University of Iowa Center for the Book Student Amy Childress visiting the Stone Creek. (Kimberly Maher)

Thursday, October 25. Exhibitions and open studios
in and around the downtown area

Conference participants visited exhibitions and artists’ studios around the downtown area on this tour. One exhibition in the public library’s special collections displayed handmade paper and works using handmade paper from their collection. The downtown shops had a window exhibition that participants enjoyed both from the inside and outside. The community studio, Public Space 1 (PS1), had the Spooky House exhibition; PS1 just remodeled the exhibition space, and the display was also good for this Halloween season. 

Visiting artists’ studios were especially great because it was a very precious chance to go into the artists’ personal studios, and each studio had a unique characteristic. These artists who kindly opened their studios for this tour were: Karen Carcia & Kimberly Maher (the Stonecreek Studio), Brad Dicharry, Liz Munger, and Lexi Janezic. The Stonecreek studio has two printing presses. Karen and Kim set forms on these presses and let visitors to print a postcard in two colors. Brad’s studio incorporates an ultramodern speed control system on his printers; all of the motors attached to the printers are connected to his macintosh and controlled using bluetooth. It was nice mixture of modern technology and traditional technology. Liz’s studio has a warm-atmosphere with a welcoming studio dog, Boo. Her artworks, including prints, books and wall pieces give additional appeal to the studio. Lexi also showed her works in her brand new studio. Her works often contain geometric and abstract shapes, and it fits with the studio atmosphere: bright, very clean, and quiet. One participant impressively said “these are the dream-come-true studios …” and it was very true.

The  printshop of Liz Munger. (Amy Childress)