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! How do you solve a problem like diversity in live theater? From Broadway to the Quad-Cities, theatrical organizations of all kinds are wrestling with this thorny issue, now more than ever. Long before the widespread racial reckoning that’s taken place nationwide in the past 17 months (post-George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Black Lives Matter, which has only intensified),... Read More

Thursday, October 7 at 7:30pm, River Music Experience and Quad City Arts will present a free concert by the internationally-recognized drummer and composer Paa Kow (pronounced “Pah-Ko”) in the Redstone Room at 129 N Main Street, Davenport. The concert represents a continued commitment by both organizations to present a wide variety of performing arts genres and styles. During Paa Kow’s visit, he will present an educational workshop to students at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center in Rock Island. “Bringing Paa Kow to our community is a rare opportunity,” said Tyson Danner, River... Read More

The Western Illinois University Department of English will host the Fred Ewing Case and Lola Case Writers-in-Residence Thursday, Oct. 14, again in a virtual format. This year’s authors are poet Luther Hughes; novelist David Heska Wanbli Weiden; and graphic novelist Kayla Shaggy. A question and answer session with students and faculty will be held via Zoom from 3-4 p.m. To get the Zoom link, email Professor Erika Wurth a et-wurth@wiu.edu. A reading with the authors will be streamed on the WIU Department of English Facebook page, from 5-6 p.m. • Weiden, an enrolled citizen of the Sicangu... Read More

Each year, people in the community have an opportunity to submit a nomination for Rock Island residents who have made selfless contributions of service to the community. Rock Island High School dean Andy Campbell was chosen for the category of Education, RIHS coach Thurgood Marshall was chosen for the category of Individual, and RIHS student Riley Jones was chosen for the category of Youth. On September 27, they were honored at the city council meeting. Here’s what their nominations said… Thurgood Brooks  Born and raised in Rock Island, Thurgood Brooks is a passionate and dedicated... Read More

The Quad Cities Community Foundation today announced the recipients of a total of $566,000 through its Coordinated Field of Interest Grant program. Made possible by donors to the Community Foundation, this year’s program pools resources from 11 different Field of Interest Funds as well as the Quad Cities Community Impact Fund. The Coordinated Field of Interest Grant program represents one of the largest single grantmaking distributions made by the Community Foundation each year. Grants from the program cover a variety of specific focus areas, from basic needs and health to community development... Read More

In a way, we’ve all been singing the blues the past 18 months. So area blues fans will be in heaven with the return of the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival this weekend. Following the pandemic-plagued 2020, when the Blues Fest was cancelled along with so many events, the all-volunteer Mississippi Valley Blues Society (MVBS) is roaring back to life with the new two-day musical extravaganza, Friday and Saturday at Davenport’s LeClaire Park. Bob Clevenstine, board president for the MVBS, is thrilled with the fest mainstage and tent stage lineups. The main performers will be: Main Stage Friday... Read More

The River Music Experience and Underground Economy are presenting “Underground Xperience,” Friday, Sept. 17 at 8 p.m. at the RME, 2nd and Main streets Davenport. The concert – featuring local soul, hip-hop, R & B and reggae artists – is for those 19 and up (minors must be accompanied by an adult), and admission is $10. Performers will be Soultru, Big Man G, BN WhoIAm, and The Wontu Trees. The Underground Xperience is an occasional showcase of homegrown talent, chiefly focusing on the genres of soul, rap, R&B, and spoken word, according to concert organizer Josh Graves, owner of... Read More

Omaha native and LA resident Kil Theodrick (as seen on Netflix, Hulu, Comedy Central) is coming through the Quad Cities while on tour for a surprise one night only event at 7 p.m. Thursday! Don’t miss your chance to see Kil live before you’re seeing him on your TV weekly. Hosted by Joshua Kahn Also Featuring Mike Adrales (QC) Steve Jennings (QC) Jameson Cox (Des Moines) Todd Willhite (QC) Aloe Mean (Des Moines) Dan Umthun (Des Moine) Doors are 6:30pm / Show 7pm Tickets $10 by calling the Circa 21 Box Office at 309-786-7733 ext.2 or at www.thecirca21speakeasy.com Tickets are $12 at the door To... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: There’s going to be a new restaurant bringing the spice to Rock Island — and it’s an old favorite on the local foodie scene. Bayside Bistro is opening up it’s second location at 2704 18th Avenue in Rock Island, Illinois. (For those trying to place that spot, it’s in the old Spagos building across from Dunkin Donuts and next to Rudys.) That joins their previous location at 1105 Christie Street, in the Village of East Davenport. “We look forward to serving our great customers on both sides of the (Mississippi) River,” the owners, LaTisha and... Read More

Skubie Mageza, one of the brightest stars in the local broadcast journalism galaxy, is getting a chance to glow up at a much higher level — on the gold standard for national sports coverage, ESPN. According to a story on the website of Mageza’s local employer, KWQC-TV6, the on-air personality is joining ESPN as a digital sports host, doing sideline reporting for college football and other events nationwide. Mageza had been a sports anchor and reporter for TV6 for three years, and from the time of his arrival, was an engaging and fun on-air personality. Mageza started his new gig on... Read More