Coming to a museum near you...

A barista at my favorite coffee shop (or, home away from home) reminded me tonight of something I had forgotten to post here... The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art will be displaying 83 photos from the Gazette's coverage of the flood, opening this Saturday to coincide with the reopening of the museum, and continuing into next year. It's free until November 1, so get there soon! The photo below is by fellow photog Cliff Jette and one of the truly iconic images to come out of our incredibly talented photo staff. (Out of towners, I will gladly give you a guided tour if you come visit our sleepy little flood damaged town.)

The Year of the River: Flood Photography from The Gazette

August 30, 2008 - February 22, 2009

In May 2007, the city of Cedar Rapids and Linn County designated 2008 the "Year of the River" to draw attention to the Cedar River, a vital aspect of downtown Cedar Rapids. No one could anticipate the devastating floods of 2008 that ultimately affected so many communities in Eastern Iowa. The power and force of area rivers made themselves known in a manner that had never been witnessed before. It truly was the year of the river.

Throughout all of the events that transpired during the month of June 2008, photographers from The Gazette captured the many moments that made up this monumental event. From Marengo to Vinton, from Palo to Cedar Rapids, and from Coralville to Iowa City, their photographers logged countless hours capturing images of the people and places impacted by the extraordinary flooding that occurred. While some images they shot documented the magnitude of the rising waters, many other photographs sought out the human side of the catastrophe.

This exhibition has been made possible by the generous support of The Gazette, TrueNorth, Hawkeye Ready Mix, Inc., King's Material Inc., PRIMUS Construction, Inc., Ryan Companies US, Inc., and U.S. Bank.