Area arts scene about to get Icky

The ballots are going out and soon the votes will be coming in for the Iowa Cultural Corridor Alliance's fourth annual Excellence in Innovation Awards.

The Ickys, as the awards are known, will be presented from 7 to 9 p.m. Jan. 24 in Sinclair Auditorium at Coe College in Cedar Rapids

The evening serves as the signature event and annual meeting for the cultural nonprofit that serves arts organizations throughout the Corridor. Hosts are Scott Schulte and Ric Swann from Z102.9 radio. Celebrity presenters include Congressman Dave Loebsack and KCRG-TV9 anchor Bruce Aune.

The event begins with a Red Carpet reception featuring an hors d'oeuvres buffet, art and history exhibit and cash bar. As guests enter, they will be greeted by faux paparazzi, Hollywood-style lights, and television cameras supplied by Public Access Television – Iowa City.

The ceremony also will offer live recreations of 2009 performances by cultural groups that have celebrated a milestone anniversary this year: Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre, Harmony Hawks Barbershop Chorus, Iowa City Early Keyboard Society, Iowa City Public Library, Nolte Academy of Dance, Preucil School, Public Access Television – Iowa City, Riverside Theatre, Starlighters II Theatre, University of Iowa Museum of Natural History and Ushers Ferry Parlor Theatre Company.

“This is great opportunity for all of us who enjoy arts and culture to come together in celebration and to acknowledge the great work that is done every day in this community by the cultural organizations of the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Corridor,” says Joe Jennison, the cultural alliance's executive director.

Tickets are $20, on sale through the Orchestra Iowa box office at (319) 366-8203 or 1-(800) 369-TUNE.

For more information on the Iowa Cultural Corridor Alliance, go to www.culturalcorridor.org

Icky nominees

Children's Programming

Middle Eastern Day at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art; Pied Piper Preschool Chamber Concert Series (Cedar Rapids Public Library and Orchestra Iowa); “Aladdin” at Jefferson High School (Children's Theatre of Cedar Rapids); Eastern Iowa Arts Academy After-School Programs; 10,000 Eggstravaganza (Englert Theatre, Iowa Children's Museum, City of Coralville)

Dance

Iowa Dance Fest (ACE Experiment); Barn Dance (Iowa City/Johnson County Senior Center); Dance Gala (University of Iowa   Division of Performing Arts); Hawkeye Swing Festival (UI Swing Dance Club)

Educational

Conquer the Corridor (Cedar Rapids Downtown District, Priority One); Creative Connections: Artists in Action (Cedar Rapids Museum of Art); Schoolhouse Jazz (KCCK-FM); “Problem Solved” (Old Creamery Theatre Company); Iowa Makes Music (Orchestra Iowa)

History Exhibits or Programming

“No Roads Lead to Buxton: A Black Man's Utopia” (African American Museum of Iowa); A Douglas Family Christmas (Brucemore); Civil War Flag Exhibit (Iowa Masonic Library and Museums); Community Stories Project (Johnson County Historical Society); “Young Abe” (Old Creamery Theatre Company)

ICCA Member Collaborations

“Brundibar,” Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre and Cedar Rapids Community Schools; “Fresh Threads of Connection: Mother Nature and British Women Writers,” Cedar Rapids and Iowa City public libraries, University of Iowa and Ushers Ferry; “All in a Day Play Festival,” Dreamwell, City Circle Acting Company, Englert Theatre and Iowa City's Summer of the Arts; “Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Authors Series,” Marion Public Library and Classics at Brucemore; “FRYFest,” University of Iowa, Iowa City/Coralville Convention and Visitors Bureau and Johnson County Historical Society

Locally Produced Festival

West Liberty Children's Festival (Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre); Russian Seven-String Guitar Festival (IARMAC); Sand in the City (Summer of the Arts); Hardacre Film Festival (Tipton Community Development); Cedar Rapids Environmental Film Festival (Wickiup Hill Outdoor Learning Center)

Music

“Songs from Lincoln's Time” (The Carl and Mary Koehler History Center); “Can't Contain Us” Music Residencies (Hancher Auditorium); Landfall Festival of World Music (Legion Arts); Made in Iowa, celebrating Iowa composers (Orchestra Iowa);      Fireflies (Red Cedar Chamber Music)

Reaching Out Collaborations

(Between ICCA members and non-member for-profit or non-profit organizations) 

“Take Flight Exhibit,” Iowa Children's Museum with Rockwell Collins, NASA, University of Iowa and Integrated DNA; “Jamming in Zimmerland,” Iowa City/Johnson County Senior Center with Travelers Dance; “Corridor Jazz Project,”     KCCK-FM with the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City community school districts; “Creepy Campus Crawl,” UI Museum of Natural History and Old Capitol, with the UI Department of Geoscience; “Journey to Freedom: Experience the Underground Rail in Iowa,” Wickiup Hill Outdoor Learning Center and African American Museum of Iowa, with the 49th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Re-enactors

Theater

“The Drag” by Mae West, Dreamwell Theatre; “From the Homefront,” Iowa Theatre Artists Company; Theatre from the Passage,” Legion Arts; The Writer's Room Series, SPT Theatre Company; “Altar Boyz,” Theatre Cedar Rapids

Visual Arts Exhibits or Programming

“Art and Culture Tour on the Grant Wood Scenic Byway,” Anamosa Cultural Alliance and Grant Wood Scenic Byway Committee; “Norman Rockwell: Fact & Fiction,” Cedar Rapids Museum of Art; “The Art of Healing,” Corner House Gallery & Frame; Jafar Mogadam Art Exhibit of Persian Painting and Ceramics, Kirkwood Community College; Danish Film Program, Landlocked Film Festival