Posted January 01, 2025in Art News
Jeff Fleming will kick off the 2025 cultural year in Des Moines Jan. 10 with an exhibition of all new works based on old family photos. Fleming paints ghosts and retrieved memories in gesso, India ink, white charcoal and pencil. He calls these canvasses “chalkboards,” meaning they have been used
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Posted December 04, 2024in Art News
Jim Duncan will further reckon the year in Des Moines arts in his The Daily Umbrella column the last two weeks of the year. It’s free to subscribe, and no other medium covers the food and arts scene to the DU’s extent. www.thedailyumbrella.com 2024 was a transitional year for Des Moines’
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Posted November 06, 2024in Art News
Two of the art world’s hottest commodities this autumn have Des Moines stints on their schedules. Both are testimony to a radar for genius at two local institutions — Hoyt Sherman Place and Des Moines Art Center (DMAC). Samara Joy appeared at Hoyt Sherman this summer. She seemed genuinely impressed
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Posted October 02, 2024in Art News
“Football is not just a game; it’s an art form. You have to be creative, think outside the box, and always be one step ahead.” – Ronaldinho “And ah, ’tis true, ’tis true.” First, we have the Champions League. Des Moines Metro Opera (DMMO) is one of six finalists for
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Posted September 04, 2024in Art News
W.B. Yeats coined the expression “A terrible beauty is born” amid the Irish Easter Rising of 1916. Its hopeful sentiment has accompanied war art ever since. Scott Charles Ross’ paintings for his Ukraine Project were made from photos of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He concentrated on the terrible swift sword’s
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Posted July 31, 2024in Art News
In the art world, summer is the season of aestivation. That started before air conditioning when art patrons and performers retreated from sultry cities for cooler climes. It persists as a time out for symphonies, opera companies, schools and ballets. Douglas Duncan and Lawrence Ely took advantage of that a
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Posted July 03, 2024in Art News
Sarah Grant has returned to her camp stake roots. The grand dame of Des Moines’ art scene has opened a celebrative new solo show at Moberg Gallery. Grant has always worn her art on her sleeve, and these new works reveal a happy landing for the retired Sticks founder who
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Posted June 05, 2024in Art News
New York, New York? While righteous protesters abandoned expensive tents amid mounds of garbage at an elite university on Broadway, another wasted camp site staked claim to 50,000 square feet of prime real estate on Wall Street. There was nothing to be proud of at either place. “October 7th 06:29 –
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Posted May 01, 2024in Art News
Andrea Saltini’s controversial painting of Christ’s corpse being sexually violated was vandalized on the eve of Good Friday by a masked intruder in a now deconsecrated church outside Modena. The artist was attacked and hospitalized when he intervened. The exhibition of the painting sparked a petition for its closure signed
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Posted April 03, 2024in Art News
Chris Vance’s annual show at Moberg Gallery cements his stature as Des Moines’ most popular painter. Some 32 of the paintings were sold before the exhibition even began. Vance consciously comments each year on what he finds most interesting about the contemporary world outside his studio. This year it’s AI
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