Layers of Maquoketa will host a Coffee Shop along with Forte Coffee and the Maquoketa Sentinel-Press at the Maquoketa Art Experience. There will be food and drink available.
Coffee House Entertainment:
RoboCards performance by Cardinal Middle School sixth graders Keelan Hoover, Athena Brainhard, Bradley LaFrenz, Ashton McKee, Jonny Burns, Brady Pauls, Gavin Fromenti, and Miracle Rosener. Their theme is ANIMAL ALLIES. This team has worked to raise awareness between animals and humans. The RoboCards picked the animal – bees. They’ll teach us about pollinating, helping colony and making honey, as well as share other valuable information!
Maquoketa Public Library Essay winners Isabela Krabenhoff and Victor Frana share their winning essays about what the downtown street construction project means to them.
Dorothy Carstensen shares memories of growing up with “The Smell of Pancakes” and “Ironing.” Dorothy was born in Maquoketa and taught school in Delmar and DeWitt. She spent many years helping run the family cattle farm in Preston.
Seth Archer is the dual-credit instructor of liberal arts at the Clinton Community College Maquoketa Center for the past four years. His life goal is to return to the North Country and become a professional curler. He and his wife, Jennie, who is a far better person than him, live in Rock Island and enjoy food, arts and culture of Eastern Iowa; they both have enjoyed making the area their home. Seth will introduce the various projects and works his students have completed.
Sabryn Dague reads her flash fan fiction piece “Voldemort’s Rant.” Sabrynn, daughter of Paul Dague and Anna White, will be attending Ellsworth Community College and study animal science. After three semesters at Ellsworth she plans to transfer to Iowa State University. She has been voted “Most Likely to be the hero in an Island of Dr Moroe Situation.”
Dylan Bahl reads his fictional realism piece “A Simple Memory.” Dylan, a senior at MCHS, understands quantum computing and other incredibly complex topics. He is interested in computer science and will attend UW Platteville in the fall – until he creates the next big technological thing, then he will buy UW-Platteville. Maybe all of Platteville.
Kyle Schwenker reads his comedy narrative “Teaching with the Best.” Kyle is a senior at MCHS and plans on studying engineering at Loras College next year, unless his career in comedy writing takes off. He’s expecting a call from Comedy Central any day.
Cassandra Ruppert shares her Shakespearean sonnet “Flowers in the Seasons.” Throughout high school Cassie has been involved in clubs like Student Senate and Club hOpe and sports like basketball, cross country, and softball. In the fall she will attend the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse to major in biology, where she will write the world’s first biology textbook. In sonnets.
Emily Highnam plays original pieces on cello and ukulele. Emily Highnam began learning to play the cello in 2001. Since that time, she has played in orchestras at Cedar Falls High School and Iowa State University. More recently, she has toured the western United States in a band and plays in the house band at The Tavern in Prairie Du Chien WI.
Courtney Becker reads her Optimist Club winning essay “Chasing Optimism in the Face of Challenges.” Courtney will attend the University of Iowa as a human physiology major on a pre-med track. She also plans to minor in sign language. Her goal is to go to medical school and become a pediatric oncologist. Because cancer isn’t tough enough, she wants to help kids with cancer.
Raina Genaw shares her winning short story: “Red-Handed.” Raina is a sophomore at Maquoketa High School. Her piece earned a Silver Key award at the 2017 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.
Karen Schwenker shares selections of poetry. Born in Van Nuys, California and has lived on a Maqueketa farm for more than 40 years. She began writing poetry 10 years ago after she and her husband, Tom, went to a cowboy symposium in Wyoming, and attended a presentation on cowboy poetry. She gets her inspiration from every day things, including her grandchildren.
Blair Bennis & Joey Palowski present a vocal performance. Blair is the daughter of Kent and Kristi Bennis of Delmar. She has been involved in 4-H, FFA, and music throughout high school. Next fall she will begin a major in agronoy and, of course, sing at Iowa State University.
Autumn Sonstegard shares her fictional realism piece “A Mother’s Day.” Autumn is 18 years old and has never lived outside of Maquoketa. This fall she plans on attending CCC here in Maquoketa and continuing to work and save for college. She will someday have a degree in either accounting or child psychology, or both. Probably both.
Abraham Kinrade reads his third-person perspective “A Day In His Shoes.” Abraham is the youngest child of Steve & Julie. He enjoys playing sports, fishing and hanging out with friends. Next fall he will attend the Air Force Academy Prep School for one year before continuing his education and basketball career at the U.S. Air Force Academy. If you let him (even if you don't) he will dunk on you.
Catia Atienza shares her perspective fiction “Eyes of a Mother.” Catia will attend the University of Iowa to major in biology. She intends to continue on into some as of yet undeclared medical/health profession. One thing is for certain: it will be any medical/health profession she wants it to be.
Dale Kilburg shares his an experience on his farm in “Home.” Dale is a retired postal carrier who continues to farm the “family farm.” He has a passion for reading and enjoys writing about the past. So it is no surprise that he has a MS degree in archeology!
Chuck Jorgensen combines poetry and guitar with the performance of “Thunder and Lightening” (And he does mean lightening- not lightning) and “Layers of Interpretation,” an interpretation of the nature of God set to a bluesy tune. Chuck has always enjoyed music performance of all kinds. Out of that grew an interest in creating his own poetry and music. The last 40 years he has explored many different themes, in many situations. His most recent work is a new song for the Black Velvet Band.
Kaitlin Luett shares her happy memories of her grandparents in “Satisfying Sugary Sweets Make Everyone Happy.” Kaitlin was born and raised in Maquoketa. She is 27 years old and a 2007 graduate of Maquoketa High School. She is a pharmacy technician at Osterhaus Pharmacy. Her true passions are creative, especially writing and performing. She has done numerous community theater shows in Maquoketa, including most recently directing “Twelve Angry Jurors” at the Ohnward Fine Arts Center.
Emily Schepers reads her progression fiction piece “Seniors.” Emily is a senior at Maquoketa High School and will be graduating in May with both a high school diploma and an A.A. degree from Clinton Community College. She will be attending the University of Northern Iowa in the fall and will be majoring in communication studies.
Nicolas Sagers performs his dramatic dialogue “Strained Arrangement.” Nicolas is a senior at MHS and will graduate simultaneously from CCC this spring. He will attend Iowa State University in the fall and pursue a degree in computer science, and this is the most he’s said at once in two years.
Wyatt “$waggy W” Hinz shares his social commentary/narrative “My First Job.” Wyatt, known to all authorities everywhere as “$waggy W” will be attending the University of Northern Iowa next fall to pursue a career in sports broadcasting or coaching basketball. He will hone his skills in the world of intramural C-League basketball in rural Iowa until such a time he becomes eligible for the NBA draft.
Gretchen Banowetz-Mattoon and Dean Mattoon create beautiful music together with voice and acoustic guitar. A native Maquoketan, Gretchen just celebrated the one-year anniversary of Forte, her coffee shop just down the street, which provided us with the delicious coffee and tea this evening. She and her husband Dean Mattoon have been making great vocal harmonies together for years. The duo, known as the Broom Street Drifters, performs in Dubuque area clubs and last year Gretchen wowed audiences with her turn as Patsy Cline at the Ohnward Fine Arts Center.
Shawn Vazquez performs three original pieces: “Frank,” “Do Over,” and “By Waters.” Shawn moved to Maquoketa in 2005 with husband David and children Catherine, Maria, and Sarah. She has loved music for as long as she can remember. She says, “It is the spring in my step, the smile on my face, sometimes the weight on my heart, and definitely what I hear in my head most of the time. Piano music and lyrics are my tools for storytelling.”
Thursday Apr 20, 2017
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM CDT
Thursday, April 20
6:00 - 9:00 pm
Maquoketa Art Experience
124 S. Main St.
Maquoketa, IA 52060
Free admission. Food and drink will be available.
Maquoketa Art Experience
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