The Figge Art Museum (225 W. 2^nd St., Davenport) has a new exhibit of local interest — Kristin Quinn: Luminous Flux Paintings From the Watershed, a new exhibition featuring recent works by local artist and St. Ambrose University professor Kristin Quinn.

Quinn’s work is inspired by her connection to the Mississippi River watershed and her travels across the Great Lakes, the Upper Peninsula, northern Wisconsin, and Minnesota’s North Shore, according to a Figge release. These landscapes of rivers, lakes, bogs, and marshes serve as the starting point for abstracted paintings that explore the constant changes and shifting atmosphere found in nature.

In this new exhibition, Quinn asks, “How can you capture the feeling of a place, including its mood, texture, and atmosphere, through painting?” She explores this idea through layered colors and textures that reflect not only what she sees, but also what she remembers and feels.

Quinn, a St. Ambrose art professor, gave a free talk about her artwork at the Figge Thursday night, Sept. 25.

“It’s an honor to exhibit at the Figge,” said Quinn. “It feels like the work is coming home to our museum framed by the Mississippi. Much of the inspiration comes from exploring the watershed from the Quad Cities to the Canadian border. I’ve tried to capture a sense of flux in the paintings as if they were ebbing and flowing, falling and rising. Reminiscent of being within a single moment in a landscape with competing levels of attention, changing light, movement, and shifting weather. This Luminous Flux continues to excite me as a painter.”

The “Luminous Flux” exhibit will be on display through Dec. 28, 2025.

Quinn has been an important part of the Quad Cities’ arts community for decades, both as an artist and as a professor of painting and drawing at St. Ambrose University, the museum release says. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally, yet it continues to reflect her deep ties to the Midwest landscape.

“Kristin’s paintings capture the nebulous, ethereal qualities of the natural world through a vibrant, saturated palette,” said Figge Co-Senior Curator Joshua Johnson. “They spark curiosity, evoking both a sense of familiarity and the mystery of the unknown. We’re thrilled to share her vision with our visitors, and to continue our goal of highlighting the work of outstanding regional artists.”

Kristin Quinn: Luminous Flux Paintings From the Watershed is supported by contributing sponsors The Current Iowa and Hotel Blackhawk. The exhibit will be on view in the Figge’s Gildehaus Gallery through Dec. 28, 2025.

A view of the new Kristin Quinn exhibit of paintings in the Figge Art Museum’s Gildehaus Gallery.

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Jonathan Turner

Jonathan Turner -- who has called the Quad Cities home since 1995 -- has decades of experience as a professional journalist and pianist. His experience writing for daily newspapers, public radio and local TV encompasses a wide range of subjects, including the arts, politics, education, economic development, historic preservation, business, and tourism.

Jonathan most loves writing about music and the arts (which he now does as a freelancer for the River Cities Reader and Visit Quad Cities). He has a passion for accompanying musicals, singers, choirs and instrumentalists, including playing for QC Music Guild's 2023 productions of RENT and SWEENEY TODD. He is assistant music director and accompanist for the spring 2025 Music Guild show, ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE. He wrote an original musical based on The Book of Job, which premiered at Playcrafters in 2010. Jonathan penned a 175-page history book about downtown Davenport, that was published by The History Press in 2016, and a travel guide about the QC published by Reedy Press in 2022.