Five years ago, we announced our combined vision with FilmScene to invest in our physical spaces and staff capacity to create more profound experiences with our robust programming through the Strengthen Grow Evolve campaign.  Since then, we have invested millions into our theater, improving the experience for our patrons and preserving our historic space. Expanding our staff to focus on community engagement work is the final campaign initiative that, until now, has remained out of our grasp.

Thanks to community support of the SGE Campaign, we are thrilled to introduce Whit Martinez, The Englert’s new Community Engagement Coordinator.

About Whit

Whit Martinez was born and raised in Davenport, IA. She grew up in a Mexican-American family and is proud to be the first in her family to pursue higher education. At the University of Iowa, Whit served on the executive board of Association of Latinos Moving Ahead (ALMA) for three consecutive years and planned Al Ritmo, an annual Latinx baile. As a member of Scope Productions, she was involved in talent buying and production of concerts, and volunteered for Witching Hour and Mission Creek Festival. Whit graduated with honors and distinction in 2022 and received the Richard A. & Donna J. McKay Award for her demonstrated commitment to community engagement. Whit began at The Englert as a House Manager, where she started the Queer Coffee Social Series and worked on the Local Showcase Series. Whit has also worked in the Iowa City Community School District and collaborated with Shelter House, the Women’s Resource and Action Center, and Iowa Edge. Whit is excited to focus her passion and energy on the new Community Engagement position.

About the Community Engagement Coordinator role

The addition of this position is our commitment to expanding audience engagement, and we are excited about the impact dedicated community engagement staff will make. In the coming months, you will see Whit working alongside  FilmScene’s Community Engagement Coordinator to:

• Create a shared Office of Community Engagement.

• Give every Iowa City Community School District student an arts event experience with The Englert and FilmScene before graduation.

• Ensure audiences are provided regular opportunities in our spaces and in the community to engage more deeply with the art through discussions, added resources, and artist dialogues.

• Expand arts access to marginalized communities and strengthen partnerships with organizations that directly serve those communities.

If you are excited and have ideas about arts collaboration, we encourage you to email Whit at whit@englert.org. We also welcome you to invest in the future of our community outreach by making a gift today. Thank you for believing in the power of the arts to transform the community through our collaborative efforts.

Back in 1981, Sun Ra Arkestra opened the Chicago Jazz Festival under the starry skies of Grant Park. The band might as well have been playing among those stars, ascending through glittery costumes and equally glittering sounds of brass. Around 30,000 attendees ascended with them. Among them was Feed Me Weird Things creator Chris Wiersema at his first-ever concert.

A little over a year old at the time, Wiersema, of course, has no memory of it. But regardless, a boastworthy first concert and an enticing narrative: Wiersema booked Sun Ra Arkestra to play at The Englert Theatre on Nov. 4th.

One could call it a full-circle moment, or as Wiersema puts it, “all roads lead back to Sun Ra,” both musically and narratively.

A central influence between the worlds of electronic music and jazz, Sun Ra Arkestra will play as part of Wiersema’s annual FEaST festival, with nine other performers across 4 days and multiple venues. Joining Sun Ra at The Englert is tuba player Theon Cross, thanks to collaboration from Hancher Auditorium.

In its second year, FEaST is all about freeing up possibility. To Wiersema, the word festival frees attendees from a single show they’re obligated to go to, rather a larger experience of a show-adorned long weekend. The festival concept also frees up standard show programming. Instead of working around convenient tour routes, Wiersema starts with bucket list artists.

“With a festival, you always want to bring the artist nobody thought they’d ever get to see in Iowa City in such an intimate capacity, while introducing them to somebody they’ve never heard before,” Wiersema said.

Sun Ra Arkestra was one of those bucket list artists, a grandfather of avant-garde jazz stretching back to the 1950s with their iconic lore and costumes. Surrounding Sun Ra on the FEaST bill are jazz and electronic artists that populate spaces Sun Ra carved a path for.

The loose theme of the festival is the active dialogue between jazz and ambient music. Citing the rise of study lo-fi music and years of COVID isolation, Wiersema seizes on a breakthrough moment in the jazz ambient scene. To name a few represented in the FEaST lineup, Kalia Vandever weaves electronic sounds with her trombone, techno-producer Laurel Halo will perform an ambient piano piece, and Lea Bertucci is both a saxophonist and an sound designer.

Jazz and ambient are talking to each other at FEaST, across countries from Tel Aviv Jaffa, Israel through the band El Khat, to Scottish-born musician Drew McDowall—and even outer space—as is the case for Sun Ra. Above everything, whether an individual goes to an individual FEaST show or buys a festival pass, Wiersema hopes for audience discovery.

“I don’t need people to love every band or quit school and follow Feed Me Weird Things shows,” Wiersema said. “But I do need to live in a community, in a town, in a state, in a country, where we’re always just engaging and emotionally open to another viewpoint and something that seems strange to us.”

Wiersema will also co-present an upcoming show with The Englert through his listening series Feed Me Weird Things. Mary Lattimore, performing with Jeremiah Chiu at The James Theater Oct. 24, marks the second time bringing Lattimore to Iowa City through this unique partnership.

“This is one of the important things that building an audience does. You can always get artists to come once, but it means something when they’re coming back,” Wiersema said.

Lattimore last played a sold-out intimate show on The Englert stage in 2021, limited to 50 attendees. A classically-trained harpist, Lattimore experiments with effects through a pedal harp to create a transcending live experience.

“I think people have a general misconception that when you’re a programmer, you want to sell out shows, but that means that somebody couldn’t get in and couldn’t experience it. To me, that’s disappointing,” Wiersema said. “To get a chance to bring her back, and to do it in a larger space at The James is a chance to get it right again, and to allow more people to share in that experience.”

Buy festival passes and individual show tickets for FEaST (Nov. 1st – 4th) at feedmeweird.com. 

By: Jenny Singer (Englert Nonfiction Fellow)

Spring has come to Iowa City. Walks through town are no longer an obstacle course of ice patches. Increasingly spectacular sunsets paint the sky. Heavy winter coats are being gently pushed into the deepest recesses of closets, with a quiet prayer that they will not be retrieved for at least eight months. 

Warmer days mean the return of Mission Creek Festival, which begins Thursday, April 6. Soon, the first floor of the Chauncey will be filled with books, and Hancher will be filled with rockstars. Looping violins and love songs will resound throughout the Englert. The streets will fill with people tipsy on poetry, collecting literary magazines like rare trading cards. 

Musicians and writers will descend on Iowa City—huge names like Michelle Zauner and Cat Power, as well as emerging artists and beloved local talents. Planning Mission Creek takes about a year. Festival director Brian Johannesen and programming coordinator Elly Hofmaier pored over hundreds of artist pitches and spent months geeking out over perfectly matching each artist to each Iowa City venue. Literary Programming Director Nina Lohman focused on building relationships with writers and with the small presses who champion them. 

“It’s about trying to find those voices who have been independent spirits, independent thinkers in the literary and musical worlds,” says Andre Perry, the festival’s co-founder. The focus on indie artists “feeds the soul in a different way.” 

“We’re seeking out people who carve their own artistic path, not people who were brought up by the music industry machine,” says Hofmaier. “These are all artists who made their way on sheer talent, creativity, and determination.”  

Come prepared to discover artists who become your obsessions. Hoffmaier recalls first hearing Mission Creek performer Sudan Archives from afar as she arrived at another music festival. As the music drifted towards them she turned to her partner and said, “We need to run. We need to run right now to get to the stage. Because whatever is happening right now is crazy.” 

That need to run towards a beautiful sound or series of words is the standard for the festival. 

Johannesen feels it for performer Yasmin Williams. “She’s a guitarist, composer, she has a really unique playing style,” he says. “She’ll play traditional but she’ll also lay the guitar on her lap, and she also tunes the guitar so the fingering is like a piano—it’s like wizardry, what she’s doing.” 

Lohman is looking forward to the Saturday night collaboration with The Sun for the magazine’s 50th anniversary “There will be five different readers. Everyone who comes will get a free issue of the magazine. We’ll have an afterparty right there in the James space with free drinks and appetizers. But really it’s going to be a celebration of independent voices, independent literature.” 

Iowa City’s abundance of opportunities for readers and writers is legendary. For Lohman, this year’s Mission Creek Festival is an opportunity to “bring in writers and students and people in our community who are interested in engaging in the next level.” There will be plentiful readings, but also events that encourage dialogue and connection. 

“When you feel like you have that kind of community, that keeps you going for another year,” says Perry. Those literary community-building opportunities include: a writing workshop with the Sun Magazine, an industry talk and an indie publishing talk with small presses, a podcast recording from Lit Hub, as well as the Lit Walk on Friday and a big final reading and afterparty on Saturday, both of which are free and open to all. 

“The goal of this year is to invite people in a little bit more,” says Lohman. 

You’re in. You’re invited. See you at the festival. 

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For passes and more information, visit missioncreekfestival.com.

The Englert Theatre has named Jenny Singer as the recipient of their fifth annual Nonfiction Writing Fellowship. 

Jenny Singer is a first-year MFA candidate in University of Iowa’s Nonfiction Writing Program. She was previously a staff writer at Glamour and The Forward. Her essays have been published in San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Weekly, Time Out New York, and The Independent. Her work considers popular culture, internet culture, the wellness movement, and live theater. Singer grew up in Seattle, lived in New York City for nearly a decade, and spent the last few years in San Francisco before relocating to Iowa. 

“As a critic and essayist, I write about anxiety and trauma, pop culture, and the quiet ways people and art can save each other,” said Singer. “I’m so thrilled that The Englert has chosen to work with nonfiction writers at Iowa—we are natural allies in the project of community engagement in art. I hope to use my time with The Englert to write about how audiences interact with live performances—the alchemical conversion of words and movement on stage into laughter, tears, and other ecstatic responses.”

The fellowship, now in its fifth year, was created in partnership with the University of Iowa to support the educational and professional development of one student in the Nonfiction Writing Program each year by providing close access to The Englert’s variety of arts programming. Singer will receive complimentary tickets to all Englert Presents events, and at the conclusion of the fellowship, Singer’s work will be featured in a free public reading at The Englert Theatre. 

“I’m thrilled to welcome Jenny as our 2023 Nonfiction Fellow. Her writing examines art through a patron’s perspective in an exiting way and I think our audience will really love engaging with her throughout the semester. ” said John Schickedanz, Executive Director of The Englert Theatre. 

Details for Singer’s public reading will be announced this coming spring.

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Programs like the Nonfiction Writing Fellowship are made possible through the generous support of the Friends of the Englert. More information about the membership program is available at englert.org/friends.

For the last 110 years, The Englert has existed at the will of our community. Carried onward through fire, flood, pandemic, and countless challenges, we have ceaselessly worked to achieve our mission: to inspire and activate positive community growth through the arts.

Through each tribulation, we’ve been able to rely on the support of our members — those who give $10 or more a month. Thank you. This generous support has allowed us to employ over 60 people while investing in programs and outreach that make our area a great place to live and visit. Will you continue to sustain the Arts by contributing today?

As we look to the future, we’re committed to taking our place as our community’s performing arts presenter. To this end, we’ve increased our programming by over 33%, offering an even more diverse array of genres, artists, and art forms than ever before.

Unfortunately, audiences have not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels and we have sustained a 1/3 reduction in ticket sales. Reduced ticket sales paired with growing expenses will make this the third year of financial challenges for our organization.

While we prepare for these challenges in the near term, there remains much to be excited for. We’re creating plans to increase literary arts programming, expand our educational programming, and solidify our commitment to diversity. We anticipate that you’ll see these changes and many more as a result of our recently completed strategic planning process. While change is at hand, we will continue to bring even more nationally renown and emerging artists to our stage. If you believe in the work we’re doing, please consider joining, renewing, or upgrading your membership in our Friends program. Will you invest in our future today?

As our thank you to you, all membership gifts come with great benefits and can be made securely online at englert.org/friends. And don’t forget, the more you give, the more you get. Who doesn’t love early access and exclusive deals to your favorite shows?

Whether you’re a donor or ticket buyer, we’re so thankful for your support. We’re here for you. We’re here because of you. We can’t do it without you.

With appreciation,

John Schickedanz
Executive Director

This is a summer of great big changes at The Englert. Last month, we unveiled our plans to upgrade to a brand new sound system, and this week, we began the first phase of this summer’s installations, starting with acoustic sound treatment of the theater’s balcony.

What is the goal of this acoustic treatment? How will it contribute to the patron experience? What kind of impact will it have on the theater? Alex Body, the technician behind this week’s installation, breaks down all these questions to describe how this recent change in the space will improve the future of The Englert.

Q: What did the acoustic treatment entail, and what kind of changes were made to the space?

We installed 21 acoustic absorption panels of various sizes, manufactured by a company called ATS Acoustics, in the loft area above the balcony.These panels are designed to absorb sound waves that would otherwise be reflected from the walls back toward the audience in this part of the balcony.

They look like big picture frames that are wrapped in fabric. We tried to get them evenly spaced around the area of the building we wanted to treat, while not interfering with other systems in the building like lights, HVAC vents, etc.

Q: How were you able to preserve the historic integrity of the space while making these new installations?

We tried to select fabrics to wrap these panels in that match the color and aesthetics of The Englert. This kind of treatment would not be found at The Englert when it was first established. In those days, there was no sound amplification used at all for shows, so theaters were designed to reflect sound throughout the audience area to help the audience hear music and understand dialogue.

Now that The Englert is primarily hosting concerts with amplified sound, those reflections are less desirable and can end up making the sound of a show less clear than it could be. So just like many other projects that have happened at The Englert, this was a bit of a balancing act between keeping the historic theater vibe and better supporting the programming that The Englert has been hosting for the last decade-plus.

Q: What kind of a difference can audience members anticipate in their show-going experience with this update?

Audience members will experience clearer sound, especially in the balcony, and especially at events that aren’t full to capacity. Another thing which the audience won’t experience directly, but will still benefit from, is that there will be less sound reflected back to the stage as a result of this project.

This kind of reflection can be disorienting to performers, especially during sound check when the room is empty before the audience arrives. Hopefully this will mean the performers have to worry less about being able to hear themselves and each other and can enjoy putting on a great show.

Want to experience this new update for yourself? Explore our upcoming events, and become a part of the Englert community!