Get your cards, calendars and prints!

Polyphony Bruna, IBOM's Young Artist in Residence, has made prints, calendars and cards of her work on the project! You can get them on her website or at the Octagon Center for the Arts in Ames. They're gorgeous!

Polyphony Bruna's "Northern Cardinal"

Medium: Lithoprint; Watercolor

Dimensions: 22 in x 18 in

"Cubism was a movement in the 20th century that inspired many diverse branches of art. This movement is based on the idea of breaking down and reassembling an object. As such, its use to portray February’s Northern Cardinal is fitting for a month in mid-winter. If Cubism is the dead of winter, then the following blossoming of diversity within the art world is the spring rebirth. The disassembly of Cubism ties into the destruction of winter, and just as how this disassembly allowed for a rebirth in the art world, the destruction of winter allows for the rebirth of spring. Furthermore, the disassembly and reassembly creates a perspective shift. This associates well with the stark perspective shift that occurs between winter and summer. The choice to draw a brown female cardinal, as opposed to the more iconic red male, follows along with this perspective shift. Instead, the recognizable red color is brought into the trees and environment of the bird. This also serves to put emphasis on the change in environment accompanying the seasons. But more importantly, this red, which incites ideas of vitality and life, illustrates the vitality that exists in an environment that may appear dead and cold."

We're Talking Swans on IPR's "Talk of Iowa"!

This Wednesday, April 5, I'll be talking about Iowa Bird of Mouth on Iowa Public Radio's Talk of Iowa with Charity Nebbe! How exciting! There'll be lots of eyes on the site, so get your trumpeter swan poems on! Plus, it's National Poetry Month. Swans & poetry: that makes sense! There's never been a better time to post a poem.

"Trumpeter Swan" by Polyphony Bruna

Polyphony is a brilliant artist and Ames High School student who is rendering our spotlight birds. 

Medium: Charcoal

Dimensions: 9 in x 12 in

"The decision to work with charcoal for April’s Trumpeter Swan stemmed from the purpose to portraying the underwater composition. First of all, this versatile medium would allow me to create both a smooth texture for the underwater background and a rough texture for the bird’s feathers. The contrast between these textures would help bring the bird to the foreground as well as convey the underwater scene. Furthermore, the monochromatic palette and soft or muted tone that comes with charcoal would create the murkiness of underwater. These elements would also mimic the deadened silence that one experiences underwater. The use of just a single medium diminishes the vibrancy of the piece, similarly serving to dull the senses. This snapshot of a swan is representative of April—the turn from winter to spring. At this moment, the swan has dived into the dark and muffling water, but it will soon re-emerge to the vibrant surface."

Listen to us talk Birdapalooza and IBOM on KHOI !

At 7 am, noon and 7 pm

IBOM & StoCoCon's Birdapalooza in the Ames Trib

Thank you, Todd Burras, for such a terrific write-up! And thank you, Jess, for all your hard work on this fantastic project! We hope to see you on April 1 at StoCoCon!

Catch us at Goldie's Kid's Club, June 7, 1-3 p.m.

We'll be crowd-sourcing poems about the robin at Goldie's Kid's Club, June 7, 1-3 p.m. Goldie's Kid's Club is the NEW State Historical Museum of Iowa club featuring mascot Goldie the goldfinch, as well as Goldie's Flight Path, a passport-like activity for families that involves all of our historic sites and museums. Cool! Their summer break programming is drop-in for families with children of all ages. How fun!