By Joe Jennison

If you are a regular reader of this column, you may remember that I am kinda into arts and culture events.

But what you may NOT know is that there is one event that I look forward to more than any other. And THAT event comes up in January and everyone in the community is welcome to attend.

Of course, I'm talking about the Icky's!

The Iowa Cultural Corridor Alliance 4^{th Annual Meeting and Excellence in Innovation Awards (aka "The Icky’s!") will take place Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Sinclair Auditorium, on the Coe College campus, 1220 First Ave. NE, Cedar Rapids. The event serves as an opportunity for all of us who appreciate arts and culture to celebrate and acknowledge the good work that is done every day by the 150 individual and organizational members of the Iowa Cultural Corridor Alliance.}

Hosted by Scott Schulte and Ric Swann from Z102.9’s Schulte and Swann, the event will be preceded by a videotaped Red Carpet entrance ceremony and reception from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. As guests enter, they will walk across a Red Carpet and be greeted by faux paparazzi, Hollywood-style lights, and television cameras supplied by Public Access Television – Iowa City. Also included will be a complementary hors d’oeuvres buffet, art and history exhibit and cash bar.

The Awards portion of the program will include local celebrity presenters handing out awards in each of 12 categories, including Children’s Programming, Dance Programming, Educational Programming, Festival Programming, History Programming, Music Programming and Visual Arts Programming. There will also be awards presented to individuals and groups from the cultural community that have excelled in advocacy and collaboration. The individual trophies that will be handed out were designed and built by local sculptor Tom Newport.

The Board and Staff of the Iowa Cultural Corridor Alliance will also plan to unveil its new five-year strategic plan, a document that was put together this past year with the help of consultant Laura Zabel from Minnesota-based Springboard for the Arts.

Serving as presenters at the event will be several celebrities including Congressman Dave Loebsack, State Representative Tyler Olson and TV anchor Bruce Aune. In addition to the awards, the Jan. 24 ceremony also will offer live recreations of performances by cultural groups that have celebrated a milestone anniversary this year. Groups scheduled to perform include those representing Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre, Harmony Hawks Barbershop Chorus, Iowa City Early Keyboard Society, Iowa City Public Library, Nolte Academy of Dance, Preucil School of Music, Public Access Television – Iowa City, Riverside Theatre, Starlighters II, University of Iowa Museum of Natural History and Ushers Ferry. This year’s house band will be Cedar Rapids-based group FunkStop.

The Icky’s are the area’s only cultural awards nominated and voted on solely by the 150 individual and organizational members of the Iowa Cultural Alliance. The ballot will go out to the membership in late December, the results of which will be compiled by Denny Redmond, an accountant from the firm of Latta, Harris, Hanon & Penningroth, LLP. The results of the members-only ballot will be unveiled live at the Icky’s ceremony on Sunday, Jan. 24.

The public is invited to attend and celebrate with the area’s cultural community. The event is sponsored by Alliant Energy. Media sponsor is the Gazette. Reception Sponsor in PTDN Diversity Network. Tickets for the event are $20 and are available now through the Orchestra Iowa box office at (800) 369-TUNE.