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Top Chef: Downtown did it again! The sold-out even

Top Chef: Downtown did it again! The sold-out event showcased the diversity of delicious food and crafty cocktails from our downtown and Northside restaurants and bars. We hope everyone left with their bellies full and enjoyed the delectable flavors at the 26 booths. A big thank you to our attendees for voting in the People's Choice Awards, our amazing businesses and staff, and our wonderful event partners for making this event possible: Graduate Iowa City, @hillsbank, and @performancefoodservice. Congratulations to this year's winners:
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ENTREE - Judge's and People's Choice Awards:
1. @thewebsteric - Wagyu Beef Shank
2. @baroncinirestaurant - Risotta alla Bella
3. Graduate Iowa City - Pepper-Crusted Smoked Pork Tenderloin
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DESSERT - Judge's and People's Choice Awards:
1. @thedandylionic - Black Strap Betty Molasses Cookie
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MIXOLOGY - Judge's Awards:
1. @wildculturekombucha - Milk Money
2. @get_fresh_cafe - Get Fresh Gimlet
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MIXOLOGY - People's Choice Awards:
1. Wild Culture Kombucha - Milk Money
2. @shortsburger - Island in the Cornfield

Tonight is the last Winter Night Lights Silent Dis

Tonight is the last Winter Night Lights Silent Disco dance party!! It’s going to be a chilly one so bundle up, get those dancin’ shoes on, and jam out with us in the Ped Mall from 6:00 - 9:00pm. It’s first-come-first-serve for the popular light-up bunny ears and hand warmers! See you tonight! #winternightlights #silentdisco #intrude #downtowniowacity #thinkiowacity #traveliowa #thisisiowa

Meet Amanda Parer, the international artist behind

Meet Amanda Parer, the international artist behind the giant inflatable bunnies visiting downtown for Winter Night Lights. Amanda Parer, @parerstudio’s principal creative and founder is an Australian artist who began her art career as a painter and sculptor in Sydney but now resides in Tasmania. Parer focuses her practice on creating large-scale illuminated art installations and exhibiting around the world.
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The themes in Parer’s work have been inspired by a trip to the Galapagos Islands accompanying her Natural History filmmakers Aunt and Uncle; Liz Parer-Cook and David Parer in the mid 1990’s. It was there that she experienced animals unaccustomed to humans as any kind of threat. Having this up-close experience with the unique marine and terrestrial fauna had a large impact on Parer and set the tone for her artwork themes from then on.
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Amanda Parer first moved to art installation in 2014 and has so far exhibited in almost 300 cities around the globe, enjoyed by millions and where they continue to capture public and media attention wherever they go.
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Artist’s Statement: “I raise questions about our relationship with the natural world, enticing my audience into the works through the use of scale, drama, with a touch of silliness. Using the iconography of invasive (including us), endangered or extinct species, upon exhibition, the artworks stand prominent in their given habitats, a bit like ‘the elephant in the room.’” – Amanda Parer

Hoppy Valentine’s Day from Downtown! Spread some

Hoppy Valentine’s Day from Downtown! Spread some love this Valentine's Day and send your special someone one of these cute cards featuring our giant downtown bunnies.
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Downtown is the perfect place for your Valentine's Day date. Grab a reservation if you haven’t made one yet, do some last-minute shopping for that perfect gift, and bring your date to see the enormous Intrude bunnies from @parerstudio and give them a big hug!
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#valentinesday #somebunnylovesyou #thisisiowa #downtowniowacity #thinkiowacity

Have you had the chance to talk with Bertha, Helen

Have you had the chance to talk with Bertha, Helen, Buster, Hippie T. Hop, Charlie, or Watt-son yet? In collaboration with tech firm @hellolamppost_ , ICDD encourages guests strike up a conversation with the rabbits and ask questions to learn more about the installation.
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Guests can have a fun, unique text conversation with each of the bunnies by scanning the QR codes on the signs or by texting 'Hello [Bunny Name]' to 319-346-3443. This month, the conversations and engagements are designed to provide visitors with information about artist Amanda Parer @parerstudio and her environmental message behind the bunnies.
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A big shoutout and thank you to our wonderful sponsors for helping name these enormous bunnies invading our downtown.
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@opnarchitects | Buster
@midamerican_energy | Watt-Son
@axiom_consultants | Hippie T. Hop
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#downtowniowacity #thinkiowacity #thisisiowa #intrude #amandaparer #winternightlights #traveliowa #hellolamppost

Through a partnership between the @uiowa, @neumann

Through a partnership between the @uiowa, @neumannmonson, and the ICDD, a new interactive 120-foot light canopy has been draped over one of the signature alleys in the heart of downtown. This new lighting installment will be open during Winter Night Lights experience and remain a permanent fixture throughout the year. This highly adaptable lighting canopy can be activated by sound with those that engage with it and is sure to set the stage for impromptu events and activities throughout the year.
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Make sure to stop downtown tomorrow for the first winter Silent Disco dance party with @uiowacab from 6:00 - 9:00pm. Bundle up and bring your dancing shoes to have some fun under the dazzling new lights. Silent Disco is completely free to enjoy every Friday night in February, but headsets are limited!
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#winternightlights #downtowniowacity #thisisiowa #traveliowa #thinkiowacity

February is here and it felt good like a good day

February is here and it felt good like a good day to get a little jump on Valentine’s Day shopping. From vinyl to fragrance, jewelry to vino…there’s something for every valentine. If you need a little help, enlist our FREE personal concierge shopping service to find just what you’re looking for.

Come down the rabbit hole with us and have fun wit

Come down the rabbit hole with us and have fun with Intrude, the new public art installation opening in the pedestrian mall next week. Designed by highly acclaimed international artist Amanda Parer, Intrude features 6 giant inflatable rabbit sculptures illuminated with light. We invite the community to come interact with the rabbits as they would if they were real and feel their impact - give them a gentle touch, snap some photos with them, or even embrace them with a warm hug. Read Amanda’s artist statement below to learn more.
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Some very large white rabbits, illuminated in stark white light, have been invading the planet. The bunnies of Intrude stand enormous, yet relaxed in their given new homes.

Rabbits in artist Amanda Parer’s native Australia are a feral species, they leave a trail of ecological destruction wherever they go and defying attempts at eradication. First introduced by white settlers in 1788, they have caused a great imbalance to the country’s endemic species.

Yet, the rabbit is also an animal of contradiction. They represent the fairy-tale animals of our childhood, of furry innocence, frolicking through idyllic fields. Intrude deliberately evokes this cutesy image, and strong visual humour to lure you into the artwork only to reveal the more serious environmental messages in the work. The bunnies of Intrude are huge, the size referencing “the elephant in the room”, the problem, like our mismanagement of the environment, big, but one that we too easily ignore.

“It can be said that the rabbit is my muse. My artwork, Intrude, is like any good fairytale, it works from both the light and the dark. In Australia, the rabbit simultaneously represents a cute, cuddly character from our childhood and is an animal known to impose great destruction on the island continents’ delicate ecosystems. It has been fun to use these motifs to explore our relationship with the natural world.” - Amanda Parer, Artist @parerstudio
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Special thanks to @thinkiowacity, @opnarchitects, @uiowacab, @neumannmonson, @midamerican_energy, @axiom_consultants, and @cityofiowacity for their support of the Winter Night Lights experience.

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