Art-a-Fest returns, with new pieces, people to meet

By Kate Hayden, khayden@charlescitypress.com

Pottery, painting, photography, baskets — bells?

Sure enough, the bells were ringing out at Art-a-Fest Saturday morning as six members of the Meskwaki Nation walked into the center of Central Park.

During their first visit to Charles City’s Art-a-Fest, the Brown Otter dance troop performed portions of several secular dances for the crowded festival — part of the tribe’s partnership with the Charles City Arts Center — during this month’s Meskwaki art gallery exhibit.

The tribe has multiple performance groups that travel the U.S. for 20-30 showcases, member Mary Young Bear said. The dances are part of regular life for the tribe — from family get-togethers for a birthday, to annual holiday celebrations like the Halloween masquerade.

“They dress up and have a contest to this kind of music. It’s really fun to go to,” Young Bear said.

Singer Gilbert Brown provided the drumbeat as dancers Daniel YoungBear-Brown, Eleron Young Bear, Emily YoungBear-Brown and Paige YoungBear-Brown showed portions of the buffalo dance, the Meskwaki tribe’s signature dance, and more.

The troop ended with a community dance and invited Charles City residents to join in on.

It was the first time members of the tribe visited Charles City, but it was also a first Art-a-Fest experience for many of the artist booths.

Terry and Laura Ross of Moorland stayed busy Saturday morning with a full booth as visitors looked at their unique, steampunk-inspired jewelry and hats.

“We take a lot of old pocket watches from the 1860s-1920s, and we repurpose them into modern jewelry,” Terry said.

They also sell the quintessential steampunk hat — which Terry builds out of old exercise mats.

“I will cut them up, then I’ll put fun-foam on it, and then I’ll give it a paint job and put some tacks on it … The hats are part of the steampunk world,” Terry said. “If it was still steamy out, everyone would still be wearing a Victorian dress and a top hat, so you’ve got to have them in a set.”

They’ve only been hosting booths since October, but they’ve already traveled to 50 shows. Their next scheduled show is in Hannibal, Missouri, one of the largest steampunk shows in the U.S.

“It’s so different, it attracts you. The fun of it all is what we’ve discovered along the way,” he added.

Laura and Terry started taking apart old, broken pocket watches and discovering how embellished some of the timepieces were.

“They didn’t have to put these scrolls and embellishments on it, but they did because back in the 1920s and ’30s, there was a lot more handmade craftsmanship. So if you look at some of these really closely, they have great embellishments manufactured into the actual piece,” Terry said.

Laura’s first project was “Mr. and Mrs. Punk” out of two old watch dials, she said. Last week, a necklace she created won third place in a juried art show event — the first time in 37 years that a jewelry artist had placed at that show, Terry said.

“Our most common comment is, ‘I’ve never seen anything like this before,'” Terry said. “You love hearing that, because it’s fresh … people get to see something new.”