The next round of QC Beats, a local online audio streaming service, is taking submissions from Quad-Cities musicians the entire month of October. Thanks to the partnership of the Davenport Public Library, River Music Experience, and St. Ambrose University, QC Beats was created in early 2019 to showcase original music from Quad-City musicians. “Building a collection of featured local artists will expand the reach of our vibrant creative community by elevating musicians and connecting them with the larger community,” according to a Davenport library release. “QC Beats will also help support... Read More

With so many people working from home and so many artists left to scramble during this interminable pandemic, it makes perfect sense that Rock Island-based actor Anthony Natarelli would do a play from home. Presented under his three-year-old $1 Producer Project, the irrepressible 26-year-old is offering the haunting, elegiac “Lonely Planet” (1993) by Steven Dietz, from his apartment above the Circa ’21 Speakeasy, livestreamed in three performances this weekend. The play’s content is also depressingly appropriate for our times. And though Natarelli has directed and co-stars in the intimate... Read More

A native of China, Xixuan Collins has lived in Iowa since 1997, but has only written in English since 2015. Her debut novel, “Flowing Water, Falling Flowers” from the Rock Island-based Midwest Writing Center Press, will be released in October. “I’m still not sure I actually have the confidence even now as a writer,” Collins, 52, said recently. “But I have taken a lot of workshops through MWC and have learned a lot about the craft of writing fiction. Through MWC, I also met some amazing writers and writing instructors, and their encouragement and affirmation have helped me greatly. “I... Read More

Lewis Knudsen, a Rock Island-based singer/songwriter, had one of his original tunes debut last fall on the Hallmark Channel and he didn’t even know until a couple weeks ago. “The way it works with composition, there are so many libraries, so many songs. I have a good relationship with this library, but they don’t have the bandwidth to let every artist know,” he said Thursday of Gramoscope Music, which works with artists nationwide to place shows in TV and film. Knudsen had a two-year-old song, “I Need To Get Free,” as one of eight songs on the soundtrack for Hallmark’s “Love, Fall... Read More

Most every American civil rights struggle throughout history has sought a simple solution – equality. For one segment of the population to earn and enjoy the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. It’s not been easy, to say the least. In addition to this year’s devastating coronavirus epidemic, catastrophic unemployment, social isolation and extreme weather events, the nation has been convulsed for months over the Black Lives Matter movement and related protests. United Way Quad Cities has capitalized on this unique time to offer a 21-Day Equity Challenge. In one of two remaining... Read More

Three weeks after Ballet Quad Cities sold out three outdoor shows, the professional company returns to Davenport’s Outing Club this Sunday for three more varied, family-friendly programs. Seven dancers will perform works by four choreographers (including from company member Meghan Phillips) at 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., on the lawn at the 125-year-old private club, 2109 Brady St. “It was great, we sold out three shows, and we’re excited to be putting together a whole new one,” Phillips said Tuesday of their Outing Club debut last month. “It was pretty challenging,” the 24-year-old dancer... Read More

A dilapidated brick building, right off the 74 bridge on Moline’s riverfront, is all about possibility. And Brandon Nees is thrilled about bringing that surging potential to colorful life. The 25-year-old Davenport artist, who graduated from Moline High School, has been chosen to create a $10,000 public mural on nine panels of the boarded-up ground floor of the Spiegel Building, 200 20th St., just north of River Drive. Renew Moline partnered with the City of Moline and Quad City Arts to issue a call for entries, resulting in 28 submissions from artists around the Midwest. Renew’s Public Art... Read More

Renew Moline is pleased to announce the selection of Quad Cities artist Brandon Nees to complete the public art project on the city-owned Spiegel Building on River Drive in downtown Moline. Renew partnered with the City of Moline and Quad City Arts to issue a Call for Entries, resulting in twenty-eight submissions from artists around the Midwest. After culling the proposals that did not meet submission requirements, Renew Moline’s Public Art Steering Committee evaluated twenty of the proposals and chose three for further consideration. On September 8, Mr. Nees’ proposed concept was endorsed... Read More

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, as Japan unconditionally surrendered to the Allies on Aug. 14, 1945. To commemorate the end of the global conflict (which killed 416,800 U.S. military), the German American Heritage Center in Davenport has a new exhibit – “Valor & Victory Gardens: WWII in the Hawkeye State.” It explores how the war impacted Iowa. With this exhibit, the museum remembers and commemorates the period through local headlines, personal letters, and historic artifacts. World War II cost the lives of 5,633 Iowa soldiers, as well as 18,601 from Illinois.... Read More

With a confluence of crises happening simultaneously, it’s obvious that we’re living through some very historic times. The Davenport Public Library and Putnam Museum & Science Center want you to be part of that history as it’s collected, by submitting your personal, written impressions, documents, photos and/or video about life in the Quad-Cities during the Covid-19 era. Both Davenport institutions are collecting individual or group reflections about how life has changed since the pandemic began early this year. With this collection, present and future generations of Quad Citizens will... Read More