The Figge Café, which has been closed since March 17 due to Covid, will be reopening to the public on Tuesday, Sept. 8 at 11 a.m. The café is inside the Figge Art Museum, 225 W. 2nd St., Davenport, which reopened in June. This reopening will feature the culinary skills of Chef Jason Stewart from Zeke’s Island Café. Stewart, also known as “Chef Stu,” is a classically trained chef who has a passion for creating food from different cultures around the world. He is also the 2020 People’s Choice winner from the Figge’s annual Cajun Cook-Off event. “Chef Stu’s energy, talent and creativity... Read More

In this time of paralyzing pandemic, unreal unemployment, furious racial unrest and bitter political division, we could all use some simple peace and beauty. The eloquent, inspiring artist Cecile Houel provides it – displaying 20 deeply penetrating portraits of Nobel Peace Prize winners throughout the Quad-Cities, in a cooperative exhibit starting Friday. Convinced that art can contribute to world peace, the 56-year-old French woman started the “Nobel Peace Prize Collection: Peace Starts Within” in 2014, to celebrate all of the Nobel Peace laureates of the prestigious Nobel Foundation since... Read More

I’ll drink to that – after nearly six months being shuttered, the mainstage at Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse will again spring to life on Sept. 9, with the opening of the sprightly, saucy Southern comedy, “Savannah Sipping Society.” “What a thrill it is to be able to welcome our guests back to the theatre, for the first time since March 14,” owner/producer Denny Hitchcock said this week. “During the five months we’ve been closed, many of our guests have contacted us to be sure we are OK and will be able to open again. It’s been very heartwarming, and we are all so thankful... Read More

Bishop Hill hosted a unique live Chautauqua festival on Aug. 22, but due to state rules, they limited attendance to 50 people and quickly sold out. So the Bishop Hill Heritage Association is working with the Butterworth Center and Deere-Wiman House to present a virtual Chautauqua this week. “History in Person: A Virtual Chautauqua Festival” will be available free on Tuesday through Thursday, featuring three nights of historic portrayals, music and conversations with noted living history scholars and performers. The event is hosted online but pre-registration is required at historyinperson.org. “Imagine... Read More

The professional dance company Ballet Quad Cities is starting its new season outdoors with two performances at Davenport’s Outing Club on Sunday. Aug. 30. The 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. shows, at 2109 Brady St., will be on a temporary stage on the lawn at the 125-year-old, member–owned, private club. Audience members should bring their own chairs and blankets – there will be plenty of room to spread out on the lawn. Tickets will not be sold on site, but should be purchased for $20 at balletquadcities.com. “They’ve been very easy to work with,” Joedy Cook, the company executive director, said... Read More

Saturday In The Arts is a weekly feature looking at a person, topic, or trend of interest in the Quad-Cities and nationwide.   This past week was a historic one for women in U.S. politics and the electoral system. One day after the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (giving some women the right to vote), California U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, accepted the Democratic Party nomination to be vice president Wednesday night. The 55-year-old (who would not only be the first woman, but the first black and south Asian to take that office) recognized the... Read More

Local artists are being sought by the city of Moline and Renew Moline to create a $10,000 public art display on the Spiegel Building, 200 20th St., just north of River Drive on the ground floor’s boarded windows. The vacant Spiegel Building is owned by the city, and is one of the few remaining factory buildings in downtown Moline from the industrial era – originally built between 1928 and 1930 as the Eagle Signal Building, according to Renew Moline, a nonprofit organization and public-private partnership. The project intent is “to beautify and draw attention to the building, a city-owned... Read More

As many orchestras nationwide have cancelled in-person concerts for the fall, the show must go on for the Quad City Symphony Orchestra (QCSO). It’s proceeding with fall Masterworks concerts at Davenport’s Adler Theatre, which will undergo some major changes. Following recommendations from the Scott County Health Department, the QCSO has altered its October, November and December programs – to cut the ensemble size in half, to about 40 musicians; allow only 25 percent capacity in the Adler for both Saturday night and Sunday afternoon concerts; require masks and social distancing, and eliminate... Read More

Music certainly has the power to comfort and unify people, as exemplified in a new video by Rock Island native Lissie Maurus, who encouraged her fans to submit short videos from their recent life in quarantine. The five-minute compilation – set to her soulful 2018 song “Peace” – was released Aug. 11, and Lissie did a CNN International interview on the project from her family’s Rock Island home on Aug. 15. “Needless to say, these have been very disorienting, painful, reflective times,” the 37-year-old singer/songwriter posted on Facebook on Aug. 12. “I tear up with every view! And... Read More

If you’re itching to get out and see some new locally made short films, plan on rolling into Sterling, Ill., on Wednesday, Aug. 26, for the first-annual Northwest Illinois Film Festival at the Midway Drive-In Theatre. The free event (registration required) is billed as a “Shorts-A-Palooza,” and is a celebration of Illinois independent filmmakers, featuring several short films  — including a few from Quad-Cities producers. “The festival is an abridged version of the much larger film festival we had planned for May, but were forced to cancel due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” Gary Camarano,... Read More