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IAC Grants Boost State’s Music Industry
(Part one of two in a series. Coming in April: The Des Moines Music Coalition)
The musical landscape in two Iowa communities continues to grow with help from
Iowa Arts Council Community Music Development Grants.
IAC awarded $12,500 each to Davenport’s River
Music Experience (RME) and the Greater
Des Moines Music Coalition (DMMC) last year, and the investments are helping
each group increase the visibility and vitality of their local music industries.
Governor Tom Vilsack has requested $25,000 to fund the program in the 2006-2007
fiscal year.
The RME is one of seven components of Davenport’s River Renaissance, a project funded in partnership with the State’s Vision Iowa program, City of Davenport, Scott County and private investors. A popular regional initiative, River Renaissance was approved by 73 percent of Scott County voters in the fall of 2001 to capitalize on the energy and beauty of the Mississippi riverfront. The RME project was built to promote the Quad Cities’ reputation as a hub for regional musical festivals and to honor its musical heritage with a permanent, national tribute to American roots music.
The RME is one of seven components of Davenport’s River Renaissance,
a project funded in partnership with the State’s Vision Iowa program, City
of Davenport, Scott County and private investors. A popular regional initiative,
River Renaissance was approved by 73 percent of Scott County voters in the fall
of 2001 to capitalize on the energy and beauty of the Mississippi riverfront.
The RME project was built to promote the Quad Cities’ reputation as a hub
for regional musical festivals and to honor its musical heritage with a permanent,
national tribute to American roots music.
Located in the historic Redstone Building at Second and Main streets in downtown
Davenport, the RME occupies the lower three floors of the five-floor building,
where residents and museum visitors have an opportunity to experience America’s
music, and the music of the Mississippi River, through live musical performances
and programs that nurture, educate and inspire musicians and music fans. The building’s
top two floors are office condominiums.
In February, the RME announced it will open a new live music venue, the Redstone
Room, in April. The RME recently repackaged a “River Wall” exhibit
into digital computer displays to create space for the Redstone Room on the building’s
second floor. The venue will feature state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems
and will link to a video editing suite and recording studio, which will be built
with help from the IAC grant. Advanced multimedia capabilities will allow the
venue to transmit live images from the stage, videos of past performances, and
other media throughout the venue and the RME.
“The Redstone Room is a dream come true for us,” RME President/CEO
Lon Bozarth said. “Plans to create a world class live music venue for the
Quad Cities have been in place since the original concept plans. Together with
our proposed Music Incubator educational center, the RME will become a showcase
for the creation and performance of American music.”
The new venue will accommodate about 250 people, and includes bar and food service.
The Redstone Room will operate six days a week, Tuesday through Sunday, and grand
opening festivities are planned for April 15 and 16.
The RME also recently opened Out Loud and in Print, a concert photo exhibit
featuring the work of two photographers, one from the Quad-City Times
and one from The Dispatch, The Rock Island Argus and The
Leader. From Tiny Tim to Stevie Ray Vaughan, the exhibit offers an eclectic
look at Quad-City concert history.
Since taking over the helm at the RME about a year ago, Bozarth has re-energized
the River Currents Creative Arts Program, which brings all 1,400 fifth-graders
in the Davenport schools to the Redstone Building and the Figge Art Museum for
tours. The RME also is incorporating summer band camps and songwriting classes
into its programming, and hopes to work with Iowa Public Television to get educational
content piped into classrooms.
