'Anybody can be part of it': Iowa City artists don costumes and spread joy in colorful march

"What's the occasion?"

A woman poked her head out of her car window to ask that question to a group of 17 people donning various headpieces and hand-crafted costumes as they marched down Gilbert Street in Iowa City on Saturday.

The answer is simple.

Joy.

Moments earlier, that group of festively dressed individuals was waiting in front of Public Space One, swaying along to ABBA's "Dancing Queen" as it played on a portable stereo.

The occasion was the Iowa City Joy March. It has brought out community members every three months for the past year.

Jenny Gringer is one of the organizers. She’s a self-taught linocut printmaker based in Iowa City.

According to Gringer, the Joy March was just an idea that emerged at the end of 2020.

“Wouldn’t it be fun to just do something kind of really stupid and pointless and fun and just march around the block?” Gringer said to the Press-Citizen, explaining the humble origins of the march. “Don’t announce it, just appear, pop through and be done.

"And then it kind of grew.”

On Saturday, cars honked at the joyous marchers as they weaved down South Linn Street and back toward PS1. One driver extended a hand gesture, but maybe not the one you're thinking of.

It was a thumbs-up.

Three women stood on the sidewalk and watched as the marchers passed them by. They agreed that seeing the parade did bring them joy.

'It's just very organic': Joy March takes shape amid political turmoil, pandemic

Sayuri Sasaki Hemann has also been involved in the Joy March since its start.

She recalled how, after the first march, they decided to do another in a few months. So it became a quarterly event.

According to Hemann, it’s not a certain set of people who join each time. Whoever can’t make it to one march will just plan to make it to the next. For example, Hemann’s friend who lives in Wisconsin saw photos of the march on Facebook and wanted to join the next one.

So she made her own costume and came down to Iowa City.

“It’s just very organic,” Hemann said.

The first Joy March was in January 2021, making Saturday’s march the one-year anniversary of spreading joy to the Iowa City community.

As Hemann recalled, that first march was held on Joe Biden's Inauguration Day.

There was tension and worries related to the presidential election, Hemann said, just two weeks after the Jan. 6 breaching of the U.S. Capitol. Beyond that remained another concern: COVID-19.

For Hemann, it is about expressing joy despite challenges like the pandemic, or the cold weather, and sharing that emotion proudly.

“Although it was in the winter, a march is something that you do outside, so we can be socially distanced and be safe and still have fun and still feel connected to our community regardless of the virus,” she said.

The Iowa City Joy March also served as an opportunity for these participants, artists like Gringer and Hemann, to experiment with different mediums, Gringer said.

That’s how the elaborate costumes and large puppets began.

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'We all push ourselves': Making art through elaborate costumes

Hemann is a multi-disciplinary artist who has lived in the Iowa City area since 2011.

A lot of the art Hemann does engages with the community, like when she guided United Action for Youth kids for a downtown mural called “Coexist” in 2018. That community engagement is how she is involved in PS1, a nonprofit that has made her feel more connected to people who are also doing interesting work as opposed to working solo in her own studio.

Participating in the Joy March has pushed Hemann to pursue puppet-making, an interest that was always present but finally had an outlet.

“It's always a fun challenge to learn new things and try new things out and try new materials,” she said. “I think we all push ourselves to make new puppets every march.”

One of Hemann’s costumes is a large, cardboard headpiece with big eyes, eyelashes, a nose and a mouth where Hemann can stick her face through. It made a reappearance Saturday, complete with large arms and hands Hemann made for it.

Over the course of last year’s marches, Gringer said the costumes have become more colorful, especially during warm weather.

Gringer said she continues to participate in the Joy March because it’s something to look forward to every three months. It’s also enjoyable for her to shift gears as an artist and prepare something new and surprising to wear.

One of the first things Gringer experimented with was cardboard. She also created a large papier mâchè sun that is seen on the poster for the Joy March, which can be found on the march's Instagram account.

The Joy March’s extravagant, attention-grabbing costumes even made for a PS1 one-day exhibit in October.

'Totally silly. And just fun': All are welcomed to join in the joy

There are no meetings or planning when it comes to the Joy March. Participants just show up at the PS1 at 229 N. Gilbert St. and walk around downtown.

The same route is taken each time.

There have also been dance-offs.

A half-hour later, the march is over. It's a minimal time commitment, Gringer said.

“You don't even have to wear a costume if you don’t want to,” she said. “Anybody can be a part of it. So it's trying to be absolutely inclusive. Totally silly. And just fun.”

Joy March utilizes intentional language in its posters, from “Guerrilla joyfare” to “weaponizing delight.”

It was about conveying what the Joy March is, and that it was going to happen regardless of what was going on in the world, Gringer said.

“We just call it guerrilla joyfare, like a sudden act of joy,” she said. “And you always do feel better when you do it, even if you're really tired and draggy beforehand. It never ceases to cheer me up.”

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Hemann finds joy in seeing people having a good time at the march and being themselves, especially those that don’t know the marchers but want to be involved.

“I want to make sure that people know that this is something that they can relate to too, and if this relates to them, they should join us,” she said. “If they define their joy as just wearing all hot pink from top to bottom and that's their way of showing joy, come out and share that with us.”

The next Joy March is scheduled for 1 p.m. April 2.

Paris Barraza covers entertainment, lifestyle and arts at the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Reach her at PBarraza@press-citizen.com or (319) 519-9731. Follow her on Twitter @ParisBarraza.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Iowa City 'Joy March' spreads cheer, welcomes all for quarterly parade