As winter weather transforms our world, the Chait Galleries Downtown mirrors the changes with the work of artists who heartily embrace the beauty of the season. It’s the perfect time of year to pause, reflect and bask in the wonder of the changing scenery.

The abstract landscapes by Marcia Wegman show a prismatic view of the interaction between the snow-covered land and the chilly sky. Winter watercolors by John Stephen Klopp are quiet and peaceful. Oil paintings by John Schirmer show off the beauty of barns as the weather turns. Finally, the winter photography by Benjamin Chait is direct and distinctively Iowan.

Enjoy the views while keeping toasty warm at the Chait Galleries Downtown.
The Chait Galleries Downtown: Monday- Friday 11-6, Saturday 10-5, and Sunday 12-4.
 

Different perspectives often enhance one’s own.

The practice of combining, manipulating and layering perspectives is what artist and Iowa City resident, Sara Slee Brown, does best. Through the art of digital imaging and collage, Brown sensitively illuminates the ordinary and transforms it into a space of mystery and beauty. She explains her “unique experience and perspective, combined with my painterly technique of manipulating digital scans and photographs produce beautiful and evocative images that depict my personal spaces, dreams and realities.”

Stop by the The Chait Galleries Downtown to gain Brown’s perspective of the ordinary.
The Chait Galleries Downtown: Monday- Friday 11-6, Saturday 10-5, and Sunday 12-4.
 

Weaving with beads isn’t has complicated as it looks. Peyote stitch is a versatile and often used seed bead weaving technique. Students will make beads by beading a rectangle then folding it up and zipping it closed to make a tight and seamless tube. Fancy your bead up by adding layers of embellishment. Samples of finished jewelry using peyote stitch will be available with discussion on the techniques used to construct them.

Registration is through Kirkwood Community College. Register at:
www.kirkwood.edu and go to Continuing Education and then search for Beadology Iowa under the instructor search. On site registrations will be taken if registration through Kirkwood meets minimum requirements of four participants. Instructor: Karen Kubby

This is a prerequisite for the Beaded Toggle class on February 21.
 

 Ticketing:
$10 General Admission

Patrons will be on-stage for this event
100 tickets will be sold. A limited number of chairs will be available (seating not guaranteed). Please contact the Box Office with any accessibility concerns.

Description
The Iowa Opera House Project is a concert series featuring Iowa singer songwriters performing in various historic venues (opera houses, theaters) throughout the state. Sam Knutson, a longtime Iowa City fixture and musician, leads the charge in bringing talented songwriters from around Iowa to the many historic venues in the state. Knutson, who formed and led the rock band Shame Train, is currently writing a new record and performing songs solo. John Waite will open.

Sponsored by: Little Village

Downtown Iowa City’s grandest performing arts venue has also just become one of its smallest, most intimate rooms. Intimate at the Englert Series (approx. 75-100 audience members) features both the audience and the performers onstage together: the connection between artist and audience will be direct and electrifying. The cozy atmosphere of this series allows for performances by the exciting new talent being developed in Iowa City everyday: musicians, writers, actors, and more. Want to see what an Intimate concert looks like? Check out these photos on our Facebook page

Bracelets are big this season. Wearing multiple bracelets at once is even better. This class places a focus on professional stringing and design techniques. You will make two bracelets using two different stringing materials. One bracelet will be made strung on nylon using glass beads from the Czech Republic and sterling silver beads. The second bracelet will be strung on flexible wire and made with handmade glass and Swarovski crystals. You will learn how to use crimp beads to finish this bracelet. Both bracelets will be secure and beautiful. No previous experience is necessary. Instructor: Mallory Zapf

Note this Bargain: If you also sign up for Basic Wirework on February 11, take both classes for $100.

Register in person, over the phone, or on-line at www.beadologyiowa.com

Book and Lyrics by Fred Alley; Music by James Kaplan; Directed by Ron Clark
It’s back! The smash hit musical about ice fishing, cold beer, good bait, and the Green Bay Packers returns to Riverside. Join long-time pals Lloyd and Marvin in their ramshackle ice fishing shanty. As Marvin anxiously awaits his opportunity to appear on a cable TV fishing show, both pals scramble to protect their cold ones from fellow angler, Ernie the Moocher. With musical numbers like “Ode to a Snowmobile Suit” and “Fish is de Miracle Food,” this show is sure to charm your wool socks off!
 

Book and Lyrics by Fred Alley; Music by James Kaplan; Directed by Ron Clark
It’s back! The smash hit musical about ice fishing, cold beer, good bait, and the Green Bay Packers returns to Riverside. Join long-time pals Lloyd and Marvin in their ramshackle ice fishing shanty. As Marvin anxiously awaits his opportunity to appear on a cable TV fishing show, both pals scramble to protect their cold ones from fellow angler, Ernie the Moocher. With musical numbers like “Ode to a Snowmobile Suit” and “Fish is de Miracle Food,” this show is sure to charm your wool socks off!
 

 icketing:
$8 General Admission

Patrons will be on-stage for this event
100 tickets will be sold. A limited number of chairs will be available (seating not guaranteed). Please contact the Box Office with any accessibility concerns.

Description
Sponsored by: Little Village

Downtown Iowa City’s grandest performing arts venue has also just become one of its smallest, most intimate rooms. Intimate at the Englert Series (approx. 75-100 audience members) features both the audience and the performers onstage together: the connection between artist and audience will be direct and electrifying. The cozy atmosphere of this series allows for performances by the exciting new talent being developed in Iowa City everyday: musicians, writers, actors, and more. Want to see what an Intimate concert looks like? Check out these photos on our Facebook page.

Supporting Act: Skye Carrasco

About Talkdemonic
In Portland, Oregon, Kevin O'Connor began his pursuit in 2004 for new frontiers in percussion and analog sounds. What was he looking for? Something entirely new in something old. And so he began collecting. Dusty Italian Crumar synths and pristine Moogs, rickety Baldwins and warbly Wurlitzers, pure-sounding Rhodes and cranky old Korgs. Sounds upon floating, gritty and gorgeous sounds, with a muscular backbone of beats alongside a brainy live drumkit. Talkdemonic was born. While Kevin was beating out a new path in the already innovative music community of Portland, his friend and violist Lisa Molinaro joined him shortly thereafter to lend her string skills to further texturize Talkdemonic's alluring sounds. The duo became unstoppable.

Fast forward seven years. Talkdemonic's 2004 Mutiny Sunshine is now considering a downtempo classic amongst fans, while their sophomore Beat Romantic thrust them into indie spotlight. In 2008, Kevin and Lisa released Eyes At Half Mast, a union of haunting strings passages, toungue and groove beats and drums, and lush nostalgic synth layers that call to mind your personal soundtrack to some inner, secret and special moment of your life. Ruins is the fourth Talkdemonic studio album, and it effectively takes everything about the first three Talkdemonic records and blasts it into the stratosphere.

Making glass beads is great fun and an opportunity to do something outside of your normal routine. You’ll have an unusual response to give when friends ask you what is new in your life. This class will increase your hand-eye coordination and allow you to make beads that can be used in jewelry making.

This class will teach you the art of lampworking, a technique of using a torch and melting glass rods to create various shapes. Safety and appropriate equipment handling are emphasized. Your beads will need to stay in a kiln overnight to be annealed. No previous experience necessary.

NOTE: Participants must be at least 15 years old.

Registration is $85 through Kirkwood Community College. Register at:
www.kirkwood.edu and go to Continuing Education and then search for Beadology Iowa under the instructor search. On site registrations will be taken if registration through Kirkwood meets minimum requirements of four participants. Instructor: Karen Kubby
 

 Ticketing
Tier 1: Orchestra Center & Balcony Rows A-C - $35
Tier 2: Orchestra Sides & Balcony Rows D-M - $25

Pre-Sale Information:
Tickets go on sale for the general public Wednesday, November 2 at noon. Friends of the Englert may purchase advance tickets starting Wednesday, October 26 (passcode required). Click here for the pre-sale link.

Description
Gaelic Storm are a "whirlwind ruckus" (Village Voice) who tour worldwide for at least two hundred days out of every year. The band interlaces high-energy, foot-stomping performances of original interpretations of Celtic classics and well-crafted originals with endearing stage banter and story-telling that have earned them life-long fans. Gaelic Storm has released 7 albums, all of which have charted on the Billboard World Music Charts including their most recent album, Cabbage which earned the band a #1 hit on both the Billboard and iTunes World Album charts.

 Ticketing
$30 Reserved Seating
$25 Students & Seniors

Pre-Sale Information:
Tickets go on sale for the general public Wednesday, November 2 at noon. Friends of the Englert may purchase advance tickets starting Wednesday, October 26 (passcode required). Click here for the pre-sale link.

Description
Experience political satire at its funniest - and most musical! – with the singing troupe that puts the “mock” in Democracy. Selecting from a repertoire of albums developed over the past thirty years, The Capitol Steps offer a hilarious evening of parody that plays no favorites as they scrutinize our favorite political issues and the scandal of the day.

The Capitol Steps began as a group of Senate staffers who set out to satirize the very people and places that employed them. In the years that followed, many of the Steps ignored the conventional wisdom ("Don't quit your day job!"), and although not all of the current members of the Steps are former Capitol Hill staffers, taken together the performers have worked in a total of eighteen Congressional offices and represent 62 years of collective House and Senate staff experience.

The Capitol Steps have been featured on NBC, CBS, ABC and PBS, and can be heard four times a year on National Public Radio stations nationwide during their "Politics Takes a Holiday" radio specials.

Join 6 local businesses that specialize in helping you make your own items for the 3rd annual Craft Crawl. This week long event encourages area crafters to explore different media. This year, area crafters are encouraged to make “mug rugs” from a variety of materials. For those who use at least one material from each of the 6 participating stores in their set of mug rugs, they will be eligible for a drawing for a $25 gift certificate from EACH store.

Get a stamp for a purchase at each location. Those who get their card fully stamped will be entered into a drawing for a $25 gift certificate from EACH store. Participating merchants include: Beadology Iowa, Ben Franklin Crafts, Common Threads Quilt Shoppe, Fired Up Iowa City, Inc., Home Ec. Workshop, and The Knitting Shoppe.
 

 Ticketing:
$5 Advance
$8 Day of Show

Co-Presented by:

Description
From Terrence Malick, the acclaimed director of such classic films as Badlands, Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line, The Tree of Life is the impressionistic story of a Midwestern family in the 1950's. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father (Brad Pitt). Jack (played as an adult by Sean Penn) finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith. Through Malick's signature imagery, we see how both brute nature and spiritual grace shape not only our lives as individuals and families, but all life.

Making a matching clasp for a beaded piece of jewelry allows you to make a completely coordinated piece of artwork. Learn new and innovative ways to use peyote stitch to make both the ring and bar of a beaded toggle. 

Prerequisite: Peyote stitch taught in the Peyote Stitch Beaded Beads class on February 7.

Registration is $55 through Kirkwood Community College. Register at:
www.kirkwood.edu and go to Continuing Education and then search for Beadology Iowa under the instructor search. On site registrations will be taken if registration through Kirkwood meets minimum requirements of four participants. Instructor: Karen Kubby
 

 Ticketing:
General Admission
$18 Adults
$15 Seniors & Students

Season Tickets:
Patrons receive 20% off when all three spring 2012 National Theatre Live events are purchased together.

Sponsored by

Description
NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE performances are filmed live at the National Theatre in London in high definition and will be re-broadcast at the Englert Theatre. The Englert will broadcast every play/performance from the National Theatre's 2011 - 2012 season. Presented by M.C. Ginsberg.

Travelling Light
A new play by Nicholas Wright

How had a twenty–two–year–old pretentious layabout made a discovery that would elude everyother cinematic pioneer for years to come?

In a remote village in Eastern Europe, around 1900, the young Motl Mendl is entranced by the flickering silent images on his father’s cinematograph. Bankrolled by Jacob, the ebullient local timber merchant, and inspired by Anna, the girl sent to help him make moving pictures of their village, he stumbles on a revolutionary
way of story-telling. Forty years on, Motl – now a famed American film director – looks back on his early life and confronts the cost of fulfilling his dreams.

Following Vincent in Brixton and The Reporter, Nicholas Wright’s new play is a funny and fascinating tribute to the Eastern European immigrants who became major players in Hollywood’s golden age. The award-winning Antony Sher – whose previous work with the National Theatre includes Primo and Stanley – returns to play Jacob.

Manipulate brick stitch and cylinder beads to form the torso of a woman, with 3-dimensional arms. Add fringe for her skirt and you have a lovely flowing earring or pendant. One woman will be made in class. No previous experience necessary. Instructor: Karen Kubby.

Registration is $55 and includes all materials and instruction. Register in person, via phone, or on-line at www.beadologyiowa.com