Category Archive Sponsors

Creating a Christmas market takes a lot of work. There are donations to gather, plans to make with the City and entertainment acts to schedule. Before that can be done, it’s important to have a way to distinguish our event from the 20 other Christmas markets across the country. That’s where our creative sponsor Darcy Hines Designs is essential. Her work has helped create Christkindlmarket Des Moines’ brand.

Darcy Hines is the owner and graphic designer at Darcy Hines Designs. Her work focuses on typography and a clean style. She enjoys working with clients who allow her to be creative with her design choices. She often works on creating brand standards and stationary.

She began working with Christkindlmarket Des Moines in July 2015. During that time she worked with Des Moines European Heritage Association board to create our logo and brand. Some of her work can be seen on our  Christkindlmarket Des Moines website and Facebook page.

According to Darcy, she was motivated  to get involved by the unique nature of our event.

“I love the idea of bringing such a festive and creative event to Des Moines in the months where people are normally bundled up in their houses. I think it’s a great opportunity to bring people out together as families, offer them a chance to experience a culture they normally wouldn’t be able to, and breathe some light into those cold winter months with hot cider and hand-made Christmas gifts.”

As for inspiration, she looks to Christmas markets from across the world. Though she hasn’t yet attended a Christmas market, this research has helped her understand why people love them.

Thank you for your work, Darcy!

Des Moines European Heritage Association is pleased to announce that the Christkindlmarket Des Moines 2016 Christmas Tree will be sponsored by Drake University. For those of you familiar with European-style Christmas markets, you’ll know that the Christmas tree is an integral focal point of these event and a long-standing tradition.

The mission of Drake University’s Department of World Languages and Cultures is to provide students with opportunities to develop functional competence in a language other than English and to foster the development of globally responsible students.

In doing so, they emphasize the development of speaking skills, cultural understanding, and responsible global citizenship. Their students also focus on all other aspects of developing language skills for communicative purposes. Many of their students study abroad, obtain employment with companies that have international interests, earn scholarships, and attend graduate school in areas that incorporate their language abilities.

They currently offer courses in American Sign Language, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish. Students who study abroad and complete their certificate program are able to obtain transcriptable evidence of their cultural and linguistic competence. Those interested in teaching a language can obtain an endorsement through Drake’s School of Education. Students who excel in their language studies are also able to join a national honor society that recognizes their excellence and actively promotes language learning in a variety of ways throughout the academic year. Many languages also have weekly conversation tables available even for those not enrolled in classes.

We are proud to partner with Drake University to produce Christkindlmarket Des Moines 2016!

As a grassroots non-profit, Des Moines European Heritage Association serves as a platform to carry on European traditions, support language education and to create cultural awareness. We are a resource for Iowans, immigrants, travel enthusiasts and international business professionals to connect with European cultural heritage and for cultural organizations who want to engage with their members in a cohesive and centralized manner.