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! For the past 10 years, Molly Durnin has worked as a full-time touring musician, but 2020’s Covid pandemic put a stop to that – as it’s decimated the careers of so many artists nationwide. “It was the worst year of my life,” the 32-year-old Moliner said Friday, noting her gigs were shot for most of the year, between mid-March and the fall. “It left me completely... Read More

Western Illinois University will celebrate Black History Month throughout February, with a variety of activities, speakers and events planned. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the events vary from virtual to in person. The Black History Month schedule for the remainder of the month includes: • Friday, Feb. 19 – 6 p.m. – movie night, “Moonlight,” virtual event: The LGBT*QA Resource Center and Gwendolyn Brooks Cultural Center will celebrate Black History Month with a free, online movie night. The film is a powerful and inspiring coming of age drama of a young Black man growing up in Miami.... Read More

Restrictions in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic have forced the cancellation of the annual performance of “The Vagina Monologues” at Western Illinois University; however a series of activities have been planned in its place between Feb. 22-24. “Although we are not having the play this year, I feel like students will benefit and have a true understanding of what ‘The Vagina Monologues’ is if they attend the events,” said WIU Women’s Center Graduate Assistant Trameka Pope. “We are incorporating interactive activities while also educating those... Read More

Everyone needs help sometimes. Join us on Wednesday, February 24th at 1:00 pm on Zoom and learn about resources that are available to you and how to find reliable information and treatment options. Your Life Iowa. a division of the Iowa Department of Public Health has information on alcohol, drug use, vaping, e-cigarettes, mental health, suicide, and gambling problems. Registration is required to receive Zoom meeting details. Register here: http://bit.ly/dpl-yourlifeiowa Keep up with our virtual programming on our Virtual Branch Calendar of Events at https://davenportlibrary.libcal.com/calendar/virtual. This... Read More

Just over six weeks into his new job as Western Illinois University president, Guiyou Huang wrote to Gov. JB Pritzker this past Tuesday, Feb. 16, about ongoing discussions regarding a potential transfer of the WIU Quad-Cities campus in Moline to another state institution. To date, Western has not been included in the discussion, he noted, copying Moline Mayor Stephanie Acri and Quad Cities Chamber president/CEO Paul Rumler. Acri responded that she’s had concerns about the impact of WIU in Moline and she’s scheduled to meet again with Huang on March 2. “In our conversation in my office this... Read More

St. Ambrose University senior Tyler Hughes made his full-length directing debut in the middle of a global pandemic, with another tense story of international crisis. “Two Rooms” by Lee Blessing – a love story of Lainie and Michael, married American educators working in Lebanon during the mid-1980s – features four student actors and was filmed earlier this month, to be streamed this weekend. After Michael is kidnapped by terrorists, Lainie returns to the United States to seek out help from her government to have Michael rescued, only to be stonewalled by the American policy that states:... Read More

Harriet Beecher Stowe was a small, quiet woman who wielded a towering, thunderous literary voice that helped change the conscience and course of a nation. The poster for “Becoming Harriet Beecher Stowe.” Barely five feet tall, Stowe (1811-1896) is just 23 in the award-winning docudrama “Sons & Daughters of Thunder (2019) by Moline-based filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films. A half-hour companion documentary, “Becoming Harriet Beecher Stowe,” premiered last February on WQPT-PBS, and will be presented online by the Bettendorf Public Library on Thursday, Feb. 18... Read More

Hoover’s Presidential Library & Museum is presenting “Lincoln, Race, and Challenge of Self-Government At Davenport Public Library! The Davenport Public Library is pleased to partner with the Hoover Museum and Presidential Library for this live webinar! Join us Thursday, February 18th at 6:00 pm for “Lincoln, Race, and Challenge of Self-Government” with Dr. Lucas Morel. To register, please visit http://bit.ly/dpl-thirdthursdayfebruary. This program will examine Lincoln’s statesmanship in the context of longstanding and widespread racial bigotry against black Americans. It will explore... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: While Major League Baseball is scheduled to start spring training Feb. 28 and Opening Day is April 1, the Quad Cities River Bandits will return to play a 120-game schedule, with their season opener on the road Tuesday, May 4, 2021, against the South Bend Cubs. The River Bandits home opener will be on Tuesday, May 11, at 6:30 p.m. against the Cedar Rapids Kernels at Davenport’s Modern Woodmen Park. Single game tickets will go on sale Monday, April 19. Anyone who purchased tickets or vouchers for games in 2020 can exchange those tickets at the River Bandits’ box office for any... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Nearly a year after the 2020 Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Women’s Basketball Tournament had to be canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, hope springs eternal. On Thursday, Visit Quad Cities and the MVC announced that the 2021 Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament will return to the TaxSlayer Center in Moline, for the sixth straight year. Affectionately named “Hoops in the Heartland,” the four-day event (Mar. 11-14) will showcase all 10 MVC schools as they compete for The Valley’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. “We are thrilled that the... Read More