Review: Then and Now

Nine artists, collectively known as Paintpushers, opened their annual show at the Fitch Gallery (304 15th Street) on October 27.  Kathryn Downing’s display of humor evoked thoughts of The New Yorker’s cartoons and attracted me after a long day of covering political events. I particularly liked the farm buildings seen through the outline shape of a UFO and the canine archeologist brought a smile. Even when Downing’s theme turned to political messages, her simple lines and bright colors cheered my soul. This was the case with her painting of a young woman blowing bubbles shaped like doves. According to the artist’s statement on the Paintpushers’ web site, Downing uses an encaustic paint, made from refined beeswax, danar resin, and pigments.

Jacqueline Roate’s focus is linear. Curves are created with changes in line angles which distortes portraits. This was particularly visible in the face of one painting’s subject. Roate compensates for the lack of curves by using long lines to direct the viewer’s eyes and also by leaning some of the portrait subjects in one direction or another. Her palette, consisting of shades of brown, intensifies the power of the lines.

Several people at the opening were having fun with Julie VandeBerg’s interactive art. A statement at the show told a story of two birds that inspires VandeBerg. The girl bird wanted a better place to live so she left the nest to search for a new home. The boy bird grew lonely and went in search of the girl bird. He could not find her so he returned home, where the girl bird waited. All the other nests had their own problems, which made her home not seem so bad. VandeBerg paints plaster blocks with images of buildings and laundry and creates metal backgrounds with birds perched along a utility line. She also makes faces from four blocks (two eyes, a nose, and a mouth). The interchangeability of parts was emphasized in one piece where four sets of four blocks formed a contained square.

Roy Cacek works in computer designs for his paid jobs and has incorporated the idea of pixels, standing in for mosaic tiles, into his art. I was looking at his work close-up, trying to decide what random ridges of paint meant when I saw a woman looking at the paintings from a distance. I stepped back and asked her what she thought of Cacek’s work and she said it makes much more sense when viewed from several feet away. We both particularly liked the scene of a city at night, with cars’ headlights creating a brilliant blur at street level, a condition that is accentuated by rain.

The other five artists (Amy Wood Thomas, Charlotte Redman, Chris Vance, Kristine Clemons, and Claudia Cole Meek) also have their own strengths and weaknesses. The show runs through November 8 (9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Saturday noon to 4:00 p.m.) and offers visitors the opportunity to see a variety of ways in which paintings can be conceived and executed.

M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.

Beggar’s Night Schedule 2007

Adel: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Alleman: Oct 31, 6:00-8:00pm
Altoona: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Ames: Oct 30, 5:30-7:30pm
Ankeny: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Bondurant: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Boone: Oct 30, 5:30-7:30pm
Cambridge: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Clive: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Collins: Oct 31, 6:00-8:00pm
Colo: Oct 31, 5:00-8:00pm
Des Moines: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Gilbert: Oct 30, 5:30-7:30pm
Huxley: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Indianola: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Jewell: Oct 31, 6:00-8:00pm
Johnston: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Kelley: Oct 31, 6:00-8:00pm
Madrid: Oct 29, 6:00-8:00pm
Marshalltown: Oct 31, 5:30-7:00pm

Maxwell: Oct 31, 6:00-8:00pm
Mitchellville: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
McCallsburg: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Nevada: (residential) Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Norwalk: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Ogden: Oct 29, 5:30-7:30 pm
Pella: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Pleasant Hill: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Polk City: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Randall: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Roland: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Runnells: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Sheldahl: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Slater: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Story City: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Urbandale: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Waukee: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
West Des Moines: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Windsor Heights: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Zearing:Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm

Guest Writer: Brenda Friedrich is an Iowa-based writer and business communications consultant. You can also find her blogging at Enroute365.

A Different Take on an Old Tradition

What do Des Moines and Dayton have in common?

Give up? The answer is “Beggar’s Night,” a substitute for the more commonplace tradition of Halloween. While the actual celebration dates vary from location to location, cities in central Iowa, central Ohio and along the New Hampshire seacoast stand apart from the rest of the nation when it comes to the holiday. Instead of featuring night-time activity on a day associated with pranksters, they moved it forward on the calendar. And rather than have children parade from home to home begging for candy in the melodious call, “Trick or Treat,” municipalities in these areas ask youngsters to “earn” their treats by sharing riddles, jokes or other “talent.” In the Des Moines area, the rules have been in place so long that by now they’re unspoken.

What Halloween and Beggar’s Night have in common is this: the children wait until evening, then descend upon their neighborhoods costumed as angels, vampires, story-book characters and more. I still remember the year my two nephews revved up the horror-quotient: one nephew as dressed as Death and the other as Taxes.

But costume isn’t the only similarity between the practice of Halloween and Beggar’s Night. With either celebration, the kids receive candy — or pennies, floss or boxed raisins — from friendly neighbors who’ve left the porch light on as a beacon to sugar-seeking youth.

How did it all begin? Well, in central Iowa the origins of Beggar’s Night are well-documented and stemmed from the need to curb vandalism associated with Halloween. Kids these days! There’s no respect any more, right? Except that, according to the oft-published facts by The Des Moines Register, the violence reached its peak in 1938, when “Des Moines police answered a record 550 calls concerning vandalism.”

We hope this level of destruction remains a thing of the past, but it still pays to take precautions, to safeguard children collecting candy. So, before allowing anyone to head out the door, be sure to review expert tips and advice offered by the City of Des Moines. Then, brush up on those jokes and riddles.

Guest Writer: Brenda Friedrich is an Iowa-based writer and business communications consultant. You can also find her blogging at Enroute365.

Review: Restrooms in Des Moines

This is one of those quirky posts that adds to the legends of a city. The topic was requested by someone who reads this blog and also participates in the annual Bathroom Blogfest Oct. 28 – Nov. 2 on the same topic. Specifically, the topic is women’s restrooms.

Knowing where to go if about town and suddenly feeling the necessity of a restroom stop is important. I appreciate being able to make use of facilities if I have an hour walk ahead of me. In the heat of summer this information is especially desirable. When I am driving and feel the need to stop it is usually on or near an Interstate, which makes finding facilities easier than on the back roads.

Elegance is what I feel when I am at the Capitol. The restroom is airy. It has a chaise lounge and a private room for mothers nursing their infants. There is plenty of space between sinks to sit bags and papers, although the soap dispenser on the second sink rarely works. Best of all, the stalls are wide and deep which means I don’t have to lean over the toilet in order to close the door.

The Marriott’s restrooms also convey the essence of high class. The rooms are not large but they have separate areas for fixing hair, hemlines, and make-up. Other hotels that are popular with groups hosting luncheons and events include the Hotel Fort Des Moines and Embassy Suites. The former has similar touches in its restrooms as does the Marriott, but perhaps due to the darker interiors they do not seem as inviting as the Marriott’s. The latter’s restrooms are nice but more functionally-modern than the other two hotels’ facilities and the stalls are noticeably smaller.

For pure functionality, downtown there is the skywalk restroom at 7th and Locust. Wal-Mart in West Des Moines provides an option for bicyclists on the trail that runs beside Walnut Creek and for motorists. There is a nicer restroom in the skywalk but if you don’t know someone who works nearby, you might not find it. No, I am not going to share the location. I find myself enjoying restroom breaks as a respite from the noise of an office or a holiday shopping crowd and this is a generally quiet place.

On the topic of work and restrooms, it is not fun to need to use the indoor plumbing only to discover that someone has been using the room to spray her hair. Hair spray is an immediate asthma trigger for me. That means if I walk into a restroom before the air has been recycled, I must turn around and walk out if I don’t want to spend the rest of the day gasping for breath. Perfume isn’t pleasant to inhale, but at least that is only a short-term irritant in my case.

The least inviting restroom is at the Greyhound station on Keo. Not only are stalls small and the design institutional, the soap is difficult to wash off.

Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa and recognizes the historical role restrooms have played in political and corporate decision-making.

 

[tags] ladiesrooms, Bathroom Blogfest [/tags]

Blues Musicians Joe and Vicki Price Performing in Fairfield Nov. 16

Looking for some blues? Café Paradiso has a full list of events coming up. Joe and Vicki Price will be there November 16. They’re great folks and blues musicians.

Café Paradiso is located at 607 W. Broadway, Fairfield IA, approximately 115 miles southeast of Des Moines.

Here’s a couple of videos of Joe and Vicki taken at the River Roots Live event in Davenport earlier this year.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=E8-PDfTn-ik

http://youtube.com/watch?v=TEJfw8cmbP0

Alison Trombley provided the picture taken in May at The Silver City Blues Fest in Silver City, NM.

Weekend Pick: Arts, Politics, and a touch of Halloween

If you celebrate Halloween as the gateway to the Christmas holidays, the Salvation Army resale shop on Euclid opposite Park Fair Mall has winter holiday decorations set out. On the other hand, if your idea of the holiday season is to hide away until January, this is going to be your last weekend without carols in the air. Your activity selections include the arts, politics, and general outdoor enjoyments.

Nine local artists, collectively known as Paintpushers, will have an opening at the Fitch Gallery on Saturday, October 27, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. (The Fitch is at 304 15th Street.) The show continues Monday through next Saturday.

The Wild Rose Independent Film Festival runs from Thursday, October 25 through Sunday, October 28 at the Fleur Cinema and Cafe (4545 Fleur Drive). Films will be screened on Thursday and Friday evenings and all day on Saturday. On Sunday, a documentary about participants in live action role playing (LARP) will be shown. Other highlights include a Saturday workshop by Lew Hunter on filmmaking, a workshop on documentary filmmaking, and a talk by Steve Schott, a producer of The Final Season, at the Award Ceremony.

If musical theater is your entertainment preference, Camelot is now in a short run at the Civic Center (221 Walnut Street) through October 28. There will be two performances on both Saturday and Sunday with evening shows only on Thursday and Friday.

On Saturday, October 27, a gathering at Nollen Plaza (3rd and Locust) at 4:00 p.m. and a symbolic procession of caskets to the Capitol West Plaza will be held as Des Moines’ groups participate in an International Day of Peace to End the War. A candlelight ceremony at the Capitol at 6:30 will end the event. I apologize to readers for not being able to cover the arrival in Des Moines of the traveling 9/11 exhibit earlier this week. I know many Iowans want to pay respect to the people who died as a result of the attacks at the World Trade Center as well as to the numerous soldiers who have given their lives in Iraq. We also cannot forget the sacrifices given during service in Afghanistan.

The Republican Party’s annual Reagan dinner will be held at Hy-Vee Hall on Saturday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. You can chat with your fellow diners about the AMOS issues conference being held earlier in the day, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m, at Waveland Hall at Plymouth Congregational Church (42nd at Ingersoll).

This is the last Sunday to ride DART buses for free and the last weekend to ride free when you board with your bicycle. Leaves are still colorful and the weekend forecast is for mostly sunny skies and cool temperatures. Beggar’s Night, the Des Moines version of Halloween trick and treating, will be held on Tuesday, October 30 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Have you carved your pumpkins and decoracted your yard?.

Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.

Planning for Growth and Transportation

The fall Citizen Transportation Congress was held on October 23, 2007, at Roosevelt High School. This public meeting occurs in May and in October and is hosted by the Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (DMAMPO). I chanced upon the event when I was at Roosevelt to teach a Community Education course.

Checking out the DMAMPO web site I discovered that there had been a public comment period, ending October 5, for input on the central Iowa bicycle-pedestrian transportation plan. There also had been an October 16 public input meeting on the Fiscal Year 2008-2011 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The TIP project listed on the public notice is to widen Route R63 from Route G24 to the southern limits of the Des Moines. The bicycle-pedestrian meeting was for the draft plan and sought to answer questions such as: Do the goals and objectives address your priorities? What issues(s) were not addressed? Do you have concerns, comments, or questions?

According to a pamphlet available at the congress, the DMAMPO has roundtables to work on issues of transit, freight, and bicycle-pedestrian. For example, the Des Moines airport is considered to be an inland port and thus there are issues involved with how to move freight in and out of that port. In addition to the roundtables the MPO has a traffic management advisory committee, a regional planning committee, and the Citizen Transportation Congress. A picture in the pamphlet of an earlier congress reveals the same few people as were at last night’s congress.

The DMAMPO is comprised of 19 communities: Altoona, Ankeny, Bondurant, Carlisle, Clive, Dallas County, Des Moines, Grimes, Johnston, Mitchellville, Norwalk, Pleasant Hill, Polk City, Polk County, Urbandale, Warren County, Waukee, West Des Moines, and Windsor Heights. As with most other growth and transportation entities in the state, the representatives to the DMAMPO are city council members, county supervisors, mayors, and an occasional non-elected city official. Chris Coleman, the incumbent at-large city councilor in Des Moines currently seeking re-election, and Brian Meyer, the Ward 4 city councilor seeking re-election, are part of the DMAMPO.

Coleman also is part of the Growth Scenario Task Force. The DMAMPO is looking at finalizing a 5-county growth plan and the transportation needs that go along with the growth up to the year 2035. As part of this project, a Stakeholders Working Group is being created. According to a slide presentation at last night’s congress, composition of the working group is currently being decided by committees. It is anticipated that the group will be formed and begin to meet in January 2008. The group will consist of stakeholders representing general issues in addition to the specific areas of agriculture, historic preservation, wildlife and natural resources, housing and economic development, public policy, waste management, and water management.

DART also held its monthly meeting on October 23. According to a Des Moines Register article on October 24 the DART board is considering light rail for either downtown, to Ankeny, or along University Avenue.
Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.

In Search of City Voters

A few days before the October 9th city council primary election I tried to identify some issues of importance for the contest. Who receives development dollars, energy efficiency for new construction, a variety of new jobs, and public transit were issues people contacted from my business card file helped me identify.

The day before the primary the Des Moines Register ran an article with four questions it asked of the three candidates running for an at-large council seat. The Register’s issues were the utility franchise fee, property tax increases versus budget cuts, retail growth in center city neighborhoods, and a shelter for the homeless. These are issues on which the paper has reported recently.

I wanted to talk with more people about municipal elections so I went to the downtown farmers market on October 20th. I was able to interview 12 people (7 women, 5 men), including a married couple and a mother/daughter pair. Here are their responses to a series of questions:

Do you know there is an election on November 6? (7 yes, 3 no, 2 hint of an idea)
Have you received or seen any campaign information? (4 yes, 8 no)
Have you heard or seen any news coverage? (6 yes, 6 no)
Locations: (1 Des Moines; 4 West Des Moines; 1 Clive; 2 Johnston; 1 Ankeny, 1 Adair; 1 Grinnell; 1 New Sharon)
Do you support or oppose any particular candidate? (0 yes; 12 no)
What issues do you consider important in the municipal election? (health care, a safe courthouse, special education, general school issues, making government smaller, illegal immigrants, sexual offenders, commuter transit services, quality of streets, police and fire departments, and realistic growth)

The first person with whom I spoke was a convicted felon. She said she had been told she could not vote so I gave her information about restoration of voting rights. A couple people were more interested in the presidential election than in what happens locally. Several people said they had not thought about what issues concerned them. When issues were offered, they were often not in context of a city council’s authority, e.g., schools and a county courthouse. Christine from Ankeny was the most opinionated of the 12 interviewees. Although she lives north of Des Moines, Christine is worried that the Des Moines city council is not doing enough to keep employers in the city. She commutes to Des Moines for work and thinks the last bus back to Ankeny needs to leave later than 5:30 p.m. As for Ankeny’s city council, she thinks it is making too big a fuss over yard signs. Yet, she is greatly concerned about growth in terms of eminent domain, loss of farmland, and the lack of open space. Despite her interest in municipal issues, Christine did not know if anybody was running for Ankeny’s city council. I was able to direct her to the Polk County Auditor’s web site which shows local municipal ballots. Ankeny has 4 candidates for 3 at-large council seats.

Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.

Feature: WOCAN Believes We Can

The Women of Color Advisory Network (WOCAN) was formed in 1999 to be an active force against the problems caused by sexual violence in Iowa. The group also seeks to educate people working with survivors of sexual abuse about cultural pressures which the victims face. Individual women who join WOCAN provide their own definitions of what it means to be a woman of color but most members are either African-American or Latina. There are three services provided by WOCAN. These are: (1) a statewide directory of women and community based organizations who are available to provide resources and support to sexual assault centers and to survivors, (2) an annual Different Colors of Violence Youth Conference, and (3) technical assistance and information for sexual assault centers, the clergy, and other organizations and individuals.

The 2007 youth conference, scheduled for December 13 and 14, will be the eigth annual conference. It is being put together with the help of Sheri Floyd at the Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault (IowaCASA). A Music & Desserts fundraiser was held at the Central Polk County Senior Center (MLK Jr. Parkway and Forest Avenue) on Saturday October 20. There was a silent auction of assorted baskets, bakery-fresh desserts for sale and to be enjoyed at the event, and entertainment. Additional tax-deductible donations for the youth conference are welcome and may be made payable to IowaCASA. This money covers food, space, and printing needs of the conference. Presenters volunteer their time. There is no charge to the students. The conference is open to both girls and boys regardless of racial definition or ethnicity. Last year 200 high school and 400 middle school students attended the conference. Specific workshops and other program details for the 2007 conference have not yet been finalized. Floyd said the popular self-defense presentation would most likely be repeated. Other topics covered in past years include an overview of sexual assault, e.g., what it is and how to be safe; what sexual harassment looks like and how not to do it; and, safeguards for using Facebook and other Internet programs.

Breanne Ward, who works at Polk County Crisis & Advocacy Services, is a co-chair of WOCAN. She joined the advisory network about a year ago and was urged to become a co-chair because of the amount of energy she has. She became aware of WOCAN when a co-worker invited her to a luncheon where another woman was going to do a presentation on make-up, sort of like a house party to sell the product. Instead, conversation turned to WOCAN and the topic of make-up was forgotten.

WOCAN and Monsoon, targeted towards eliminating domestic violence and sexual assault in the Asian and Pacific Islander community, are connected with IowaCASA which is recognizing its 25th anniversary this year. I asked Elizabeth (Beth) Barnhill, IowaCASA’s executive director, about the past and future of the organization. In the 17 years that Barnhill has been at IowaCASA, the number of rape crisis centers across the state has grown from 16 to 28. While IowaCASA does not provide shelter services, all but 3 of the crisis centers are connected with domestic violence shelters. There have been legislative advances, such as criminalizing rape within marriage and sexual exploitation by a counselor or other professional. Barnhill said she would like to see the statute of limitations on sexual assault lengthened. She said the limit is now at 10 years but it can take that long for vicitims to come to terms with the crime and be willing to pursue charges. For the last few years IowaCASA has focused on preventing sexual assaults and Barnhill hopes to see that work continue into the future.

Mayra Moriel is IowaCASA’s liaison to the immigrant and refugee communities. She told me that people are interested in the topic of sexual assault but that the subject is taboo. When reaching out to communities, she often will attract people to meetings using parents’ concerns about keeping their children safe then talk about the larger issue of sexual assault. Another topic of special concern is sexual harassment in the workplace. Moriel said immigrants can be very vulnerable to this behavior. Her training to service providers aims to help immigrants to understand about their workplace rights and about life in the United States in general.

According to a brochure IowaCASA prepared for distribution at African-American barber shops and beauty salons, sexual assault is defined as an act between persons that is done by force or against the will of the other. Sexual assault includes: sexual assault by acquaintances, friends and strangers; child sexual assault and incest; marital/partner rape; and, sexual exploitation by counselors, therapist, teachers, and others in positions of power over a survivor. The Iowa Sexual Abuse Hotline phone number is: 1-800-284-7821.

M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.

Review: Iowa to Japan and Back Again

The pieces in Elinor Noteboom’s Prolonged Tranquility show at the Heritage Art Gallery bring to mind the Nacza drawings at La Paz. The scenes also resemble the lines of art in a miniature rock garden that might sit atop a desk with a small rake. Noteboom’s scale is much larger, though, and her gardens are Iowa’s farms and Japan’s Mount Fuji viewed from an aerial perspective. In “Metamorphosis” she literally moves from a hill in Iowa with cattle perfectly positioned as though they were rocks to the sacred Japanese volcano. In another piece, her point of view transforms acres of soybeans from a cash crop into a field of meditation.

Several of the pieces in the show are on loan from collectors. The mediums include oils, etching and colored pencil, and acrylics. Noteboom uses an impasto technique on many pieces. This creates an impression that the paintings were shaped through the placement of pebbles.

In the atrium of Capital Square, works by a few members of the Associated Artists of Central Iowa are on display. Connie Guillaume’s oils of nature’s food caught my eye despite their relatively small size. In particular, the obvious image of yolk spread across a tabletop from a cracked egg drew my attention to the paintings. The amount of yolk, the absence of albumen, and the thickness of the eggshell are not consistent with nature, however. Yet it is those imbalances that bring the art to life.

Heyoung McBride paintings of men at work capture natural poses that make the people the central focus of the pictures. The pieces are enhanced by objects of the men’s trade that are included in the scenes, but it is McBride’s ability to capture light appropriate to the place that really pulls everything together.

There are the standard landscapes and seascapes, still lifes, and portraits. Muriel Hawkins painted mountains but her colors are so muted that there is not enough contrast to give depth to the landscapes. Her “Inside Passage (Sunset)” comes the closest of any of her work to arousing emotion. In that painting the yellow and other colors of sunset are offset by the blacks and grays of jagged peaks. The setting also helps to build conflict as the scene cannot be one viewed by a person safe on land but only by a person on a ship about to slip between imposing towers of rock as night beckons.

Myrna Morris’ “Deep in the Woods” hit me on the emotional level because of the rich red color of the flowers’ petals. While a perfectly acceptable painting, with competent execution and nicely done focal points, I was attracted primarily to the prominent color. Consequently, I wanted to see how Morris might have created a floral abstract.

The impression of a working country kitchen is what Nancy Rauh conveys with her “Blue Pitcher” watercolor. Rough edges, simple color patterns, and the suggestion of details make this painting more powerful than it would have been with another medium.

M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.

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