Calendar

Cory Christiansen, an orthopedic surgeon pursuing a Studio Arts degree at the University of Iowa, has come to appreciate the fragile and fleeting nature of our existence. His mixed media works are efforts to answer big questions such as how we came about, what our purpose is, and what our history tells us about ourselves and our future. Christiansen uses conceptual pieces, historical reference, and aesthetic means in his explorations. The character of his work is continually changing based on his perpetual search for innovative technology, novel techniques, and inspiration from mentors, past and present.

Muscatine printmaker Jon Fasanelli-Cawelti rediscovered his love of playing the trumpet following a twenty-year hiatus and began playing in five musical groups including the Muscatine Symphony Orchestra and the Mad Creek Mudcats. His love of music sparked a new series of music-based prints. Among these fifty works are Man Filled with Music,  Jazz is the River Burning, and Desperate Cornet Shimmie. This exhibition spotlights those works and is the first major exhibition of his work since his passing in 2021.

For more than fourteen years, Jon Fasanelli-Cawelti served as assistant to the world renowned printmaker Mauricio Lasansky - head of Printmaking in the School of Art and Art History at the University of Iowa. The Muscatine Art Center’s permanent collection contains over 40 prints by Lasansky, some of which were produced with assistance from Fasanelli-Cawelti. The influence of the master’s portraits is evident in his students’ work, including that of Fasanelli-Cawelti.