The First Street Community Center in Mount Vernon, Iowa is hosting the Mount Vernon Area Arts Council’s Annual Winter Potluck, Concert & Fundraiser on February 6th.
The potluck starts at 5:30pm in the Library, followed by a concert at 7:00pm in the Uptown Theatre.
Bring your families, bring your friends, BYOB, and bring a dish to share at the potluck. Pulled pork will be provided, however, you are encouraged to bring a side dish or two to share with everyone else.
Don’t forget, this is a fundraiser. So, if after all of this great food and incredible entertainment you are in the mood to donate $$ to help support the wonderful programs the MVAAC puts on throughout the year – bring your wallet too! A suggested donation of $10 is what their poster says. I don’t think they’d mind if you gave a little more or even a little less, whatever you can afford will help.
On Friday the 5th of February the East End Art Gallery will be hosting a reception for a featured gallery artist. The reception will be from 5:30pm – 7:30pm with light refreshments served.
This type of event will be repeated every first Friday of each month.
During each First Friday Art Exhibit the artist will be available to visit with. The exhibit will stay up for the rest of the month, until the next reception.
We invite the public to join us, no reservation, or fees and dress casual….just come!
For our 1st… First Friday Art Exhibit we are featuring artist: Elizabeth Rhoads Read.
Elizabeth is inspired by the environment and nature that surrounds her.
She is drawn toward simple materials to create her visions, including paper, used fabric and abject items.
Elizabeth received a BA degree in 1972 in the areas of art and political science from Cornell College. Since graduating, Elizabeth has pursued many careers including teaching in an alternative high school, being a private investigator, and counseling women on employment issues. She has also devoted many hours to community improvement. During this time, she continued creating art.
Over the years, Elizabeth has experimented and created wonderful works of art in several mediums. As her artwork continued to evolve, her pieces leapt off the watercolor paper and transformed into three-dimensional creations. The environment and nature that surrounds her inspires Elizabeth’s work. She is drawn towards simple materials to create her visions including paper, used fabric, and abject items.
Elizabeth’s work involves varying texture and illusive lights interspersed with minute details, concentrating on the forcefulness of dark areas and the contrast between spaces. These pieces exude recesses, secret hiding places that pull one in for shelter. Her philosophy is to immerse herself in textures and tones to express the intensity of emotions.
She has participated in juried and invitational shows with her large fiber wall hangings and unique fibre rush sculptures. Elizabeth has been involved with public art projects and her work can be found in private and corporate collections. Currently, she is part of the Cedar River Artisans.
Once again, please join East End Art and Elizabeth Rhoads Read for a reception on Friday, February 5th. Light refreshments will be served and her stunning pieces will be on display.
The reception will be held in the Library, next door to the East End Art Gallery, at the First Street Community Center in Mount Vernon, Iowa.
The First Street Community Center in Mount Vernon, Iowa is excited to be hosting a variety of talented performers this Saturday, December 19th, from 4pm- 7pm.
Come on over and join in the celebration of the season and enjoy the various performances. The organizer of the event describes it on their Facebook page as:
This is the first Mount Vernon Family Holiday Showcase. The purpose of this event is to give the children of Mount Vernon/Lisbon area to get together and perform for each other and their families anything they want related to the holiday season. Kids can show art, share poems, dance, play music, etc.
You name it… This to share and enjoy the holiday season together as a community showcasing the talents and expressions of our children.
Looking forward to sharing expressions/performances about Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, Winter Solstice, and even Festivus!!!
More information can be found at the event’s Facebook page.
Live at the First Street Community Center in the Uptown Theatre, LilFest presents:
Radoslav Lorkovic & T. Bruce Bowers –Americana Folk Power Duo
Monday, December 14, 2015 at 8pm. (Doors open at 7:45 pm)
Suggested Contribution is only $15!
This event is BYOB with purchase of an Uptown Theatre Cup, or bring an Uptown Theatre cup you already own (with the lid please).
“Music with a fiery kind of cool! Obsession and passion are concepts that Radoslav Lorković fully understands. But in his case, they’re often tangled up in a single instrument: the piano.” – Michael Granberry, Dallas Morning News
An Iowa City native, Radoslav Lorkovic’s keyboard talent has taken him to dizzy-ing heights. His latest musical adventure is a duo with the like-Rad-ically talented T. Bruce Bowers, a multi-fiddlist from Northern Minnesota. This is a reprise of the 2014 Winterthur (tour).
At this concert you can expect an exciting night of music featuring many styles and genres: blues, country, New Orleans, R & B, rock, and more!
Drawing from a multitude of influences ranging from elegant classical and jazz styles to the rawest, most basic blues, country and soul, Radoslav Lorković has taken on an unusually broad musical spectrum and refined it into his distinctive piano style.
His tenure on the R&B and folk circuits has culminated in five critically acclaimed solo recordings and numerous appearances on the recordings of and performances with artists including Odetta, Shawn Colvin, Jimmy LaFave, Ribbon of Highway Woody Guthrie Tribute, Greg Brown,Richard Shindell, Ellis Paul, Ronny Cox, Dave Moore, Andy White, and Bo Ramsey. His thirty-year touring career has led him from the taverns of the upper Mississippi River to the castles of Italy, The Canary Islands, The Yup’ik villages of Alaska, The Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall.
Born in Zagreb, Croatia in 1958, Lorković’s initial exposure to music can be attributed to two grandmothers. Antonija, his maternal Grandmother, sang to him Croatian, Slovenian and Czech. Classical music played in the home constantly due to the influence of his paternal grandmother Melita Lorković, an internationally renowned classical pianist.
Radoslav moved to the Iowa at age six. Lorković began touring at age 20 with Bo Ramsey and the Sliders. Lorković entered the band having mastered the styles of boogie-woogie greats such as Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson, Freddie Slack etc.. Ramsey’s influence drove Lorković deeper to the core of the blues. The music of Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters and Little Walter shifted Lorković’s focus. Lorković and Ramsey joined forces with Greg Brown adding musical authenticity to his deep Iowa Roots.
T Bruce Bowers was born in San Antonio, Texas, and has been playing professionally since 1968. Bowers has written over 20 film and television scores. Five of his scores have won awards, including “Beneath the North Atlantic,” which was nominated for an Emmy.
Bruce has performed with musicians of many different styles, including Taj Mahal, Queen Ida, the Dixie Dregs, Ed Bruce, Prudence Johnson, and Pat Donahue. Bruce is a founding member of the Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua Blue Canvas Orchestra. He was bandleader from 1988 to 1994, and has been active in the creation of the style and quality of the Blue Canvas Orchestra since the beginning.
For more information see the MVAAC.org’s website.
