Fairfield Cultural Alliance distributes mini-grants at annual celebration

Courtesy of Denyce Rusch

It was standing room only at ICON Gallery for the Fairfield Cultural Alliance's 13th annual party celebrating Fairfield's art and culture on Dec. 10. Over 50 attendees, including Paul Dennison of the Iowa Arts Council, took advantage of the chance to network with like minded art and culture lovers and enjoy appetizer and dessert refreshments.

The evening began with FCA board president Denyce Rusch giving an update on the group's 2019 activities, including:

1. In April the FCA applied for and received official Public Charity Status, making contributions to the organization tax deductible. Special thanks to Margarita Bhure was given for making this happen.

2. In June they published the 2019 edition of the Fairfield Heritage Tour Book, a pamphlet highlighting local historical sites, and this year spotlighting the new Birdwatching exhibit at the Fairfield Carnegie Museum and the history of and changes to Fairfield Flowers and More.

3. This summer they also worked with Dan Bolsem of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs to produce a video about Fairfield's Cultural & Entertainment District for online distribution around the state and region. See it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPZRwv0jwNU&feature=youtu.be

4. September 14 saw the second World Fair Field International Festival in our downtown square. This included a walking parade, over 20 country table exhibits, lawn games, an international baking contest, and a full day of free international music and talented performances, from in town and beyond. Once again, the Fairfield Public Library, Maharishi School, the Fairfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, The City of Fairfield, Fairfield First! and many local businesses stepped up to help put on the event.

5. In October and November, the FCA Board offered and reviewed applications for the yearly mini-grants from our Cultural Trust Fund. Recipients and their projects included:

' First Friday Art Walk – to purchase artworks from local artists to give away at their 'Passport Events.”

' Chamber Singers of Southeast Iowa – for the construction of concert platforms to accommodate future performers.

' Southeast Iowa Blues Society – for the publicity of their December 28th show.

' Fairfield Arts and Convention Center – to purchase table linen for their banquets and meetings.

' Fairfield Productions – to assist in the distribution of a new film 'Ahead of Their Time” to different locations in Jefferson County.

' Wendy Stegall – to cover costs of archival prints for her Art Exhibit at Art 52 in December. Sponsored by Fairfield First! Foundation

' ICON Gallery – for cartridges and paper to print promotional materials for the April-May 2020 exhibition.

' Sustainable Living Coalition – to partially cover fees for local musicians that play at their community-wide meetings.

' Fairfield Art Association – for a number of easels for art classes to replace old wooden ones that are no longer usable.

' Werner Elmker – to partly compensate the FCA's photographer and video producer for all his work documenting Fairfield life. Sponsored by Fairfield First! Foundation

Fairfield First! Foundation Awards were presented by Burt Chojnowski to

' Vaju Moorthi - Divine Star Charity; for raising funds to feed the hungry

' Emily Martlin and Laurie Stokes-Nardini - for the creation of the new playground at Howard Park

FCA Awards for Cultural Achievement for 2019

'Concerning talent, compassion, and community spirit, our community has an embarrassment of riches. Here are some of those you have nominated to be honored this year…” said Ms. Rusch.

1. The Fairfield RAGBRAI 2019 executive team including: Michael Halley, Terry Baker, Josh Laraby, Tammy Jones, Tammy Dunbar, Afton Pedrick, Laurie Noll, and Kevin Curran

July 25, 2019 brought 10,000 cyclists along with another 2-3000 other support crews and vendors. In order to fill all their needs and give all these sudden visitors a welcome they would remember, this team of organizers had to structure accommodations, including camping, voluntary stays with locals, food available, bathing options and sanitation, local transportation, and providing for health and safety needs. This also involved fundraising, publicity and marketing, hundreds of volunteers, food vendors and a beverage garden, plus entertainment.

With many hours of work, they pulled it off, and did it within their fundraising budget. In fact, with a profit of $3000, they distributed $1500 among the non-profit vendors, and $1500 to the Convention and Visitors Bureau for their fund to upgrade town kiosks.

2. The Bayo Park Gallery, Libertyville, David Olabayo and Reena Olaniyi, artists

In their nominator's words: 'It was in the dark of the new fall season and so I was a little nervous as I drove alone to their wooded property along a gravel road. I was welcomed by the lovely artist couple, served hot cider and given a moonlight tour of their 10 acre outdoor gallery. I was spellbound by the creativity of their work and the juxtaposition of their deep and simple explanation of their works and vision.”

3. Kesryth Urban, Fairfield artist known for his portraits

In his nominator's words: 'From his portrait gallery show of the 'Pillars of Fairfield”, which brought many people together in appreciation, to his creation of workshops for the community and people coming from elsewhere such as at the Power Wagon event, Kes has been such an inspirational addition to the Fairfield art community.”

4. Werner Elmker, photographer and pianist/composer

The Fairfield Cultural Alliance presented its 2019 Legacy Award to Werner Elmker

In his nominator's words: 'Werner deserves a nomination for his tireless work documenting Fairfield's art and culture. For over a decade, if anything was happening in town, you could just about count on Werner Elmker to be there, capturing it in beautiful, artistic images. He has always been generous in allowing these images to grace all manner of publicity for our town in both print and digital media. We have come to count on him to be one of our town's main documentarians. Besides sharing his photographic talents, he also shares with us his artistic talents as a pianist and composer several times a year in concerts. We hope he continues his work for many years to come.”

5. ICON Gallery, Bill Teeple, ICON Gallery director

The Fairfield Cultural Alliance presented its 2019 Cultural Achievement Award to ICON Gallery, Bill Teeple, Director

In the nominator's words: 'I'd like to nominate ICON for the FCA's 2019 Cultural Contribution Awards because of two major contributions ICON made to Fairfield's cultural life this year.

Fairfield Collects was an eye-opening exhibition, with the work of so many well-known artists from Renoir and George Inness to Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol. It was the most popular and most talked about exhibition in ICON's history, and possibly in the history of Fairfield.

The Hudson Collection brought an exceptional collection of Tantric art to Fairfield; many of the pieces had been selected for exhibition at the Venice Biennale. Through the extraordinary efforts of Bill Teeple and David Hanson, this remarkable group of paintings is now part of ICON's permanent collection.

In addition to the exhibitions themselves, this year showed how important it has been for Bill Teeple and ICON's volunteers and supporters to have persisted for so many years to keep broadening the horizons of all of us here in Fairfield. It hasn't been an easy task, and the support of the FCA has been deeply appreciated.”