Old dog show, new tricks
The Des Moines Kennel Club held its first dog show in 1925 — in dog years, that’s 700 years ago. This year’s all-breed show, Sept. 5-7 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, will welcome around 1,000 dogs each day from across the country, all competing for Best in Show honors and other well-earned treats. (Last year’s top dog was a scruffy little Affenpinscher from California named Black Panther, who edged out a Labrador Retriever from Wisconsin named Chimichanga.)
Still, most of the club’s year-round activities are more about collaboration than competition. Members have helped the Pet Project gather and distribute pet food to local households in need, supported the Des Moines Obedience Training Club’s well-mannered visit to the downtown farmers market, and even donated a protective vest for the police’s K9 unit. desmoineskennelclub.com
‘Currents’ event
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed from “information overload,” you’re not alone. According to a 2013 article from the BBC, the average 21st-century city dweller consumes as much information in a single day than someone in the 15th century would have encountered in an entire lifetime. And estimates from Deepwater Asset Management, a tech-focused investment firm, suggest we now process four times more data than we did just 20 years ago and 90 times more than folks did in 1940.
The late artist Robert Rauschenberg sensed this dizzying acceleration back in 1970, when he transformed piles of newspaper clippings — about Vietnam, civil unrest, political upheaval — into a groundbreaking collage series called “Currents.” At its Minneapolis debut, the artist played audio clips from news broadcasts in the gallery to amplify the ubiquity of media in daily life. Now, a century after Rauschenberg’s birth, the Des Moines Art Center will display 17 “Currents” prints from its permanent collection, along with the recently digitized audio recording, on loan from the artist’s foundation. “Robert Rauschenberg: Currents, 1970” runs Sept. 6 through Dec. 14. desmoinesartcenter.org
Robert Rauschenberg (American, 1925 – 2008).
Surface Series 48, from “Currents”, 1970. Screenprint on paper.
Des Moines Art Center Permanent Collections; Gift of Lawrence Zicklin, New York, 1983.62.12
Ready oar not
The Des Moines Rowing Club traces its origins to 1983, when city council member Ric Jorgensen decided the city should host a regatta. The first few events were choppy, but the annual Head of the Des Moines really took off in 1984 and 1985, when it “included a fairly rowdy kegger at the boathouse after the racing was done,” according to a colorful history posted on the club’s website. Back then, crews charted their own route up the river, while those headed down to the starting line just tried to stay out of the way. “Those were wild and woolly days when it came to regatta safety, but no one got hurt, the crews did not crash (much) and not a single protest was filed.”
These days, the 3-mile race is a more orderly, officially sanctioned affair that draws dozens of teams from across the Midwest. This year’s HOTDM event is set for Sept. 27, when racers will row from the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden to Prospect Park. desmoinesrowing.org
Ghosts of honor
When Carl and Edith Weeks built Salisbury House & Gardens a hundred years ago, they probably didn’t envision a DJ and dance party in their garage. But that’s where this year’s Ghoulish Gala will wrap up on Oct. 18, after costumed revelers (and maybe a ghost or two) traipse through the historic mansion-museum for a bite to eat, something to drink and a few spooky surprises. In recent years, the evening has featured caricature artists, fortune tellers with tea leaves and tarot cards, and tattoo artists — whose handiwork could be discreetly concealed with a dab of Armand Cold Cream Powder, the product that built the Weekses’ cosmetic empire and their sprawling South of Grand estate. salisburyhouse.org
Photo: Melinda Mastrofski Photography
Part-time musician
Is there anything Yo-Yo Ma can’t do? The multilingual UN Messenger of Peace is a champion for environmental causes. He studies music’s effects on the brain. He’s popped up on “Sesame Street,” “The Simpsons,” the fictional “The West Wing” and the real deal, where President Obama gave him a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Oh — and he also plays the cello, which he’ll do on Nov. 1 at his Des Moines Civic Center debut. The program features music he says “has shaped his thinking about art, human nature and our search for meaning.”
Ma headlines the Civic Music Association’s centennial season, which officially kicks off with a ticketed reception on Oct. 3 at the Des Moines Heritage Center, where the local Belin Quartet will perform the world premiere of a short piece by Vermont composer Matthew Quayle. civicmusic.org
Photo: Austin Mann
