(Oct. 2011)

By Dave DeWitte / SourceMedia Group News

Carl Van Vechten, a famous photographer, critic and novelist from Cedar Rapids, has gained a whimsical immortality with the naming of CSPS’ renovated bar.

At ribbon cutting ceremonies Friday, Oct. 7, leaders of Legion Arts, which operates the performing and visual arts center, announced that the renovated bar area – little used in the past quarter century – will be named Carlo in Van Vechten’s honor.

The ribbon cutting was the culmination of a $7-million-plus renovation funded with public and private funds of the flood-damaged Czech social hall that CSPS had been leasing until the flood. Former governor Chet Culver and Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett were among the dignitaries attending the Friday morning event.

Carlo is decorated with photographs by Van Vechten of well-known artists and cultural leaders of his time.

The bar area is managed by Brewed Awakenings, which is in negotiations to lease space for a wine and coffee bar on the facility’s ground floor.