Art students from eight area colleges and universities will have their work displayed in the Figge Art Museum’s second-floor Katz Gallery beginning Saturday, Jan. 30 for the 11th annual College Invitational exhibit. Art professors from Augustana College, Black Hawk College, Clinton Community College, Knox College, Monmouth College, Scott Community College, St. Ambrose University, and Western Illinois University selected the top works from their school for inclusion. The exhibition will feature the works of 42 student artists working in a variety of techniques — including drawing, painting,... Read More

Saturday In The Arts offers an in-depth look at a local person, trend or event of interest in the Quad-Cities. It runs weekly on your free local media for arts and entertainment, QuadCities.com. Joe Maciejko has been shooting beautiful photos for far longer than Paige Magistrelli has been alive, but both passionate Bettendorf residents are among 23 area artists who will have their photography on display in February at the Bereskin Gallery and Art Academy, 2967 State St., Bettendorf. Five other Q-C photographers are part of a new ongoing campaign to promote the work and purpose of United Way Quad... Read More

Wednesday was a day not only for national celebration, with the inauguration, but for the Quad Cities Cultural Trust. The organization gathered its six funded partners in person for the first time since the pandemic started, to mark exceeding its 2021 fundraising goal; record-breaking allocations in 2020 for the partners, and a new Quad City Arts mural that bursts with color and purpose on the west side of the River Music Experience building at 2nd and Main streets, Davenport. Over the last 13 years, QCCT has provided annual unrestricted funds (over $11 million total) to the Figge Art Museum, Putnam... Read More

Through March 1, 2021, Quad City Arts’ Art at the Airport presents “A Trip Back in Time” with Drew Morton’s digital drawings of airport runways, Peter Mauney’s time lapse photographs of airplane arrivals and departures along with a selection of Mid-Century Modern artifacts on loan from Fred and Ethel’s 50’s antiques, the Putnam Museum and Science Center and private collections. Drew Morton explains, “This series of airport runways emerged from a larger series called my ‘everydays’ where I created a piece of digital art every day for eight years. It allowed me to fall into and... Read More

The Figge Art Museum (225 W. 2nd St., Davenport) is opening a new exhibit Saturday, Jan. 16, in the second-floor Lewis Gallery. Blakelock: By the Light of the Moon, will feature eight extraordinary pieces of American art — some of which have not been on display in more than two decades. In much the same way the Mississippi River serves as a source of creative inspiration to Quad Citizens, so too did the natural world inspire Ralph Albert Blakelock (1847-1919) to create expressively painted landscapes that have a distinctive otherworldly quality, according to a Figge release. “As the global... Read More

It feels like a broken record, but it’s a broken record that keeps playing on the jukebox of 2020 and into 2021 – we NEED some good news! With everything negative happening in the world right now, we need positive news more than ever! That’s why, every month, we give you What’s The Good News? a look around the Quad-Cities at the positive things happening in our community. We run the column here on QuadCities.com, and in conjunction with our media partners at KWQC-TV6’s “Paula Sands Live,” I go on PSL to chat about some of the awesome things we list here. So, need some good news? We’ve... Read More

Art and aviation fly high in a perfect connection at the new Quad City Arts Art at the Airport exhibit with “A Trip Back in Time” at the Quad City International Airport, Moline. The new exhibit – on display through March 1, 2021 – features Drew Morton’s digital drawings of airport runways, Peter Mauney’s time-lapse photographs of airplane arrivals and departures along with a selection of mid-century modern artifacts on loan from Fred and Ethel’s antiques store in Rock Island, the Putnam Museum and Science Center in Davenport, and private collections. Drew Morton of Iowa City explained... Read More

Hundreds of Quad-Cities arts, entertainment and leisure businesses and similar businesses statewide — including Rust Belt, Ballet Quad-Cities, RIBCO, Playcrafters, Black Box Theater and more — were given a helping hand today as Governor J.B. Pritzker announced more than $275 million for hard hit businesses across Illinois. Over 9,000 emergency assistance grants have been made to small businesses in over 600 cities and towns statewide through the Business Interruption Grants (BIG) program, according to the  Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), making it the... Read More

Saturday In The Arts is a comprehensive weekly feature looking at a trend, personality, or major subject involving the Quad-Cities arts and entertainment scene. No doubt, the last year was a crushing one for the arts and entertainment scene — both locally and nationally. But while it’s been an excruciating time in the short term, it could end up being a good thing, in the long run. Entertainment needed to die a little so it could be reinvented, and in forcing it to adapt, it’s creating something new and exciting. I’m not saying I’m thankful for this horrific pandemic but... Read More

It’s been one hell of a year. People always say this year is one we’ll never forget. In the case of 2020, that’s not hyperbole. Everyone will remember this year, and most people won’t remember it fondly. In truth, it seems like it’s been multiple years in one. It began with a couple of months of normalcy, as the specter of coronavirus loomed but the government downplayed it and so people didn’t take it seriously. Then came March. The first two weeks seemed a bit ominous, but nothing really prepared us for the shutdown mid-March, which was accompanied by people snapping up toilet paper... Read More