Gallery Walk | Iowa City Downtown District

2024 Downtown Spring Gallery Walk

Friday, March 1st, 2024 - 5:00 - 8:00pm

The Iowa City Gallery Walk is back for another year! For over 20 years, this event has taken over downtown and filled your favorite businesses with wonderful works of art. Make an evening of it and grab a bite to eat, shop, and gallery walk in beautiful downtown Iowa City! The 2024 Downtown Spring Gallery Walk is Friday, March 1st from 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. This FREE event is open to everyone to enjoy a self-guided tour of shops, galleries, and other locations that have curated featured artists and pieces of art.

AKAR
- Heidi McKay Casto: “Paws and Claws”
- Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Iowa School of Art and Art History, Heidi McKay Casto will exhibit her sculpturally functional ceramic objects.
BLICK ART MATERIALS
- Dana Telsrow: “Citizen of the City of Iowa City“
- Figurative drawings and paintings capturing the Iowa City community by Dana Telsrow.
FIELD & FINCH
- Paige Flotterud: “Fall Collection”
- A sweet fall collection filled with Cinderella pumpkins and dreamy fall feels! Large colorful acrylic paintings that celebrate the season we’re in. Come walk through Paige’s Fall Collection!
FILMSCENE ON THE PED MALL
- David Van Allen: “Assembled Portraits”
- David Van Allen is a photographer and Iowa City native who directed the original Refocus Festival in 1974, 1975, and 1978. David returned to the Photography department at Iowa in 1978. He got his MA in 1979 and his MFA in 1980. He began teaching Photography at Kirkwood Community College in 1981, and then at Mount Mercy College in 1983. He also did some professional photography during this time. In retirement, David is concentrating his energy on making multiple-image portraits. Many of the subjects and/or their names will be familiar to Iowa Citians.
GET FRESH
- Hope Spragg & The LENA Project: “Pollinators“
- Featuring pollinator art by Hope Spragg and The LENA Project Summer 2023 Campers. Hope Spragg’s wooden pollinators were placed at local public parks during the Summer of 2023, encouraging people to appreciate the importance of native pollinators and their local habitats. They are all together for this exhibit alongside local children’s (aged 4-7) Monarch Art. The Monarch Art was created during the Summer 2023 LENA Camp where area children and seniors came together to explore the life span of monarch butterflies, from egg to adult. This exhibit highlights the importance of pollinators in maintaining the health and diversity of ecosystems, as well as ensuring the production of many of the foods we rely on.
IOWA ARTISANS GALLERY
- Stan Wiederspan: “Recent Abstracts“
- An exploration of the free movement and juxtaposition of abstract elements seen against a white background. These large-scale canvases reveal the artist’s interest in an oriental aesthetic, particularly ink calligraphy. A variety of paint application techniques are employed. In the smaller paintings, the working theme is ORDER and CHAOS combined.
MAIN LIBRARY GALLERY, UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES
- Curated by Jen Knights and Brad Ferrier: “Hey Buddy, I’m Bill“
- This exhibit tells the story of Bill Sackter, namesake of Wild Bill’s in the University of Iowa School of Social Work. From his early life in Minneapolis to his 44-year institutionalization for an intellectual disability to his years of friends and fame in Iowa City, the exhibit shares a glimpse into Bill’s life and legacy.
- The Main Library Gallery is on the first floor of the Main Library near the building’s north entrance.
MIDWESTONE BANK
- Loret Mast: “Faces and Flowers“
OM GIFTS FOR BODY & SOUL
- Kathy Magowan: “Mixed Media Artist“
- Kathy is exhibiting Handmade paper/fabric books. Wands with natural material, beads, and feathers.
POINDEXTER AT GRADUATE IOWA CITY
- Jayson Reid: “Surreal Color Artist“
- Come out and enjoy downtown Iowa City! The Poindexter will be alive with color and Illusion! Grand ethereal compositions on large-scale canvases will make for a fun lively evening!

PUBLIC SPACE ONE
- Kenzi Rayelle: “Innerconnectivity I”
- Through the production of fiber-based sculpture installations and viscera, Kenzi Rayelle (Milwaukee, WI) explores autobiography, the aftermath of trauma, memory, and redemption in her solo exhibition at Public Space One. Visitors are invited to meet the artist and enjoy live music.
SWEETS & TREATS OF IOWA CITY
TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES
- Agnes Harry Mills: “Hello Joy!“
- An artist from Ghana and Nigeria, her pieces are an exploration of inspiring hope, joy and beauty through the use of metal, beads, and polymer clay.
TEXTILES
- Jan Friedman: “Recording Nature”
- This exhibit weaves tapestries and fiber collages with a wide variety of textiles, techniques, and natural materials. The work focuses on what we stand to lose because of climate change and the dire necessity of countering that threat.
THE ARTIFACTORY
- Candice Broersma, “Cover Story“
- Explore the fantastical art of Iowa City illustrator Candice Broersma in her exhibit “Cover Story.” The display features over thirty pieces of originals and prints from her personal projects and professional book cover commissions. Included in the collection is Broersma’s “Uncanny Forest” series of curious tree folk in mixed media as well as miniature scratchboards from her “Monster Buddy Project”. About her work, Candice has said, “I find book covers to be a special way to express deep concepts and narratives. Covers are drawn digitally by hand with a tablet using classical painting methods of building light and shadow. I put a priority on world-building, compositional balance, and genre research.” Enjoy this collection of unique, highly imaginative artworks from August 22 through October 22 at The ArtiFactory gallery. Open Saturdays from 1-3 p.m. and by appointment. Admission is free.
THE JAMES THEATER (5:00 – 7:00 p.m.)
- Monica Basile: “The Earth Speaks“
- The illustrations in this collection are part of a year-long meditation on the artist’s spiritual-material connections with nature, which will culminate in a deck of oracle cards. Each image represents a natural phenomenon or seasonal milestone and invites us to reflect on the messages of these moments, so that we may approach our lived experiences with greater understanding, compassion, and reverence.
UI STANLEY MUSEUM OF ART (5:00 – 7:00 p.m.)
- “Drawn Over: Reclaiming Our Histories”
- Featuring the museum’s world-renowned collection of Native American ledger drawings and guest curated by Dr. Jacki Thompson Rand (citizen, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma); Associate Vice Chancellor for Native Affairs, Associate Professor, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. The show is generously supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art with additional support from John S. and Patricia C. Koza. The exhibition showcases a diverse and inclusive collection and invests in communities that have been historically underrepresented in museum spaces.
UNITED ACTION FOR YOUTH (5:00 – 7:00 p.m.)
- 7th – 12th Grade Youths
- Come view art made by young people in your community! Youth come to UAY for a myriad of things, one of them being art! They make art that they are passionate about, participate in art workshops, and explore different media they may have never used. Show young artists your support by stopping by and taking a look at the art they make!
WILD CULTURE KOMBUCHA
- Alyssa Hamilton – Abstract paintings.