Francisco: Cool Yule – Dec. 8, Sheslow Auditorium
Julian Lage Trio – Jan. 19, Sheslow Auditorium
Veronica Swift & the Benny Green Trio – March 9, Sheslow Auditorium
Fauré Quartett – March 29, Sheslow Auditorium
Sybarite5: Everything In Its Right Place – May 3, Sheslow Auditorium

For details on the series and performers, as well as ticket information, visit civicmusic.org.