Josie Fischels
Arts & Culture ReporterExpertise: Performance art, visual art, Iowa life
Education: The University of Iowa
Favorite Iowa Destination: Dunnings Springs, Decorah
Experience:
- Covered local and statewide arts, news, and lifestyle features for <i>The Daily Iowan</i>, <i>The Denver Post</i>, NPR and currently for IPR
- Has written features on Iowans participating in the Hollywood writers’ strike, the nation’s largest historic theatre backdrop collection – housed in Iowa, the reopening of the African American Museum of Iowa and an ‘inside-the-culture’ feature on local drag kings, among others
- Is an award-winning reporter, including a retrospective of Iowa’s first poet laureate, Marvin Bell, following his death in 2021
- Writes regularly for IPR’s internationally award-winning newsletters
- Covered the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, climate and the Kabul takeover by the Taliban in 2021 for NPR’s news desk
- Served as an editor and mentor for multiple projects with NPR’s Next Generation Radio
- Created IPR’s weekly news quiz and launched IPR’s TikTok (follow us!)
My Latest Stories
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When Tiger Lily Cafe opened just weeks before Iowa’s biggest music festival, its owners didn't anticipate the crowds — or the chaos. Now, one year later, it’s thriving. -
The U.S. State Department announced this week that the United States will once again withdraw from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, effective Dec. 31, 2026. -
Organizers say demand has fallen for the self-supported program and priorities have shifted to focus on other student arts programs. -
After Des Moines Oktoberfest event organizers moved the event from its Water Works Park location to Ankeny for the foreseeable future, the Des Moines Biergarten announced its own celebration. -
The initiative encourages Johnson County residents to donate or pick up new and gently used art, craft, school and upcycling supplies at no cost. -
The free art and music festival held at Cellar Winery in Madrid celebrates rural art. This year, the festival grew by around 30 vendors and added additional local music acts. -
The beloved music duo came to Iowa from Brazil in 2006 and has been entertaining crowds with their energetic performances that blend pop covers with electric string instruments. -
The artwork is being loaned to museums across the country as part of the gallery’s two-year “Across the Nation” initiative marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. -
Brant Bollman founded Uplifting Puppet Co. two years ago to build community and spark imagination through puppetry. Since then, his giant birds, glowing turtles, towering skeletons and colorful fish have made appearances across Iowa. -
The festival’s new 90 Degree Guarantee is the first of its kind. The policy references climate change, and states that the festival will issue refunds to ticket-holders who request them if temperatures are predicted to reach or exceed 90 degrees.
