"The Commons" Author Visiting Iowa City, UI this Week

An author who explores the concept of public spaces will be visiting and Iowa City on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Jay Walljasper wrote the recently published book All That We Share: A Field Guide to the Commons. Walljasper examines "shared wealth" and "shared spaces" and advocates to protect what we all share in the here and now as well as preserving it for the future.

Walljasper is a UI alumnus, a senior fellow at New York-based Project for Public Spaces, contributing editor to National Geographic Traveler and a co-editor of OntheCommons.org. 

OntheCommon.org describes "the commons" as "gifts of nature such as air, oceans, and wildlife as well as shared social creations such as libraries, public spaces, scientific research, and creative works."

"Jay Walljasper brings an enthusiastic and expansive perspective on the commons," says Thomas Dean, who is organizing Walljasper's visit. "His wide-ranging travels and deep roots in the Midwest have given him an outlook on what we share together and how we share it that I think will resonate well with the UI and Iowa City communities."

Here are a list of events on campus and in Iowa City:

--Noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8, A Conversation About the Commons with Jay Walljasper, Room 1505, Seamans Center, University of Iowa.

--3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8, Public Reception for Walljasper, M.C. Ginsberg: Objects of Art, 110 E. Washington St.

--7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8, The Commons and Community Development in Iowa City, panel discussion, Social Hall, 220 S. Gilbert St. In addition to Walljasper, panelists will include Jeff Davidson (City of Iowa City, Planning and Community Development), Carson Eggland (The James Gang, ), Kurt Friese ( Restaurant, Slow Food USA/Iowa City), Mark Ginsberg (: Objects of Art), Fred Meyer (Backyard Abundance), Katie Roche (), and Christine Scheetz (United Way of Johnson County).

--7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, Reading by Walljasper from All That We Share: A Field Guide to the Commons,, 15 S. Dubuque St.