The Architecture Art Show at the Historic Roshek Building

April 2011

Video by Gary Olsen and Cheryl Werner

Cheryl Werner hosts this exciting video that features students and teachers of the Dubuque Community School District.

Dubuque has long been known as a place of great historic homes and landmarks. In fact, there are spectacular examples of American gothic, Richardsonian, French Second Empire, Italianate Victorian and neo-classical architecture nearly everywhere one looks. But perhaps the greatest examples are of the 19th Century's great Golden Age, the latter half of the 1800's, where great wealth created great Victorian era homes. The turrets, intricate brickwork chimneys, tall and sometimes curved glass windows, multi-plane roofs, all the decorations were extraordinary examples of European trained immigrants who built these beautiful structures for the successful families engaged in the lumber, millwork, mining and agricultural enterprises of their time.

As part of an integrated curriculum that begins in third grade, and with the help of the Dubuque Historical Society and the Center for Dubuque History at Loras College, students learn about their architectural heritage.

As a culmination to their studies, students in art classes create images of their studies, drawings, sculpture, models made of toothpicks and found objects, paintings, batik, multimedia... the variety of material is impressive. As part of the Dubuque Main Street, LTD group that markets and promotes Dubuque businesses, and cultural events, a celebration of architecture was held at the historic Roshek Building in downtown Dubuque. The building had just won an award for historic preservation and adaptation to modern uses (it's home to 1,300 IBM employees), and the common area, which is spacious and perfect for receptions such as these, hosted the children's art in celebration of Dubuque's Architectural heritage.

Featured on this video are the coordinators and consultants of the art project including several Dubuque Schools art teachers. Christie Trilk and Dan Lobianco of Dubuque Main Street, LTD., and Michael Gibson, the archivist and director of the Center for Dubuque History at Loras College are on hand. The level of enthusiasm for this show is palpable, and it has become an annual affair.

We can hardly wait for next year's offering.

Click here for an archival version of the movie you can keep forever.