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! You could easily say that Aimee Ford is as cool, friendly and talented AF. The veteran artist, former waitress, and children’s art instructor owns AF Studio on the ground floor of the LeClaire Apartments building, 421 19th St., Moline, and since May 2019 the driven Ford has focused her beautiful visual eye on a new body of work – tattooing the human body. “I’m crazy... Read More

Quad City Arts presents the 44th-annual High School Art Invitational at Quad City Arts Gallery in Rock Island, from Saturday, March 27 through April 29, 2021. The exhibition is free and open to the public. The gallery (1715 2nd Ave., Rock Island) will be open extended hours — until 8 p.m. — on April 1 and 29th.  A virtual award presentation will go live on Quad City Arts Facebook page on April 1st, along with an online gallery where all of the entries can be viewed at www.quadcityarts.com/hs-invitational.html, This exhibition features exemplary works of art selected by each high... Read More

EXCLUSIVE: Renew Moline on Friday publicly released a 102-page Public Art and Placemaking Plan, which will be considered by the Moline City Council at its meeting next Tuesday, March 30. The plan lays out three strategies that will help shape the future of public art in downtown Moline and creates a strong foundation in the city to support public art. “Public art in Moline importantly shows a vibrant, growing economy and is reflective of a community emerging from the challenges of the last year,” Mayor Stephanie Acri said in a Friday release. “We are looking forward to seeing the plan and... Read More

Quad City Arts presents the 44th Annual High School Art Invitational at Quad City Arts Gallery in Rock Island, from March 27-April 29, 2021. The exhibition is free and open to the public. The gallery will be open extended hours-until 8 pm-on April 1 and 29th.  A virtual award presentation will go live on Quad City Arts Facebook page on April 1st, along with an online gallery where all of the entries can be viewed: https://www.quadcityarts.com/hs-invitational.html This exhibition features exemplary works of art selected by each high school art teacher in the region. On the average, 16 schools,... Read More

As part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Macomb Beautiful Association (MBA) a 66-foot mural will be painted on the north wall of Gelsosomo’s Pizza, with an unveiling planned for June 2022. The artwork, which will be 12 feet tall, will be painted by WIU Art Professor William “Bill” Howard, who, along with other current and former art faculty and students, completed a mural on the north side of The Old Dairy in June 2019 to portray the community’s history. “The response to the mural at the Old Dairy was so positive, it seemed natural to create another,”... Read More

Dancers Creek Barn in Aledo is offering a step by step beginners watercolor and ink party at 1 to 4 p.m. today (Sunday, March 14). Cost is $20.00 per person. 10 person limit. Register by pre-paying with CC, debit, or cash in person at Dancer’s Creek Barn ( Saturdays 10-6 or Sundays noon-6), phone-in CC to 309-737-0247 or 309-737-7370, PayPal, or FB pay. Create an easy but striking 5×7 watercolor and make it into a greeting card for someone special. For more information, see here.  Read More

It’s Sunday, and QuadCities.com proudly presents FUN10, a list of the top 10 things to do in the Quad Cities this week, and every week! Every Sunday, we drop a new FUN10, to give you a head start on your week and a heads up on what’s going on over the coming seven days. Check out FUN10 every Sunday for the details on ten awesome events happening around town. It’s a cool read, and a great way to get started planning your entertainment for the week. FUN10 — ten ways for you to have fun in the Quad-Cities, this week and every week, running every Sunday, only on your site for fun, free, local... Read More

Living Proof Exhibit, which provides the therapeutic benefits of the arts to people impacted by cancer, is seeking entries for its annual exhibition to be held from Aug. 16 to Sept. 30, 2021 in the Charles and Elizabeth Bisignano Art Gallery at the University of Dubuque. All cancer patients and survivors living within a 200-mile radius of the Quad-Cities are eligible to submit up to five works for consideration. Entries must be received by June 1, 2021. Complete submission details, including the call for entry and application form, are available at www.livingproofexhibit.org. “We are thrilled... Read More

Quad City Arts announces the open Call for Entries for public sculpture to be considered for exhibition in the Quad Cities on a one-year lease. Currently, the cities of Bettendorf, Rock Island and Moline participate in the program with their own selection committees who choose from the available sculptures for pieces that provide points of interest, inspire discussion, and attract visitors to the community. Quad City Arts has facilitated the leasing and installation of public sculpture in the Quad Cities since 2002. All the sculptures are for sale and can be purchased by individuals, businesses,... Read More

Benjamin Leischner, executive director of the Quad City International Airport, is chairman of the new Illinois Airports Council. He and other airport leaders are praising a proposed amendment to Illinois Aeronautics Act, legislation that defines the role of the Illinois Department of Transportation when it comes to regulating aviation in the state of Illinois. SB-1764 works to streamline how commercial service airports in the state of Illinois receive federal money awarded by the FAA to airports, better defines allowable use of state money for the construction of public aeronautical facilities... Read More