Our Town: Iowa City is a city for the arts

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) - Iowa City offers an endless list of options for families in the summer, with festivals or events that bring people together. Through growing partnerships between non-profits and the city, these events are now more accessible.

Chauncey Swan Park near city hall hosts movies throughout the summer. The city formed a partnership with Filmscene, a non-profit in Iowa City, to show movies last summer.

“This whole space fills with people watching the movie. It’s free, it’s fun, it’s for families and it’s been a really neat addition,” says Juli Seydell Johnson, Director of Iowa City Parks and Recreation.

The next movie in the park is “Crooklyn”, which will start at 8:45 pm on Saturday, June 25. Andrew Sherburne, Filmscene’s executive director and co-founder, is grateful for the opportunity to share impactful films that create community conversation. “It was a really big investment in the arts, in the community. And so I don’t think we could’ve done it without that strong connection with the city and parks and rec,” he says.

Summer of the Arts is also partnering with parks and rec this year to bring music and movies into neighborhoods and parks around Our Town.

“We want to make the arts accessible, that’s really important to us. So being able to bring this to people’s backyard, basically, we think is a really fun opportunity for us,” says Lisa Barnes, executive director of Summer of the Arts.

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