Art as
optimism
New Bohemia Festival celebrates return of creativity By Spencer Willems The Gazette
CEDAR RAPIDS — Amid a collage of pictures,
symbols and news clippings depicting the 2008 flood, a few words hung
off to the edge of the canvas: “You need Art.” That idea proved to
be the mission for many of the artists, sculptors, craftsmen, musicians
and street performers who came out Saturday for the New Bohemia Arts
Festival. The free spirits and freethinkers brought their art, their
music and their ideas into the bright light of a sunny day to urge the
public to take greater notice of a bona fide arts community bent on
resurgence in southeast Cedar Rapids.
“Cedar Rapids is underrated in respect to the arts,” said Jim
Jacobmeyer, president of the New Bohemia Group and head coordinator of
the festival. “Iowa City is a happening place, sure, but we have a
diverse and historic tradition of art in this community going all the
way back to Grant Wood.” Jacobmeyer, 56, who teaches art at Metro High
School and Mount Mercy College, has been working with the New Bohemia
Group for years to gain more recognition for the creative community in
New Bo. The festival is in its third year, but this year marks the first
time since the flood that all of the performers and artists were able to
meet in one location.
Jim Jacobmeyer
President, New Bohemia Group
Shortly after the flood, Jacobmeyer said, people were tired and
distraught, and both the city and the festival had “a bad vibe.”
“But a year later, you can see the recovery and the optimism in the
art,” he said.
The diverse artistic community, from graphic artists to folk musicians
and chalk muralists, needs community support, he said.
Nick Barritt, a 20-yearold pop-music bassist living in northwest Cedar
Rapids agreed.
“We need something like this,” he said. “The music and art scene
doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves. Some of the artists are
really struggling, especially after last summer.” Barrit’s band,
Kidnap the Sun, has been playing in and around Cedar Rapids for two
years. Their power pop styling enhanced the festival’s eclectic of 28
rock, hip-hop, folk, jazz and blues groups.
Crystal LoGiudice/The Gazette Lille Barnett, 3, of Cedar Rapids, watches Peter Thompson
paint Saturday at the New Bohemia Arts Festival on Third Street SE in
Cedar Rapids. The festival, which continues this afternoon, features the
works of dozens of Corridor artists, music, food, activities for
children and street performers.
The variety wasn’t limited to the music. Graphic artist and southeast
Cedar Rapids resident Dan Shuster, 40, showed his 3-D wooden paintings
next to creations by a local photographer and a jeweler. Forty area
artists displayed their artwork, much of it inspired by the flood.
“Realize that this area was really hurt, but we’ve moved on,”
Shuster said. “Now we’re trying to push a cultural uprising,” The
festival continues this afternoon, and Jacobmeyer hopes to see its
impact resonate more than it ever has before.
“The arts reflect who we are, and make sense of (our) experience,”
Jacobmeyer said. “When you de-emphasize the arts, it does everyone a
disservice.”
GROUP
