Iowa City Gallery Walk is fun!

This Friday (March 6), the streets of Iowa City become walkways to art.

Visitors can view art in galleries, businesses and nonprofit organizations’ public spaces. It’s free, it’s fun and it’s a great way to view numerous art works by a variety of artists.

Eighteen locations will celebrate the work of artists.

Local artist, Astrid Bennett is organizer of the event.

Exhibits include:

AKAR, 257 E. Iowa Ave.;
Arts Iowa City, 103 E. College St.;
Bella Joli, 125 S. Dubuque St.;
Chait Galleries, 218 E. Washington St.;
The Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St.;
Glassando, 201 S. Clinton St.;
Home Ec Workshop, 207 N. Linn St.;
Iowa Artisans Gallery, 207 E. Washington St.;
Iowa City Senior Center, 28 S. Linn St.;
Lasansky Gallery, 703 S. Clinton St.;
MC Ginsberg, 110 Washington St.;
MidWestOne Bank, 102 S. Clinton St.;
Modela, 323 E. Market St.;
RSVP, 140 N. Linn St.;
The Soap Opera, 119 E. College St.;
United Action for Youth, 355 Iowa Ave.;
US Bank, 204 E. Washington St.; and
West Bank, Dubuque and Burlington St.

Stone City’s General Store will be your new favorite hangout

I found a new favorite place to have a bite.  A place with good food, a cozy atmosphere and live music.  A place where even my five-year-old has fun and isn’t out of place dancing. It’s a bit off the beaten path, but well worth the drive.

Nestled on the bank of the Wapsi River in Stone City, IA the General Store is a little piece of history.  It’s had many names and provided different services to the community, but the iconic building is as much a landmark in the town as the famous quarry down the street.

It’s Playtime Poppy

The Children’s Theatre of Cedar Rapids Playtime Poppy is ready to start its 2008-2009 Play season. The first play will be “Timeless Tales” which is a rendition of four of Hans Christian Andersen’s stories.  It will include scenes from “The Princess and the Pea”, “The Little Mermaid”, “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, and “The Ugly Duckling”.

This Timeless Tales starts on October 15^th and runs through the 18^th.  The play will be at Jefferson High School in the auditorium (pdf map of the building), located at 1243 20^th St SW in Cedar Rapids.  Here are the show times:

• Wednesday October 15^th is a matinee showing at 1:00pm
• Thursday October 16, 2008 showing at 4:30pm and at 7:00pm
• Friday October 17, 2008 showing at 4:30pm and at 7:00 pm
• Saturday October 18, 2008 showing at 2:00 pm and at 4:30 pm

The rest of the 2008-2009 play season will feature:

• Disney’s 101 Dalmatians – the musical (January 29-31, 2009) at Kennedy High School
• Sleeping Beauty (April 23-25, 2009) at Washington High School

This is truly a low cost entertaining event to bring your children to.  The tickets cost $3.00 and are available for sale 45 minutes before the show starts.  The plays usually last about an hour, and I know I plan on attending, my daughter always loves it.  Maybe I’ll see you there.

posted by: Kristen Everett

Bike riding and Bluegrass

Central City showcases two festivals this weekend – CC Rider and the 33rd annual Bluegrass Festival.

The decorated bikes have adorned lawns and businesses for weeks. Some were spray painted purple from rim to rim, some held flower baskets, and others sparkled in the summer sun. Regardless of the artist’s intention, each drew attention and encouraged passersby to participate in Central City’s 8^th annual CC Rider festival.  Finally, on Saturday, August 23^rd, the bid day arrived.

The Central City Main Street organization puts on the CC Rider Community Festival and Bike Ride every year, which began in 2001. The heart of the festival revolves around a number of bike rides. Participants could choose from either a 14, 34, 62 or the new 100 mile route through scenic Grant Wood Country. The Festival also features a 5k Run/Walk for adults as well as kids. There is also a bike safety “rodeo” and scavenger hunt for the kids.

The Mill and Catfish Keith

For our date night this month my husband and I ventured back to an old stomping ground and saw one of our favorite performers.

The Mill in downtown Iowa City has forever been one of my favorite spots.  When I was young, my mom would drive to Iowa City to go shopping and we’d always stop at The Mill for all-you-can-eat spaghetti.   So, when I attended the University of Iowa , I found myself naturally inclined to frequent the familiarly of The Mill (although most of my girlfriends preferred the dance clubs.)

The Mill has all the things I love in a bar – it’s dark, it’s unpretentious, and they have live music.