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Creative Events: May

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Creative Events: May

May in the Midwest means beautiful weather and art everywhere

Macey Spensley
Apr 21, 2023
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Creative Events: May

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Spring in Iowa is my favorite time of the year.

The sunlight washes the seasonal affective disorder clean away. Warmer temperatures allow me to start walking outside again. I no longer have to stress about driving in the snow.

The Midwest Creative is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

My favorite part? The community events happening all over our region.

I gathered a list of arts and culture events happening all over the Midwest in May. This is by no means an exhaustive list - just events I found that sounded interesting and informative to me. There is so much opportunity across the Midwest to flex your creative muscles, appreciate others’ art, and learn about new cultures.

I hope for these calendars to be a collaborative project. Don’t see an event you’re planning on attending? Share the event in the comments so other readers can join you. Excited for an event in June? Let me know in the comments so I can include it in June.

If you attend one of these events, let me know how it goes and what you learn.

Iowa

Come Along With Kate: My coworker, Kate Brockmeyer, has created a calendar of events in the Des Moines Metro Area. Kate is amazing at getting involved in our community - it’s why she’s excellent as her CultureALL job of community outreach - and is always finding great events around town. Check it out! https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/comealongwithkate%40gmail.com/public/basic.ics
Desktop:
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0?cid=Y29tZWFsb25nd2l0aGthdGVAZ21haWwuY29t

May 4 - 6 - Tulip Festival - Pella

May 5 - Iowa City Art & Write Night

May 6 - Waverly’s Art Walk

May 20 - Marion Arts Festival

May 26-27 - CelebrAsian

Nebraska

May 2 - 3 - American Ballet Theatre: Giselle

May 6 - Holy Trinity Arts Festival

May 12 - Chicago - Pinewood Bowl Theater

May 27 - Art Battle Omaha

Kansas

May 5 - Great Bend Downtown Art and Wine Walk

May 6 - 7 - Art in the Park Tintype Pop-Up

May 11 - Wichita May Arts Mixr

May 13 - Lenexa Art Fair

May 21 - Jordan Bak, viola: FREE Discovery Concert

May 26-29 - Lawrence Busker Festival

Minnesota

May 6 - Rustic Mamas’ Spring Market

May 6 - 13 - Courtney Mattison - Undercurrent - Art exhibit

May 13 - Enso Daiko

May 19-20 - Art-a-Whirl

May 26 - Art Share at Crossing Arts - Brainerd

South Dakota

May 2 - Author Talks: Geri Mendoza Gutwein

May 5: Arts-Cy-Co

May 12: Pride & Prejudice

May 20: Oglala Lakota Artspace Grand Opening

North Dakota

May 4 - Perfectly Paired Art and Drink event

May 6 - Free Comic Book Day

May 11 - Salvador Dali Birthday Event

May 14 - Eliot Fisk at the North Dakota Museum of Art

May 19 - Art See

Illinois

May 6 - Art Around You: Student Annual Exhibition

May 6 - 7 - Art in Wilder Park

May 13 - Umbrella Arts Festival

May 14 - Van Gogh and the Avant-Garde at the Art Institute of Chicago

May 20 - Old Capitol Art Fair

Michigan

May 1-19 - Vitality and Continuity: Art in the Experiences of Anishinaabe, Inuit, and Pueblo Women

May 5 - Maternal Interior Exhibition Opening

May 6 - Detroit International Festival of Animation

May 13 - Jackson County Free Museum Day

May 20-21 - East Lansing Art Festival

Ohio

May 4 - Interwoven Creative Writing Workshop with Dionne Custer Edwards

May 4 - Speak Easy - true stories, told live

May 13 - Arts with Friends Workshop

May 13 - The Art Ball

May 20 - Cleveland Asian Festival

Indiana

May 4-6 - DivaFest 2023 - The Divine Alchemists

May 6 - Indianapolis Clay Studio Tour

May 7 - Family Arts Fest

May 20 - African Unity Fest

May 20-21 - OneAmerica Broad Ripple Art Fair

The Midwest Creative is a proud member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative. Please consider subscribing to my colleagues’ columns as they do important work across the state of Iowa.

Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights
Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll
Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines
Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Lake
Suzanna de Baca Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley
Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County
Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and Okoboji
Joe Geha: Fern and Joe, Ames
Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines
Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilla
Dana James: New Black Iowa, Des Moines
Pat Kinney: View from Cedar Valley, Waterloo
Fern Kupfer: Fern and Joe, Ames
Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey
Tar Macias: Hola Iowa, Iowa
Kurt Meyer, Showing Up, St. Ansgar
Kyle Munson, Kyle Munson’s Main Street, Des Moines
Jane Nguyen, The Asian Iowan, West Des Moines
John Naughton: My Life, in Color, Des Moines
Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger, Jefferson and Des Moines
Barry Piatt: Piatt on Politic Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.
Macey Spensley: The Midwest Creative, Norwalk
Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, Kalona
Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices, Kalona
Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County
Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport
Teresa Zilk: Talking Good, Des Moines
To receive a weekly roundup of all Iowa Writers’ Collaborative columnists, sign up here (free): ROUNDUP COLUMN

We are proud to have an alliance with Iowa Capital Dispatch.

The Midwest Creative is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

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