Megan Brown-Saldana is absolutely a girl on FIRE, and she’s lighting up the Quad-Cities with warmth, community activism and professional development. The 31-year-old executive director of the growing nonprofit Lead(h)er is ready to celebrate the fifth birthday of the women’s mentorship and empowerment organization. Lead(h)er is hosting their fifth-annual Girl on Fire Awards on Wednesday, Sept. 1st at 12 noon, virtually. They honor women who have exemplified the mission of fueling career and community engagement in the workforce. “Area organizations and businesses are stepping up to make sure... Read More

Saturday in the Arts is a weekly feature covering a trend, subject, event or personality of local interest. It runs every Saturday morning on your site for the best entertainment and arts coverage in the area, QuadCities.com! Normally, calling someone a “chicken” is an insult. For artist Michael Cook of Davenport, he created Chucky Chicken as an unlikely hero, who triumphs with pluck, humor and a big heart – traits he sees in himself. A friendly 33-year-old native of the Chicago suburb Oswego, Ill., the gifted animator cooked up Chucky in 2008, when Cook was attending the Illinois Institute... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Patients in the Illinois and Iowa Quad-Cities and Muscatine may experience longer than usual wait times due to the current spread of Covid-19 and other illness, according to a Friday release from UnityPoint Health – Trinity. It says the Covid situation remains critical as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads in our community. UnityPoint Health – Trinity encourages the use of online scheduling options to visit a UnityPoint Clinic Express or Express Care location to be evaluated by a medical provider for a Covid test. This is a faster and more cost-effective option... Read More

The Midwest Monster Fest will host its annual horror convention at the Rust Belt in East Moline over Labor Day weekend, September 3rd-5th. Full of celebrity guests, horror vendors, authors, artists, and even a film festival, this event is three days of freaky fun for horror fans of all ages. Celebrity guests include horror film icons Clint Howard (Ice Cream Man and countless other films), Linnea Quigley (Return of the Living Dead, Night of the Demons), CJ Graham (Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, Highway To Hell), and more than a dozen other celebrities, including Thom Mathews, Darcy DeMoss,... Read More

Teachers and principals of all Quad-City area schools are invited to schedule an outreach visit for their students from a professional performing artist during the upcoming school year through Quad City Arts’ Visiting Artist Series. School staff from public and private schools can schedule residency engagements for this fall and next spring by visiting https://www.quadcityarts.com/vas-scheduling.html. The series serves students and community members in Clinton, Scott, and Muscatine counties in Iowa, and Henry, Rock Island, and Mercer counties in Illinois. Residency host sites can sign up for... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: The inspiring unveiling of a new mural on an empty building in downtown Rock Island Thursday not only adds vibrant new color, beauty and life to a little-noticed alleyway, it represents the dreams and sorrows of a talented teenager, the dreams and sorrows of an entire race, and the hopes and dreams for a further revitalization of a city’s center. Dozens of local leaders, business people, artists and residents gathered along 20th Street downtown to celebrate the gorgeous mural inspired by a Rock Island High School student’s award-winning artwork, which also served as the official... Read More

A new black-and-white photography exhibit is opening tonight at Quad City Arts in downtown Rock Island, with a free reception at 6:30 p.m., in conjunction with Alternating Currents. Through Oct. 8, Quad City Arts presents black & white photography by Mike Leinhauser and Judith Eastburn. Tonight’s reception, in the gallery at 1715 2nd Ave., will include the artists, and refreshments will be served. Due to new guidance from the CDC for areas with rising Covid transmission levels, Quad City Arts recommends that everyone wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status. Mike Leinhauser, of Bettendorf, presents 51... Read More

Sometimes, comedy is no laughing matter. A longtime dream has come true for Chris Schlichting, a 39-year-old Davenport standup comic and longtime host of the Renwick Mansion’s “Tomfoolery on Tremont” comedy series. He’d been trying to line up a gig on the famous, clean comedy club Dry Bar for four years, and after he was finally given the chance in early 2020, he had to wait almost two more years for his special to be released. “I’m excited, relieved, and proud. I worked very hard and honestly I still can’t believe this is real,” Schlichting (who works as a language arts teacher... Read More

The new production at the Black Box Theatre, 1623 5th Ave., Moline, features a quartet of the Quad-Cities’ most talented, experienced actors in a tense, psychological thriller, and it’s helmed by an enthusiastic, dedicated student director. That’s a first for the downtown Moline, 60- seat space, in its fifth season. “Murder in Green Meadows” – which opens Thursday night — stars James Driscoll, Jenny Winn, Jonathan Grafft and Lora Adams, directed by Jacqueline Isaacson, a junior theater major at Augustana College (from the Rockford area). She’s majoring in musical theater and... Read More

The unveiling of a new mural in Downtown Rock Island, inspired by a Rock Island High School student’s award-winning artwork, will serve as the official kickoff to this year’s Alternating Currents festival Aug. 19-22 in the Quad-Cities. What: Ceremony unveiling the mural by young artist Riley Jones, a Rocky junior. When: 3:45-4:45 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 19  Where: Alleyway at 313 20th St., Rock Island Hosted by: Quad Cities Chamber & Quad City Arts as part of Alternating Currents  Created by 16-year-old Riley Jones in collaboration with professional muralists Dana Harrison (Limone)... Read More