Tweet Week returns to Des Moines with ceramic bird scavenger hunt

2022-07-16 01:16:29 By : Ms. Kathy Lee

Mainframe Studios and the Greater Des Moines Partnership bring back Tweet Week to downtown Des Moines for its second year with an artful journey that expands people’s appreciation and exploration of downtown.

The free interactive pop-up art event runs from July 9-16 with 80 colorful ceramic birds, created by four artists from Mainframe Studios, hidden throughout downtown. Starting Saturday, 10 birds will be distributed around the area for people to find in a scavenger hunt.

The Greater Des Moines Partnership shares clues on via @downtownDSMUSA on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts or by searching #downtownDSM. Those lucky enough to find one of the birds can keep it and share images via social media using the hashtag #downtownDSM.

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Linda Lewis is the founder of Tweet Week. Lewis primarily creates figurative sculptures made to express the human experience. Her work explores the intricacies of life through the use of complex facial expressions and body positioning in her sculptures. Lewis also creates functional pottery, prints and mixed media.

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Emily MacFarland designs functional pottery with brightly patterned designs. MacFarland creates her bight pottery through the use of an Italian method of decorating called sgraffito — where color is slipped in the clay and carved through to reveal the clay underneath.

Marion Nehmer is a ceramist that focuses on functional fine art ceramics. Nehmer’s work takes inspiration from the human form and nature and is glazed with warm earthy tones that “foster(s) the desire to pick up and handle each piece,” according to Mainframe Studios' bio on Nehmer.

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Diane Hayes creates figurative ceramics and botanical forms. Hayes was a long-time painter before she found her way to ceramics after falling in love with the process and working and building up clay to a final result.

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All artists work out of Mainframe Studios at 900 Keosauqua Way. Mainframe Studios is the largest nonprofit art studio in the country and offers spaces for artists to continue to make art and innovate.