Events Calendar

EVENTS: May 2021

Planning an event? Submit event info to calendar@littlevillagemag. com. Include event name, date, time, venue, street address, admission price and a brief description (no all-caps, exclamation points or advertising verbiage, please). To find more events, visit littlevillagemag.com/calendar. Please check venue listing in case details have changed.

FRIDAYS, SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS MAY 21-JUNE 6, ‘Little Women,' Theatre Cedar Rapids, Brucemore, Cedar Rapids, 7:30 p.m., $25-100

Theatre Cedar Rapids once again partners with Brucemore Mansion this summer to bring Cedar Rapids the best in outdoor, COVID-safe theater experiences. They’re kicking things off with the Heather Chrisler adaptation of Little Women, a four-woman show that emphasizes the role of play in the lives of the four sisters while also lingering on the impact of tragedy. First workshopped in 2019, this adaptation saw most of its development process online over the course of the pandemic, and TCR will be presenting one of its first live performances.

CRANDIC performances:

Friday, May 7 at 8 p.m. Out the Box: ‘Dark Skinned Pavement’ by TJ Young, Mirrorbox Theatre (mirrorboxtheatre.com)

Tuesday-Saturday, May 11-15 at 6:30 & 8 ‘The Journey’—Illusionist Scott Silven, Hancher (hancher. uiowa.edu), $20

Friday, May 14 at 8 p.m. Out the Box: ‘Baby Camp’ by Nandita Shenoy, Mirrorbox Theatre

Saturday, May 15 at 7 p.m. ‘Under Milk Wood’ Zoom Reading, Uptown Bill’s Coffee House (@ uptownbills)

Sunday, May 16 at 2:30 & 4 ‘The Journey’—Illusionist Scott Silven, Hancher

Friday, May 21-Sunday, May 23, all day ‘The Show Must Go Online!,’ Young Footliters (coralvillearts. org), $12-17

Friday, May 21 at 8 p.m. Out the Box: ‘To Saints and Stars’ by Jordan Ramirez Puckett, Mirrorbox Theatre

Friday, May28 at 8 p.m. Out theBox #50, title TBD, MirrorboxTheatre

OPEN CALLS!

Cedar Rapids Visual Arts Commission has two open calls running for mural artists, both with proposals due May 7. They are looking to activate two spaces along the Cedar Valley Nature Trail. The first is a 40’ w X 10’ h wall under the 8th Avenue Bridge; the other is a 75’ w X 10’ h wall on the east side of the 12th Avenue Bridge. Submissions should be sent to s.brueckert@cedar-rapids.org; more details available on cedar-rapids.org.

The Open Air Media Festival call for artists runs through Saturday, May 8. In its second year, the festival was originated by the Public Space One Media Arts Co-op in response to the challenges of presenting media work in the pandemic. This year’s festival asks creators to respond to the themes of “drifting” and “driftless,” and the way those concepts engage with time and place. More details and a submission link are available at publicspaceone.com.

Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Theatre is looking for adults 18 and up to audition for their summer production of the musical Ordinary Days. They are accepting recorded auditions through 5 p.m. May 16 to mvlcommunitytheatre@gmail.com. For full details and link to audition form, visit facebook.com/ mvlctheatre.

The Writers’ Rooms are accepting applications through July 31 for work to be included in their third community anthology, Writers of the Flame. The theme of “fire” can be used as setting, theme or included in any other manner. They are looking for prose, poetry and graphic narrative as well as photography and artwork. Full details available at thewritersrooms.org.

Iowa Keeps Creating: Digital Stage continues to accept submissions for recorded or livestreamed events to be featured at iowaculture. gov/arts/DigitalStage. Artists, organizations and projects funded under the Iowa Arts Council grant cycle through June 30, 2021 are ineligible. Upcoming themes are: June— Balance; August—Emerging Artists (age 25 and under).

THURSDAY, MAY 13, Nicky Tavares virtual screening + Q&A, Public Space One Media Arts Co-op (publicspaceone.com), 6:30 p.m.

The Media Arts Co-op at Public Space One continues its series highlighting Iowa-based media artists with a selection of work by Nicky Tavares, an Assistant Professor of Film and Media Studies in the Department of Art at Grinnell College. Tavares explores systemic inequalities through personal storytelling; she works across a wide variety of media and has presented work internationally in both screening room and gallery contexts.

Other film screenings and discussions this month:

Wednesday, May 5 at 7p.m. ECO Film Discussion:‘Riverblue —Can Fashion SaveThe Planet,’ Iowa City PublicLibrary and Green IowaAmeriCorps (icpl.org)

Wednesday, May 5 at 8:09p.m. ‘The Truffle Hunters,’FilmScene in the Park,Chauncey Swan Park, IowaCity

Thursday, May 6 at 6 p.m.‘Do We Belong?’ Screeningand Panel Discussion forAsian/Pacific AmericanHeritage Month, Cedar Rapids Civil RightsCommission (@cedar.rights)

Thursday, May 6 at 7 p.m.Black Lives on Screen VirtualScreening Series, ObermannCenter (obermann.uiowa.edu)

Saturday, May 8 at 8:12p.m. ‘The Truffle Hunters,’FilmScene in the Park

Wednesday, May 12 at 8:16p.m. ‘Emma.’, FilmScene inthe Park

Saturday, May 15 at 8:19 p.m.‘Emma.’, FilmScene in thePark

Wednesday, May 19 at 8:23p.m. ‘Nomadland,’ FilmScenein the Park, Chauncey SwanPark

Saturday, May 22 at 8:23p.m. ‘Nomadland,’FilmScene in the Park

Saturday, May 29 at 9 p.m.‘The Croods: A New Age,’Summer of the Arts 2021Free Movie Series, Iowa CityMunicipal Airport

SUNDAY, MAY 23, Peace Walk: Seeing Our Community with Fresh Eyes, Wellington Heights Neighborhood Engagement Program, McKinley Middle School, 3 p.m., Free

Born of a Safe, Equitable and Thriving Communities (SET) grant from the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation, the Wellington Heights Neighborhood Engagement Program works to promote peace and understanding through listening sessions and relationship building. In that vein, they’re holding a short, 20-minute Peace Walk (masks and distancing required). The event will kick off at McKinley STEAM Academy with remarks from local activists, and prizes will be awarded for the best signs promoting a message of peace in various age brackets: 0-5 years, 6-10 years, 10-12 years, 13 and above and adult.

Classes, community and conversations throughout May

Thursday, May 6 at 4 p.m. Food Is Everywhere: Foraging Walk for Beginners, Coralville Community Food Pantry (@ CoralvilleCommunityFoodPantry), location TBD+livestream

Thursday, May 6 at 6 p.m. Implicit bias: Is there hope for change?, National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library (ncsml.org), reservation required

Thursdays, May 6 & 13 A Conversation on Cross-Disciplinary Improvisation with Gabi Vanek, Public Space One Media Arts Co-op (publicspaceone. com), registration required

Thursday, May 6 at 7 p.m. People’s Truth and Reckoning Commission Meeting, Wetherby Park, Iowa City

Friday, May 7 at 6 p.m. Seedling Check-in—for 13-18-year-olds, Iowa City Public Library w/ Grow Johnson County (icpl.org)

Friday, May 7 at 7 p.m. Long Lost—Artist Talk by Quelle, LGBTQ Iowa Archives & Library (@ LGBTQIowaArchives)

Thursday, May 13 at 10 a.m. & 3 p.m. The Anne Frank Tree Project: Town Hall Meetings, Obermann Center (obermann.uiowa.edu), registration required

Thursday, May 13 at 7 p.m. 2nd Thursday Series: From the Heart 2, Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre (cropera. org)

Saturday, May 15 at 9:30 a.m. Mindful Rock Painting (geared to ages 3-5), Linn County Conservation, Wickiup Hill Learning Center, Toddville, $5

Saturdays, May 13-June 5 at 11 a.m. Queer as Form w/ Jessica Lawson, Iowa City Poetry (iowacitypoetry.com), $100

Thursday-Sunday, May 20-23 Youth Mural Workshop w/ Janiece Maddox, Public Space One

Thursday, May 20 at 5:30 p.m. Screen Time: Christopher Hunter, Andrea Truitt & Ramona Muse Lambert, Englert Theatre (englert.org)

Thursday, May 20 at 7 p.m. Lift Every Voice: Athletes, Artists, and the Movement for Social Justice, Hancher (hancher.uiowa.edu), registration required

Friday, May 21 at 4 p.m. Drive-up Traditional Czech Meal, National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library, Cedar Rapids, $25 (orders must be placed by May 10)

Saturdays, May 22-June 5, 11 a.m. Time-Based Methods with Zen Cohen, Public Space One Media Arts Co-op (publicspaceone.com), pay-what-youcan $5-135

Saturday, May 22 at 1 p.m. Online RPGs with Corridor Games on Demand (discord.gg/ZAKhbSJ)

Saturdays, May 29-July 3 at 4 p.m. Online Sketch Comedy Class, Willow Creek Theatre Company (@willowcreektheatrecompany), $75

Our new outdoor cinema was built in partnership with the Iowa City Parks and Recreation Department and made possible by the transformative Strengthen • Grow • Evolve campaign. We’ll be playing movies through August in Chauncey Swan Park!

LEARN MORE AT ICFILMSCENE.ORG

FRIDAY, MAY 7, ‘Archetypes’: Third Coast Percussion with Sérgio Assad and Clarice Assad, Hancher (hancher.uiowa.edu), 7:30 p.m., $5

Third Coast Percussion continues their collaboration with the University of Iowa’s Hancher Auditorium with Archetypes, a program recorded especially for the Hancher audience. They are joined by Sérgio Assad on guitar and Clarice Assad on piano and vocals; Clarice lends her compositional talents as well. Archetypes explores the enduring symbols and concepts that are found throughout the wide variety of world mythic traditions, including creation stories, apocalypses and familiar characters that recur. Hancher’s brief summary of the piece describes it as “an expansive musical journey that is at once idiosyncratic and universal”; it promises to be a singular experience!

More music MAYhem

Wednesdays at 7 p.m. Stages, Englert Theatre (englert.org), $5-10 May 5—Blake Shaw May 12—Joel Sires May 19—Annalibera May 26—Rachel Saint

Thursdays at 8 p.m. No Touching Sessions, Threshold Apprehension Sound (thresholdappsound.com) May 6—Surf Zombies May 20—Shining Realm May 27—Death Kill Overdrive + Young Broke Radicals

Thursday, May 13 at 7 p.m. The Milk Carton Kids, Englert Theatre + Mandolin, $15-125

Saturday, May 15 at 5 p.m. A Rogue Wave with special guest Natalie Brown, RavenWolf Productions, Williamsburg

MAY 5-JUNE 16, National Endowment for the Arts Big Read, Center for Worker Justice (cwjiowa.org), Free

The Center for Worker Justice, under a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) administered by Arts Midwest (based in Minneapolis) is joining in the NEA’s Big Read program for 2021, which will focus on Into the Beautiful North, by Luis Alberto Urrea. CWJ has a full slate of free, virtual programming surrounding this programming, running through a June 16 reading and discussion with the author. The kickoff event, on Wednesday, May 5 at 4 p.m., will feature a brief talk by CWJ director Mazahir Salih and previews of later presentations by Chuy Renteria and Miriam Alarcón Avíla. Registration will be required for all events and will be available as they each get closer on the CWJ website.

The rest of the May programming follows: Friday, May 7 at 3:30—a presentation by Cristina Ortiz about her research in Columbus Junction, Iowa among Latinx and Burmese immigrants; May 8-21—three-week book discussion program for high school students with curriculum designed by staff of the Iowa Youth Writing Program; Thursday, May 13 at 4 p.m.—presentation by Janet Weaver about the University of Iowa Libraries’ extensive archive including oral histories about Mexican immigration to Iowa; Wednesday, May 26 at 7 p.m—book discussion of Into the Beautiful North led by Coralville Public Library staff; Thursday, May 27 at 7 p.m.—reading and discussion with Chuy Renteria of his forthcoming book from University of Iowa Press about Latinx immigrant experiences of himself and others in West Liberty, Iowa; and Saturday, May 29 at 11 a.m.—two-hour writing workshops, led by members of the University of Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program.

May Literature Events

Wednesday, May 5 at 7 p.m.Amy Klobuchar with ArtCullen, Prairie Lights (prairielights.com/live)

Friday, May 7 at 2 p.m.Kate Durbin + Raquel SalasRivera, Cornell College Centerfor the Literary Arts (@CenterForTheLiteraryArts)

Friday, May 7 at 7 p.m.Meenakshi Gigi Durham,Prairie Lights

Saturday, May 8 at 10 a.m.Storytellers: Akwi Nji, EnglertTheatre (englert.org), $5-10

Monday, May 10 at 7 p.m.Chloe Angyal with BrandonTaylor, Prairie Lights

Tuesday, May 11 at 7p.m. Donika Kelly & MarkWunderlich, Prairie Lights

Wednesday, May 12 at 7 p.m.Alexander Chee: Writers @Grinnell Distinguished AuthorEvent, Prairie Lights

Wednesday, May 19 at 7 p.m.Black Lives Matter at School,Prairie Lights

Friday, May 21 at 7 p.m.Larissa Pham with JennyZhang, Prairie Lights

Saturday, May 22 at 7 p.m.Vanitas: Spring Jam, VanitasMag w/ Midwest WritingCenter (@vanitasmag)

JUST ANNOUNCED

2021 Iowa City Jazz Festival lineup!

Summer of the Arts has been taking things slowly with their announcements of the details of their festival season. As audiences and performers alike slowly ease back into in-person events, it will take patience and precision to get things just right. The Iowa City Jazz Festival, scheduled for July 2-3 in downtown Iowa City, is the product of that patience, and the lineup, announced late last month, shows the care and enthusiasm that we can expect from Summer of the Arts programming in this hesitant year and always!

Iowa City Jazz Festival Lineup

Friday, July 24:30 p.m. Schoolhouse Jazz6:30 p.m. NOLA Jazz Band8:10 p.m. Big Fun

Saturday, July 311:30 a.m. The United Jazz Ensemble12:15 p.m. North Corridor Jazz All Stars2 p.m. Giveton Gelin4 p.m. Immanuel Wilkins6 p.m. Bonegasm8 p.m. Terri Lyne Carrington andSocial Science