X Marks the Arts launches marketing campaign for downtown Iowa City arts, culture district

IOWA CITY — The Downtown Iowa City Cultural & Entertainment District has launched a new campaign to showcase and promote everything arts, culture and entertainment on offer in a place billed as “Iowa’s finest arts and culture scene in the greatest small city for the arts.”

X Marks the Arts, a collaboration among various venues, the Iowa City Downtown District, University of Iowa and community organizations, hopes to ensure that the district designated by the Iowa’s Department of Cultural Affairs in 2022 is more than a title on paper. With local marketing firm Meld, a committee has developed a cohesive branding strategy that celebrates what leaders call the largest arts and culture district in the state.

“One of the things we were wanting to do was create something that everyone could be proud of, and that everyone would want to engage with,” said Melinda Pradarelli, founder and CEO of Meld Marketing. “We very much want assets to be created.”

Ramping up after a March 27 launch, the new campaign will be visible through street banners, sidewalk art installations, and a fully fledged digital strategy with engaging new videos and a weekly newsletter targeting a broad audience.

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The new push, they say, underscores the community’s commitment to fostering a thriving scene with everything from literature to drag shows. In doing so, they hope to increase local awareness and draw new audiences from out-of-state metros.

How it happened

After downtown Iowa City secured the coveted Cultural & Entertainment District designation from the state, a committee got to work about 18 months ago to use it as a launchpad for something bigger, according to John Schickedanz, co-chair of the district’s committee and executive director of The Englert Theatre.

“Often, these designations don’t come with much else,” he said. “For that to be successful, we knew it needed to be a collaboration among us and the University of Iowa.”

So they asked themselves “How can this be the start of something new, rather than a finish line,” said Tammie Walker, committee co-chair and director of the University of Iowa School of Music.

What it will do

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Through elements that can be as simple as sidewalk stickers and banners at designated venues, she hopes the collaboration generates community-minded arts leaders for the future, no matter where Hawkeye graduates end up.

This spring, guides highlight everything from celebrated annual events like Mission Creek Festival to Crockpot Battle of the Bands, an energetic showcase for young talent at The Englert Theatre. The University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art offers a special exhibition on pop artist Keith Haring’s connection to Horn Elementary School, while Public Space One presents an exhibition confronting mortality and existentialism.

With a range of different energies, X Marks the Arts has designated some as places to “stop and pause,” for further reflection. In fact, the “X” was chosen not just as a call to discover new treasures, but as a symbol of intersections for contemplation in a way only the arts can prompt.

For smaller venues in particular, the collective voice lends a new power to local entities that otherwise cannot afford large marketing budgets.

“We are planning on taking over downtown Iowa City, but the point being that, very quickly and very easily, you’ll be able to identify where there is an arts venue — something to do or to see or to experience and share,” said Walker.

But what’s more than the shared experience is the power art has to help anyone off the street embrace fearlessness by simply encountering something new, she said.

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“When you walk into a venue and you’re experiencing something that you haven’t heard of before, (with) that trust that it takes, you’re going to make it out to your car afterwards and you’re probably going to learn something,” Walker said. “That’s the beauty of it.”

Beyond downtown

Though the new effort organizes and pinpoints everything from green spaces to spaces for green art, leaders say that X Marks the Arts goes beyond a spot on the map. With no hard regional boundaries, the marketing campaign could include Coralville and other areas in the future.

“We have designed it to be inclusive, not exclusive,” said Schickedanz, who noted the brand can be “as open as it needs to be.”

With 4,000 living in the district’s 26-block area and 20,000 employees working within one mile, the district has a lot of compounded opportunities to interact with nearly 9 million visitors annually through 67 contributing properties, the downtown Pedestrian Mall, and a dynamic collection of venues, museums, historic theaters, independent cinemas, galleries and mission-driven organizations.

Given its walkable and bikeable city center, the District has become an important tourist destination and a catalyst of dialogue in Iowa. Iowa City’s district is one of 16 in the state. Arts and culture production accounts for more than $4.5 billion in economic activity across Iowa and is one of only three sectors that drive regional economies.

Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.