Iowa: Iowa Keeps Creating: Digital Stage

The Iowa Arts Council (IAC) launched the Iowa Keeps Creating: Digital Stage initiative to support and promote local artists by showcasing their works through IAC’s digital platforms. The program is inspired by the exceptional challenges and opportunities presented by the pandemic and a reinvigorated civil rights movement in the past year. It underscores the fact that Iowa artists have continued making art in the absence of public performances—expanding the performance boundaries of digital media—and have connected with audiences who have been eagerly participating. In addition to amplifying Iowa artists and their work, the program also offers a way to virtually tip performers, purchase their work and follow their social media pages to show support. Selected artists or presenting organizations are awarded a $200 stipend. Artists and presenting organizations led by or predominantly serving people of color, LGBTQIA+ populations, people with disabilities, and/or people living in or serving a rural area will be intentionally elevated through the series, to celebrate the state’s diversity and give voice to many different artistic and cultural perspectives rooted in Iowa communities.

The first lineup of the featured artists whose works focused on the theme of “Resilience” included a mix of music from EleanorGrace and Lily DeTaeye, a short film from Fred Ebong, and poetry from Dawson Davenport and poets from the Indigenous Peoples Art Gallery & Café. The songs of the featured artists as well as other Iowa musicians have been curated on IAC’s Spotify playlist to reach a broader audience. IAC will release the second stage focused on the theme of “Arts and Healing” in April, and is currently accepting proposals for the third stage on the theme of “Balance,” set to premiere in June. To learn more, contact Iowa Arts Council Program Assistant Montana Smith.