Fairfield 1^stFridays Art Walk All Things Italian Street Festival has been named as one of just 25 destination in Iowa  as a 2010 “Must See Event” and a “Silver Ticket Cash Stop” by the Iowa Lottery and the Iowa Tourism Office.

Each Iowa Event and Silver Ticket Cash Stop is an attraction that’s uniquely Iowa, offering its own blend of regional flavor, entertainment and culture.

“We’re excited to be chosen by Iowa Tourism and the Lottery,” said Rustin Lippincott, Fairfield Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We know the advertising power of the Lottery, along with promotional efforts of the Tourism office, will bring many more Iowans to see all the hard work our group has done to market our area.”

In addition, All Things Italian Street Festival and every other “Silver Ticket Cash Stop” will give visitors the chance to win cash totaling $1,000, just by entering a non-winning Iowa Lottery “Silver Ticket” instant-scratch ticket at the Friday night art and food festival.

The Silver Ticket game celebrates the Iowa Lottery’s 25^th anniversary and gives players the chance to win up to $25,000 instantly.

“Our goal is to partner with 25 great events in Iowa and give people a bonus reason to attend with the $1,000 “Silver Ticket Cash Stop” contest,” explains Nancy Landess, Manager of the Iowa Tourism Office.

Details about the 25 events chosen, including the Fairfield 1^st Fridays Art Walk All Things Italian Street Festival and valuable discounts to other Iowa attractions can be seen on the State’s website. For more information on the All Things Italian Street Festival, click here.

Fairfield 1st Fridays Art Walk Executive Director Jeananne Robins submitted her resignation Monday, citing conflict with the event’s exectuive board of directors.  Robins said the board undermined her ability to perform her roles as the director of the Art Walk.  She likened the situation to too many head chefs in a kitchen. “It’s not fair to the city and the art walk to hire and executive director and have her only do the job of an executive assistant,” Robins said.

“The Art Walk board of directors has accepted the resignation of Jeananne and wishes her well in her future endeavors.  Her leaving is unfortunate yet was inevitable,” said a statement from Terry Baker, president of the board.  “The board is considering its options and formulating a plan that ensures the continuity and success of the Art Walk.  I am very confident in the Art Walk board.  They are a dedicated team and have been committed to working toward the Art Walk’s continued success for many years now,” added Baker.

Robins, who was hired in August, is the third Art Walk director since Cathy Wadsworth was hired as the event’s first professional director in August 2007.  Funding for Wadsworth’s position came from a matching Iowa Community Culture Grant given by the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs.  Amy Kettenburg and JoBeth Lewer also filled the Art Walk position prior to Robins’ hiring last August.

by Phyllis Khare

During the current fiscal year, the position was funded by $35,000 from Fairfield’s Local Options Sales Tax community betterment fund — that money also went to advertising and event expenses.  Prior to 2007, the event was run entirely by volunteers — a circumstance that Robins believes has contributed to the present state.

“The past board of directors had to act as executive directors.  It’s been hard for them to reverse that level of service, ” Robins said.  Her issues are with the few members of the executive board, who have individually countered her authority while serving on various committees. Robins acknowledged the board’s authority over her when acting as a single entity.  As the Art Walk’s executive director, Robins also felt she was kept out of the loop on too many details.  She cited and upcoming Art Walk that has been almost entirely organized by a board member as an example.

“This is not a club.  We need to sustain ourselves, The way to do that is to implement systems and run the event like a business,” Robins said.

“I don’t know what the solution is at this point.  I love the Art Walk, ” she said, “I just want to see the Art Walk survive, and I don’t think it can the way it is run right now.”

Baker was confident the Art Walk board would handle the matter and ensure the event’s future success. “As many of you can imagine, running an event every month of the year requires special skills and stanima, and I am very proud of this board for its flexibiulity and focus towerd the Art Walk’s continutity,” said Baker.

Here’s a list of things to see (and hear) at the upcoming December First Friday’s Art Walk.

Victorian-garbed “Shape-Note Singers” will be performing 19th century and contemporary holiday songs at several locations around the square, throughout the evening.

Annual Children’s Gingerbread Workshop at the Fellowship Gallery on the east side of the square. Parents are invited to help their kids construct iced, graham cracker houses with the mountains of colorful candy.

Santa Claus will be visiting the Kandy Kane house on the Central Park lawn before his return to the North Pole.

5th Annual Gingerbread Extravaganza entries showcased throughout the Square.

Galleries & Art Venues

Americus Gallery will be featuring Tuscan and French Landscapes, Original Oil Paintings and Large Format Photographs by Christopher Kufner. Also, Koi Sculptures by Dale Divoky, Diochroic Glass Hand-made Jewelry by Pedro Lujano, and Original Oil Paintings of Flowers by Kim Kufner. Also on display is Marty Hulsebos’ photographic images.

Carnegie Historical Museum will display a selection of ornaments from museum board members Christmas collections. A decorated feather tree, celluloid Santas, late 19th century ornaments and World War II era decorations will be among the items on display. Special tours are available by appointment. Call the museum at 472-6343.

Fairfield Art Association’s Studio – Holiday Art Gallery, located in the Arts & Convention Center, will be open Friday 5-9 PM, Saturday 9-5 PM. The entire studio space will feature original art and fine crafts just in time for purchasing holiday gifts. There will be lots of jewelry, ceramics, paintings in all media, painted glassware, fiber art, Fairfield and Christmasy items and more by area artists. A book signing for the new “Petit Paris Cook Book” by Marie Helene will be during the event.

Fairfield Arts & Convention Center Main Gallery will feature two exhibits, “Visions in Fiber” by Iowa Art Quilters and “Porcelain & Stoneware” by Mary Weisgram continue on display through December.

ICON Gallery 3rd Annual Large Works Show 2009 opens December 4th.

Morning Star Studio – Fairfield Figure Drawing Group presents “Ginger Nudes” Exploring New Frontiers in a New Medium, boldly going where we’ve never gone before, a New work by Calligrapher/Artist David B. Taylor. An inspiring blend of ancient knowledge and the symmetry, harmony and balance of classic design €“ composed yet dynamic, this colorful new body of work is €œVedic Art for the New Age of Enlightenment.€ €œVenus 2009€ a new show of recent work by Jewel Marie McDonald.

Revelations Cafe will be featuring fine artist John Schirmer’s paintings. They will also be hosting a Christmas carol sing along with pianist John Collins and Johnathon Speer at 8:30 p.m.

Teeple Hansen Gallery features tiny drawings by Bill Teeple.

Explore the Shops! The Fairfield Merchants are putting on the glitz as they go all out for Art Walk. From beautiful gifts and delicious food to wonderful services, your Fairfield merchants know just how to brighten your holiday. Stop in and celebrate the season!

Adela’s – it’s warm and cozy in here with lots of holiday gifts and goodies, including hot cider and cookies

At Home Store – come in for some Gingerbread tasting and learn how to make Swedish paper cutting heart basket. A pattern is available with the demonstration.

Chickadee €“ you just might find a bag of Santa’s goodies here along with Organic hot chocolate!

Fairfield Flower Shop – nowhere else in town is the atmosphere more festive with the aroma of cookies is in the air!

Health & Wholeness invites you in to enjoy some holiday cookies and ginger chews as you stroll their beautiful shop!

Jacob’s Ladder Antique Mall – upcoming book on Fairfield History

Kim’s Kottage – enjoy our festive atmosphere and gifts while you warm up with Hot cider, coffee and cookies.

Skin Essence – kick your Art Walk up a notch with delicious holiday cookies at Skin Essence. While you’re there, sign up for a free drawing!

The Kobold’s Corner – hot apple cider is being served tonight along with tournaments every Friday night.

Thymely Solutions invites all art walk visitors to work off some shopping stress with a free 10-minute chair massage during Art Walk.

Walker’s Office Supply – Enjoy some holiday refreshments while you browse the locally crafted gift items. Children visiting the store will receive coloring sheets and free crayons.

Have an idea for a 10 minutes short film Drama or Documentary? Film it, upload it to YouTube and submit it to the Iowa Short Film and Script-Writing Contest. Or if you’re not an aspiring director, write the script and submit it to the film festival – two winning scripts will be translated to film by experienced directors.

FairfieldVoice will be featuring entries submitted to YouTube. Tag your entries with “fairfieldfilmfest” and then insert the link to your video in the comments section below. We’ll cover each entry with a dedicated blog post, and harness the Fairfield Twitter and Facebook community to make it go Iowa viral.

Who knows, the Fairfield Iowa Film Festival could launch your short film to national recognition.

The details:

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