Events

From May 7 to June 1, Arts on Grand will host an open juried exhibit celebrating Iowa’s Natural Heritage. Artists may submit up to five works of art. Submissions must be received by April 8.

Iowa is a state of contrasts—the prairie, wetlands, woodlands, and streams. The exhibit will feature works by artists and photographers portraying Iowa’s natural heritage—either the natural landscape of Iowa or its flora and fauna.

Subject matter for this exhibit is specifically the natural heritage of this state. We ask artists and photographers to only enter works that depict the landscape, flora (plant life), and fauna (wildlife, insect life, etc.) indigenous to Iowa. Since
there is often a fine line as to what would qualify as “natural,” artist’s submissions will be juried for both artistic merit and for accurate depiction of subject matter. Interpretive three-dimensional works are encouraged as well. Jury decisions are final.

Requirements for submissions can be viewed at http://artsongrand.org/iowasnaturalheritage.html, or contact Kara Taylor, Assistant Director, at programming@artsongrand.org or 712-262-4307.

Arts on Grand is offering an Intermediate Photoshop Elements class Thursdays during May for adults and older youth. The class will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. May 16, 23, and 30. It will be taught by graphic designer and photographer Lisa Bailey. The class should be of interest to digital photographers as well as to people who just want to create digital art.

This class is a continuation of the introductory Photoshop Elements classes that Bailey has taught at Arts on Grand. It will focus on masking, brushes, and filters. Participants must bring a computer with them with Photoshop Elements installed. While the class will focus on using Photoshop Elements, the techniques taught can also be used with the full version of Photoshop. The instructor will be using Photoshop Elements 10, but other versions can also be used. A fully
functioning trial version of the software, which will last 30 days, can be downloaded from adobe.com.

Tuition is $45 for members and $50 for nonmembers. Tuition scholarships are available. Space is limited, so preregistration is required. For more information, or to register, contact Arts on Grand at 712-262-4307 or programming@artsongrand.org.

Arts on Grand is offering a beginning class in pen-and-ink washes Saturday, June 1. The class, which is being taught by Jim Neighbors, will begin at 9 a.m. and run until noon. It is open to adults and teens.

Neighbors will show students how to use basic pen-and-ink techniques, applying watercolor wash. Students may bring photographs to work from if they wish. Items for still life setup will also be available. Students may bring their own watercolors and supplies, if they wish. Supplies will also be provided.

Tuition is $25 for members and $30 for nonmembers. Tuition scholarships are available. Space is limited, so preregistration is required. For more information, or to register, contact Arts on Grand at 712-262-4307 or programming@artsongrand.org.

More details to come...

Don't miss the HUGE parade on Saturday at 11am! 

The Eli Young Band’s fifth album titled Life At Best has become an international smash-hit with country fans the world over. In the United States, the band has earned two #1 hits on country radio, along with an Academy of Country Music (ACM) Award for the 2011 Song of the Year (“Crazy Girl”).

This year the EYB has earned an avalanche of award nominations including two Grammy nominations for Best Country Song (“Even If It Breaks Your Heart”) and Best Country Duo/Group Performance (“Even If It Breaks Your Heart”), two ACM Award nominations for Vocal Group of the Year and Single Record of the Year (“Even If It Breaks Your Heart”), and three Teen Choice Award nods for Choice Breakthrough Group (all genre), Choice Country Song and Choice Country Group.

In the beginning, drummer Chris Thompson, guitarist James Young and bass player Jon Jones formed an instant friendship and started performing around Denton, Texas, while they were students at North Texas State University in 1998. Mike Eli came into the picture when he enrolled at the school the next year, first playing duo shows with Young, then singing lead as the gang of four officially made its live debut in October 2000.

Jack Ingram won the 2008 ACM award for Best New Male Vocalist. Ingram remains in the forefront of country music with the album Big Dreams & High Hopes, the seventh studio disc of his career and his third for Nashville maverick indie label Big Machine Records. Its eleven tracks range through the many facets of Ingram’s unique take on country music and songwriting including the swimming hole party anthem “Barefoot and Crazy” which quickly became a radio smash.

Fans of Mendler already know she’s a terrific singer. After all, the star of the Disney Channel original series “Good Luck Charlie” sings the show’s theme song, and has sung in lead roles of Disney original films like “Lemonade Mouth.”

Her debut single called “Ready or Not” has recently shot to the top of the charts.  The single sums up Mendler’s approach to life. “I wanted to write something that was empowering for girls,” she says of the track. “I consider myself to have been that girl sitting on the curb waiting for the world to notice.”

There’s no harmony quite as pure as family harmony, and Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers have shared their award-winning harmonies from dusty stages to White House performances, from Broadway shows to the Grammy Awards – and now to the Clay County Fair Grandstand Monday, Sept. 9, presented by CD107.7 FM.

With a string of hits that includes “All the Gold in California,” “Houston (Means That I’m One Day Closer to You),” “Night Time Magic,” “Statues Without Hearts,” “The Lady Takes the Cowboy Every Time,” this will truly be an evening of hit after hit.

Joining Larry, Rudy and Steve Gatlin is special guest Billy Dean. With hits ranging from “Billy the Kid,” ACM Song of the Year “Somewhere in My Broken Heart,” “Only Here for A Little While,” and “We Just Disagree,” Dean transcends genres and generations alike.

This incredible night of hits will include a very special 9/11 tribute to our military and first responders. Join Larry, Steve and Rudy Gatlin along with Billy Dean to pay tribute to those that fight and protect our freedom.

Audiences will be reminded of the highlights of their youth through the songbooks of their lives with the hits from these three stars who together have a total of 42 charted songs and have sold over 250 million records. And now they’re together on stage for the very first time. Audiences will hear “I Think I Love You,” “Last Train to Clarksville,” “There’s a Kind of Hush” and many more classic and timeless hits that have transcended three generations over five decades.

They have more in common than meets the eye – each started his illustrious career on television, Cassidy on “The Partridge Family,” Dolenz on “The Monkees” and Noone on the British soap opera “Coronation Street.” As young lads, they each then became singing sensations. Noone became known as Herman of Herman’s Hermits, which spawned such hits as “I’m Into Something Good” “Mrs. Brown, you’ve Got A Lovely Daughter”, “I’m Henry VIII, I Am”, “Silhouettes”, “Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat”, “Wonderful World”, “There’s A Kind of Hush”, “Listen People”, and many more.

Monkees’ hits on which Dolenz sang lead vocals included “Last Train to Clarksville,” “Pleasant Valley Sunday,”  “I’m a Believer,” “I’m Not Your Stepping Stone” and, of course, “The Monkees” theme song.  The Monkees achieved their greatest success as recording artists selling in excess of 65 million units and achieving worldwide fame. Their first four albums, “The Monkees,”  “More of the Monkees,” “Headquarters,” and “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd,” each reached number one on the charts.  After the Emmy Award-winning television show ended, Dolenz went on to become a successful writer, producer and director and has enjoyed starring on Broadway and on London’s West End.

Cassidy saw success both on “The Partridge Family” and as a solo artist with hits that included “I Woke Up in Love This Morning,” “C’mon Get Happy,” “Cherish,”  “I Write the Songs,”  “Doesn’t Somebody Want To Be Wanted,”  “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do,” “Could It Be Forever,” “How Can I Be Sure,” “Rock Me Baby,”  and his trademark song “I Think I Love You.” Ten albums by The Partridge Family and five solo albums were produced during the show and many more thereafter. His concert in New York’s Madison Square Garden sold out in less than 30 minutes, an all-time record (without the existence of the Internet) and resulted in riots. His concert tours of the UK included six sellout concerts at Wembley Stadium over one weekend in 1973.  He continued to act, receiving an Emmy nomination for “Police Story.”

NTPA Truck & Tractor Pull
sponsored by Producers Hybrids

Thursday, September 12
1:00 PM & 6:30 PM

Country music superstar Scotty McCreery has had a blindingly rapid rise to stardom since “American Idol.” The Garner, North Carolina, native quickly emerged as one of country music’s most successful new artists after his first album topped the Billboard Top 200 and Top Country charts, earning him a spot in the Guinness World Records Book for being the youngest male in history to score a No.1 album on the all-genre chart with a debut release. His albumalso garnered the highest sales of any country solo album released in 2011 with the first two singles, “I Love You This Big” and “The Trouble With Girls,” reaching certified Gold status.

The hot streak continued as Scotty went on to win New Artist of the Year at both the 2011 American Country Awards and the 2012 ACM Awards. He also picked up the USA Weekend Breakthrough Video of the Year for “The Trouble With Girls” at the 2012 CMT Music Awards.  McCreery was ranked No. 1 on Billboard’s list of Top New Country Artists in 2011.

With a straight-forward, traditional country sound, Craig Campbell’s music describes the lives of real American people.  In 2011, Campbell wowed a sellout crowd of over 7,000 at the Clay County Fair when he opened for Alan Jackson.

Spencer native Casey Muessigmann shot to fame on NBC’s “The Voice” last season with his winning smile and classic country sound.  Muessigmann worked with country superstar Blake Shelton while on “The Voice.”

Theory of a Deadman, the platinum-selling Vancouver quartet, builds arena-ready hooks around hard rocking stories of good times, bad times and everything in between.  The band solidified their place at the top of modern hard rock by exceeding Platinum sales with their breakthrough Scars & Souvenirs album and with #1 Mainstream Rock Radio hit “Bad Girlfriend.”

Theory of a Deadman’s music pulsates with energy, and it tells a clever tale in the process. “We’ve been a band for over a decade now, and we realized what we’re doing makes sense,” revealed lead vocalist Tyler Connolly.  “When I write, I either want to kiss someone on the lips or punch them in the face. Anything in between is boring.”

Connolly goes on to say that “our fans aren’t wearing suits and ties. They don’t have diamond necklaces. They’re regular people who like to party and sing rock ‘n’ roll music. The songs speak to them.”

Hinder, the multi-platinum Oklahoma City hard rockers, offer rock anthems and acoustic tracks that boast gritty charm with just the right amount of pop prowess. Hinder has certainly had quite the ride.  Their 2005 debut, Extreme Behavior, sold over three million copies in the U.S., while its breakthrough single “Lips of an Angel” hit #1 on the Billboard Pop Chart. The record’s follow-up in 2008, Take it to the Limit, surpassed Gold status after debuting at #4 on the Billboard Top 200 with over 80,000 copies sold first week.

December 4-7^th, 2013 is Everly Commercial Club’s Festival of Trees @ the Hap Ketelsen Community Center.

The #1 selling Christmas music artist of all time, Mannheim Steamroller Christmas by Chip Davis with local partners Farmers Trust and Savings Bank of Spencer and the Clay County Fair will “roll” into Spencer and the Clay County Regional Events Center (CCREC) on Wednesday, December 11 at 7:30pm.

Tickets for this fast-selling event are on sale NOW!

Mannheim Steamroller, who created the unique musical genre of “18th century classical rock,” is best known for their Christmas music.  Since the release of Mannheim Steamroller Christmas in 1984, the group has sold over 28 million Christmas albums and now has two traveling troupes to meet the demands of the annual Christmas concert tour, now in its 27th year.

To Purchase Tickets:
1. Events Center Box Office
2. www.Ticketmaster.com
3. 800-745-3000
4. Any Ticketmaster outlet