Art . War . "We Protest: Iowa Speaks Out"

January 2007 | images | artist list

"We Protest" is a show of twenty-seven powerful pieces by artists from the Cedar Valley who are concerned about the situation in Iraq. The show includes works in painting, drawing, photography, paper, mixed media, video, sculpture, and collage. (Click on thumbnail images below to see larger images from the show.)

In Spring 2006, the Hearst Center for the Arts, in Cedar Falls, Iowa, announced the exhibition “First Fifty 2006:  Works by Cedar Valley  Artists”.  The first fifty artists to arrive at the center with their work by 8 a.m. on May 11, 2006, would be included in the show.

Some of us saw this as an opportunity to speak out about the war in Iraq.  We asked a number of area artists to consider creating such a work and to arrive early on the 11th to be among the first fifty in line.  The show opening on May 20, 2006, was very well attended.

Since this event we have felt compelled to continue our protest by offering these works for exhibition in the hopes of having our voices heard.  To date the work has been shown at Altered Esthetics in Minneapolis and is scheduled to be seen at the Witter in Storm Lake, Iowa and Luther College in Decorah.

—Joan Webster Vore & Pam Echeverria

Oct. 27- Dec.13, 2007: Luther College Preus Library, Decorah, Iowa:
Des Moines Register op-ed (11/1/07)
Chips (Luther College student newspaper) article (11/8/07)

Sept. 2007: On exhibition at United World College, Montezuma, New Mexico:
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