the Artifactory

July 19, 2020 from 1:00 to 2:30 pm.

July’s Art in the Afternoon will be presented on Zoom due to Covid-19. Please click on the button below to receive you login information.

Local architect Jesus Chucho Loria will give a presentation about architectural drawing and sketching, overviewing its history with examples from the past through modern digital sketching.  He was born in Mexico and educated at Yucatan Autonomous University. “I’m convinced my family had never heard the word ‘architecture’ before I took an interest,” he has said. “A bit later in life, however, I learned that my great grandfather attended engineering classes at the state university – I cherish the memory of my grandma showing me the wooden box that housed his brass drafting instruments from his student days.” Mr. Loria also serves on the Board of Arts Iowa City.

June 21, 2020 from 1:00 to 2:30 pm.

June’s Art in the Afternoon will be presented on Zoom due to Covid-19. Please click on the button below to receive you login information.

Taissir Abdelgadir is a prolific artist and art professor who emigrated from Sudan to the U.S. in 2015.  She has a B.A. in Applied Art, Department of Textile Printing and M.F.A from the College of Fine and Applied Art from Sudan University for Science & Technology. Khartoum University granted her a higher diploma from the Institute for African & Asian Studies. Taissir was active in her home country arranging organizations and initiatives that empowered women and brought attention to gender-based discrimination.  Under the brutal regime of deposed dictator Omar Al-Bashir, Sudanese artists, writers, journalists, and thinkers were suppressed for the slightest criticism of the government.  These constraints were even greater for expressive, activist women.  To escape them, Taissir taught at a university in Saudi Arabia for two years. In 2015 she was accepted for an Art Conference in New York City. She has not gone back to Sudan since.

The media she works in includes weaving, tie dye, silk screen, woodcut and linoleum block printing. Her paintings are created with watercolor, ink and acrylics.  Her artwork has been exhibited in Morocco, Sweden, India, Germany, Egypt, Kenya and Washington D.C.  Currently she is an Elementary Paraeducator for the Iowa City Schools.

• March 15 postponed to November 15, 2020
• from 1:00 to 2:30 pm
• in The Center’s Assembly Room
• 28 S Linn St, Iowa City, Iowa
• Free Admission

Postponed to November 15, 2020 due to concerns over the coronavirus.

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James L. Ochs is a self-employed artist with over 30 years of experience in printmaking, painting, and drawing. He has been a university art instructor while also operating Ochs Studio for teaching and printmaking in Iowa City. Born in Denver, Colorado, he received his B.A. in painting at Colorado State University and an M.A. and M.F.A in printmaking and drawing from the University of Iowa. He gained print experience at Blacks Print Studio in New York City and worked in collage and paint at the Art Student League.

About his work, Ochs says: “I contrast things within the figure, something different opposed to it to make it more poetic and mystical, as opposed to something very classical.” His works can be found in art collections around the U.S., including the Des Moines Art Center; Muscatine Art Center, Farm Bureau in Des Moines, Library of Congress, Harvard College, and Brown University. Featured in over 120 national, regional, and solo shows, he has received numerous awards, including the Coconut Grove Art Exhibition and Winter Park Art Festival in Florida. See more at: www.gildedpeargallery.com/jim-ochs

ART IN THE AFTERNOON is a monthly artist talk / workshop usually held on the 3rd Sunday. This series focuses on introducing local artists to the Iowa City community.

• February 16, 2020
• from 1:00 to 2:30 pm
• in The Center’s Assembly Room
• 28 S Linn St, Iowa City, Iowa
• Free Admission

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Andrea Smisek Gage – “Nothing challenges creativity more than the rollercoaster of life! From architectural-engineering to engineering a life of three kids, carpool and aging parents, Andrea Smisek Gage has found new ways to create in order to have new ways to cope. Portraits to plein air in both oil and watercolor is her most recent outlet that has opened a new world of opportunities. Sharing her creative journey through humorous stories and paintings will give insight into how to color outside the lines and create a vibrant life for yourself.”