Acclaimed poet Danez Smith headlines Mic Check Poetry Fest, a two-day celebration of spoken word and its power to bear witness, create community, and inspire change. The festival opens with Smith — a Black queer writer and performer — sharing their poems in two shows before live audiences, along with queer Nuyorican spoken word poet Denice Frohman and the teen poets of IC Speaks. The following day, Smith will lead two hybrid poetry writing workshops, one designed for adults and the other for teens 13-18. The festival seeks to celebrate renowned BIPOC and LGBTQ spoken word poets, inviting all Iowans to joyfully resist forces that would silence Black and queer voices. Because cost should never be a barrier to participation in the arts, all events at the festival are low-cost to adults and free to teens.
Iowa City Poetry
Iowa City, IA
GIG Fund
FY2024
About
Award Details
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Grant or Award Received
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$4,000Grant Amount
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2024Fiscal Year of Award
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The University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art
NEA Big Read
FY2024
IowaThe Iowa City NEA Big Read is the premier program associated with the University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art’s exhibition on the Black Midwest, funded by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Toni Morrison’s “Beloved,” together with the exhibition, brings the Iowa City community together to explore narratives of recovery, reproduction, and creation as they pertain to the Black Midwest.
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Riverside Theatre
Shakespeare in American Communities: Schools
FY2024
IowaWill Power marks the next stage of Riverside Theatre’s two decades of Shakespeare education and outreach in Iowa. Through partnerships with area community centers, schools, and libraries, Riverside will tour a trunk-show production of the preceding summer’s Free Shakespeare in Lower City Park, adapted to ninety minutes and coinciding with artist-led workshops for middle and high-school students.
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Hola Iowa
Creative Midwest Media Cohort
FY2024
IowaHola Iowa will produce a multimedia series highlighting the contributions of the Latino community to the arts and culture landscape in Iowa and the Midwest.
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Public Space One
GIG Fund
FY2024
IowaIn late spring/early summer 2024, MIPSTERZ will bring their project Alhamdu ("an evolving experiential art exhibition that explores Muslim Futurism—a cultural and artistic aesthetic that learns from frameworks of Afrofuturism...