Saturday In The Arts is a weekly look at a personality, place, trend or topic of interest to the Quad-Cities. It runs every Saturday morning on your site for fun, free, local entertainment and features, QuadCities.com. The traveling exhibit “Race: Are We So Different?,” in 2019 at Davenport’s Putnam Museum, had a profound impact on visitors, staff and those who took part in many related discussions. Building on that success and a Quad-Cities-wide effort to improve racial equity this year – amidst national reckonings regarding racial injustice – Putnam president/CEO Rachael Mullins has... Read More

Goodwill of the Heartland on Friday announced a significant donation of $10 million from billionaire writer and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott as part of a generous gift presented to 384 organizations across the nation. This is the largest single gift to Goodwill of the Heartland in its 55-year history, the nonprofit said in a release. The investment comes at a time when more than 10 million Americans are unemployed and urgently need help finding their next jobs. This gift will enable Goodwill of the Heartland to expand and deliver its mission in the 19 counties that it serves (including the... Read More

The YWCA Quad Cities is celebrating a surprise holiday gift this week. It is among 384 charities throughout the United States that have received a donation from MacKenzie Scott, a 50-year-old American novelist, billionaire, and venture philanthropist. She has donated $4.1 billion to nonprofit organizations in all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, and the YWCA is just one of two recipients that serve the Quad-Cities – the other is Goodwill of the Heartland. “These 384 carefully selected teams have dedicated their lives to helping others,” Scott explained in a Dec. 15 post on Medium,... Read More

Taylor Swift isn’t the only recording artist to release two albums during quarantine. Even though she didn’t write or record them during the shutdown since March, country-rock star Margo Price released a live album and her third studio record in 2020. The outspoken 38-year-old native of Aledo, Ill., also has been a powerful, busy voice this year on social media and several media outlets nationwide – addressing urgent issues like racial injustice, Covid-19 financial relief, political polarization, public health and how to get out of this endless pandemic alive and sane. As a fiery opponent... Read More

Despite the 2019 flood and 2020 pandemic, the Quad-Cities’ Lopiez Pizza is growing by leaps and bounds – to open their third location next month at Analog Arcade Bar, 1405 5th Ave., Moline. Analog – which opened New Year’s Eve 2018 – is itself a sister bar to the first Analog Arcade Bar in downtown Davenport, which opened in 2015 at 302 Brady St. The Moline location has about 80 games, including pinball machines and old-school arcades, with a 36-foot bar and 20 beers on tap. It’s temporarily closed due to Illinois Covid-19 restrictions, but Lopiez co-owner Andrew Lopez said Wednesday... Read More

Quad City Arts is seeking applications for its annual Arts Dollars grants for the 2021 cycle. Applications are welcome from individual artists, K-12 schools, and non-profit organizations partnering with artists. All art forms are eligible. Since 1990, Quad City Arts has supported the local art community by awarding more than $1 million in grants to local artists, non-profit organizations, and schools. As in past years, this year Quad City Arts will grant $85,500 to local artists and organizations. The application process is competitive, and applicants are encouraged to apply before the deadline... Read More

For over three decades, the music department of First Presbyterian Church in Davenport has presented free large-scale Christmas concerts featuring several of its choirs plus orchestra. Like everything else, this year is different. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 concert will take place virtually. The concert — featuring solo and small group performances from 39 of FPC’s adult and youth choir members — will be available on Facebook from the “Music at First Pres” page starting with a watch party on Saturday, Dec. 19 at 7:30 p.m. The pre-recorded concert will stay on... Read More

Rock Island-based Genesius Guild has never staged the 1843 classic “A Christmas Carol” in its distinguished 63-year history. Until now, without actual staging. After the first summer without free, live theater in Rock Island’s Lincoln Park since 1957, Genesius veteran Mischa Hooker has organized a unique audio version of the iconic Charles Dickens story, featuring many other Guild vets among its 24-member cast. In a 90-minute abridged version Dickens himself created for public readings, the Genesius cast includes Susan Perrin-Sallak as narrator, Michael Carron as Scrooge, Phil Tunnicliff... Read More

Emma Benson spent two consecutive Christmas Eves hospitalized in Iowa City for anorexia. Now, the 29-year-old Sherrard native is preparing for her first holiday without her father and the baby boy he never got to meet. The former Emma Williams is one of three daughters of Bob Williams, the beloved Quad City Music Guild director who died suddenly Oct. 4, 2020 at 61, from a heart attack. Thirteen days later, Emma gave birth to her second child, Zeke, and she’s dealing with a lot of bittersweet emotions now. Benson recently posted on Facebook that between Covid and missing her dad, she felt like... Read More

The Federated Music Teachers Association of the Quad-Cities recently held its 37th Annual Classical Piano Competition, with submissions turned in by video and instead of judged in person. The Federated Music Teachers Association (FMTA) – part of the 122-year-old National Federation of Music Clubs — is a group of local music teachers that runs a Classical Festival one year, alternating with a Baroque Festival the following year. In the Classical Piano Festival, entrants needed to perform one sonata or sonatina from the Classical period (1750-1820) and depending on their level, a second piece... Read More