Tweet Week brings a scavenger hunt for 80 ceramic birds hidden in downtown Des Moines

Omar Waheed, Des Moines Register
·2 min read
Ceramics birds created by Merion Nehmer for last year's Tweet Week capture the strong earth tones common in her work.
Ceramics birds created by Merion Nehmer for last year's Tweet Week capture the strong earth tones common in her work.

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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Meet the Artists

Linda Lewis

Linda Lewis is a ceramicist, sculptor and founder of Tweet Week. Lewis' work captures the human experience through expressive body movements and facial expressions in her work.
Linda Lewis is a ceramicist, sculptor and founder of Tweet Week. Lewis' work captures the human experience through expressive body movements and facial expressions in her work.

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

Emily MacFarland creates functional pottery with bright designs using the an Italian technique from her studio at Mainframe Studios.
Emily MacFarland creates functional pottery with bright designs using the an Italian technique from her studio at Mainframe Studios.

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

Marion Nehmer creates functional ceramics with a focus on the human form and nature.
Marion Nehmer creates functional ceramics with a focus on the human form and nature.

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

Diane Hayes from Mainframe Studios crafts figurative and botanical ceramics with strong earthy hues.
Diane Hayes from Mainframe Studios crafts figurative and botanical ceramics with strong earthy hues.

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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What is Mainframe Studios?

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.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Tweet Week returns to Des Moines with ceramic bird scavenger hunt