About
Who We Are
Art Scene, the only Midwest independent publication dedicated exclusively to the arts and cultural scene, is the gateway for patrons and consumers of Midwestern art, galleries, attractions, museums, performances and suppliers in a monthly newspaper. Our innovative approach to cultural journalism means
Art Scene is:

• Elevating public awareness of our increasingly dynamic arts landscape;

• Engaging artists and patrons in cross-cultural promotion;

• Serving to connect our arts communities and their artists;

• Informing and educating our cultural communities of past, present, and future developments of opportunities within the Midwest; and,

• Stimulating increased cultural involvement, consumerism and activity.

With intriguing articles, insightful bios, art and cultural news, an on-line calendar
and savvy reviews, Art Scene helps fill the void for those who want to know what is happening in the Midwest’s cultural landscape.

What This Means To You
As a business, organization, event or entrepreneur, you carefully consider where investing your promotional dollars will garner the best results. What Art Scene will do, is deliver your marketing message to a culturally oriented readership across the Midwest. We can boast of virtually 100 percent pick-up of our publication and we know that our patrons read each issue from cover to cover often passing copies along to friends or associates doubling our readership to roughly 25,000 readers. Market penetration for Art Scene crosses many boundaries, including the Greater Des Moines area, Ames, Marshalltown, Ft. Dodge, Waterloo, Spencer, Council Bluffs, Omaha, Dubuque, Davenport, Cedar Falls, Waterloo, Iowa City, Quad Cities, Galena, Fairfield, Burlington, Decorah, Sioux City, Cherokee, Charles City, Cedar Rapids and many more. This gives Art Scene an advantageous reach not otherwise afforded when choosing a regional daily publication or weekly general interest publication.

As a partner for your success, Art Scene will help leverage your presence in our publication into a meaningful relationship. We continue to succeed when you succeed.

Art Scene provides a unique forum in which your visibility is assured.

We: • distribute to more than 550 locations in over 60 towns/cities and continues to grow monthly;

• are proactive to your needs and can develop a strong, overall advantage by creating a strong presence intertwined within our pages;

• are not a general news publication that leaves you wondering what percentage of its readership is your market — 100 percent of our readers are culturally minded.

Art Scene continues to expand its independent reach and impact by raising awareness and visibility of arts and cultural happenings across the Midwest. Each month, we continue to deliver to tens of thousands of readers information about the arts and cultural happenings. Our stable of writers and distribution network allows us to develop a unique and appealing resource for art and cultural consumers. Our articles focus on our cultural landscape while giving our advertisers the reach they’re looking for. We envision when our readers in their communities think about “getting out of town for a day,” Art Scene can help guide them to enjoy the Midwest’s arts and cultural opportunities. By carrying your cultural message to our readers, they will come to your community and business knowing who you are and where to find you.
The Publisher
Roderick Kabel was born in Kansas and raised in the small farming community of Manchester, in North Eastern Iowa. His love for being creative lead him to Des Moines in 1986 to study Art at Grand View College. After graduating with bachelor degrees in Graphic Design and Fine Art, he embarked on a sojourn of graphic design careers finally finding his true calling in the publishing industry.

As the Creative Director and Production Manager for two different publishing companies from 1998 to 2003, Roderick was provided the opportunity to work and learn from some of the publishing industry’s best. He soon found himself winning awards for publishing page design and became an authority on electronic pre-press, page layout and electronic publishing at national conferences. Cementing his love for the publishing industry. However, this career success was tempered by a lack of fulfillment — his creative soul was slowly fading, and he needed to recapture the original fire that fanned his spirit. So, he left the publishing world to supercharge an ever-growing freelance graphic design business. Although successful, industry shifts and a cut-throat graphic design industry pressured his freelance development.

Kabel’s own epiphany came on July 16, 2003. Trained as a fine artist, Kabel’s current form of expression was in modifying auto engine parts and reconfiguring them into sculptural items and figures. As his hands busied themselves in his studio, his mind wandered along an ever-shifting creative path. Yearning again for the publishing business, his thoughts turned into questions; "is there any publication covering the arts I could work for?" "Is there such a publication serving the Midwest?" "If not, why not?" The seed of inspiration had been planted.

After days of Internet searching and phone calls, Kabel determined there was no publication solely dedicated to the arts. Yes, there are many publications that do write about art and culture (Fairfield, Quad Cities, Council Bluffs, Dubuque, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Decorah and Des Moines). However, these publications also include general issues such as politics, local news, entertainment and their local bar band scene. There was nothing that strictly covered the Fine Arts, publishing articles covering artists and cultural opportunities, or providing insight and opinions for the vast cultural audience in the Midwest. Hence, Kabel's bold new creation of Art Scene: "The midwest's publication dedicated to the arts and culture."

Now over 5 years old, Kabel's publication, Art Scene, relishes over 550 distribution locations in more than 60 towns and cities in the Midwest and is seen as the premier cultural publication in the area. Art Scene continues to connect the arts and culture happenings that are in our own back yard, a few blocks away, the next town over and just a few hundred miles away.

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