Area artists are invited to submit art for a fifth juried exhibition, The Artist’s Showcase: Orange City Arts’ Regional Exhibition. Deadline for submissions is March 18. The exhibit will be April 22-30, 2016 at the Northwestern College DeWitt Theatre Arts Center.
The exhibit is open to artists from Iowa or within a 350-mile radius of Orange City. Any adult, college or high school-age artist may submit up to three works of 2-D or 3-D art, created in the past three years. There is no theme, no entry fee. Work must be submitted digitally to Orange City Arts.
The exhibit will be held in conjunction with the Northwestern College production of Rabbit Hole.
Best of show and honorable mention awards will be given, with $100 and $40 cash prizes. Artists accepted for exhibit will receive complimentary tickets to the theatre production.
Read more and get entry information below.
Orange City Fire Department to break ground for fire station expansion
Events, now, Public ServiceThe Orange City Fire Department will break ground for its fire station expansion on Friday, August 19 at 10 a.m.
The Orange City Fire Station will be expanded by approximately 12,000 square feet, and 3,840 square feet of the current station will be remodeled. The Orange City community passed a $2,700,000 bond issuance with a vote on March 1, 2016 with an 83.7% approval, that will fund a portion of the estimated $3,150,000 cost to expand the current fire station. The remaining cost will be funded by the City of Orange City and fundraising efforts of the Orange City Fire Department.
The current fire station, built in 1973, lacks adequate training and work space and has limited storage. The station no longer meets national health and safety codes, has a lack of ventilation, and firefighters risk injury by pulling their gear on next to moving trucks. An increase in population growth, new hazards and technological advances also contribute to the need for an expanded station.
The public is invited to join the ground breaking at the Orange City Fire Station, located at 202 Albany Avenue SE.
More information on the expansion can be found on the Friends of the Orange City Fire Department’s website, www.friendsoftheocfd.com, or Facebook page.
arts on central planned for august 24
Arts, Attraction, Events, Food, nowArts on Central, a celebration of the visual and performing arts, will return to downtown Orange City Wednesday, Aug. 24.
Now in its second year, the free interactive arts fair concludes the weekly summer series Onstage Orange City, sponsored by Orange City Arts. Streets will be blocked off starting at 4:3pm, and local artists will entertain on the street and in businesses. The evening will include music, poetry, visual arts, puppetry, chalk art, dance, children’s activities and a live mannequin contest.
Artwork on display will range from paintings to quilts to woodworking, with some items for sale. There will be demonstrations of such artistic techniques as painting with beeswax, using alcohol inks, and working with watercolors. Those interested may also create their own art with the help of artists who specialize in tie-dye, stencils or block printing on fabric.
Musical performances will include vocal ensembles; guitar, violin, ukelele and string bass players; and Usual Suspects, an acoustic blues and rock group from Orange City. There will also be a strolling ventriloquist, a balloon artist clown, and demonstrations by dancers from Just for Kix and Elite Dance and Tumbling.
Among the activities for children are face painting, a story walk
in Windmill Park, kite-making, magnet poetry and a scavenger hunt. Kids can also paint a t-shirt, create mini sculptures with marshmallows and toothpicks, build large structures, and experiment with baking soda and vinegar or bubbles to make artwork.
Popular last year, according to Janine Calsbeek, director of Orange City Arts, was The Cube — a huge plywood structure in the middle of the street — which kids and adults filled with their artistic touches. It’ll be back. Also a big hit were live mannequins. This year the mannequins will be “on” for two 15-minute sessions each, from 5:30-6:30pm. Eight businesses will host live mannequins in their store fronts, and people can vote for their favorites with dona
tions big and small—with all proceeds going to Orange City Arts and ATLAS.
Businesses have donated prizes for drawings that will be held throughout the evening. And food vendors will be on hand, selling pizza, burritos, tacos, gelato, skewers, stroopwaffles and more. College students can purchase poffertjes for half price. Local merchants are giving free hotdogs with toppings, “Thanks with Franks.”
The 2016 Arts on Central will feature dozens of new artists and activities, said Calsbeek: a kid water fight (note: bring a change of clothes), a full-face face painting station, and the opportunity to create artwork on tiles with alcohol inks. Also new is Thrift Wars, where contestants have one hour to transform thrift store castoffs into works of art–while others watch!
The Windmill in the downtown park is the center for information, maps and signing up for prizes, said Calsbeek.
Arts on Central will move to Windmill Park at 7:30pm, when Omaha Street Percussion takes the stage. Inspired by Broadway hits like STOMP and the Blue Man Group, the seven-member ensemble provides a visually appealing, highly energetic form of drumming using unorthodox “instruments” like pots and pans, buckets and trash cans.
Arts on Central is supported by the Old Factory Coffee Shop, Northwestern Bank and local merchants in conjunction with Orange City Arts. Rain locations for Arts on Central are downtown businesses and City Hall. Windmill Park is located at 200 Central Avenue NW. For more information, see orangecityarts.net or contact ocArts@orangecityiowa.com or 712-707-4885.
Orange City Chamber of Commerce plans events for August 24
Arts, Events, FoodThe Orange City Chamber of Commerce is planning two events in conjunction with the Orange City Arts Council’s Arts on Central event happening Wednesday, Aug. 24.
Orange City Chamber of Commerce merchants will also be hosting their annual “Thanks with Franks” event from 5 to 6:30 p.m. The public is invited to visit the participating merchants for free hot dogs, and will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite hot dog at the event.
Stadscentrum will be open during the Arts on Central event from 4:30 to 8 p.m.
Questions about the scavenger hunt or “Thanks with Franks” event can be directed to the Chamber office at 712-707-4510.