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

In a bitter, divisive time – just two days before inauguration of the 46th U.S. President – the 38th-annual memorial service honoring Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday held special resonance. Livestreamed on YouTube from Rock Island’s Martin Luther King,. Jr. Community Center, the nearly hour-long service spoke to the ideals of the late civil-rights leader (who was assassinated in 1968) and how far the nation still has to go to achieve his dream of peace, unity and justice. MLK Center executive director Jerry Jones noted at the outset that theme of the service was King’s quote,... Read More

Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse is thrilled to be working with the talented Bobby and Ashley Becher and their company “Rising Stars” to announce all new Winter classes.  All classes will take place at Circa ’21 or it’s secondary theater, The Speakeasy. “We are thrilled to be working with Ashley and Bobby again” said Denny Hitchcock Circa ’21’s owner/producer.  “They have done a wonderful job with their classes over the last year and we get such positive feedback from all the students who have taking the classes and their parents.  I encourage you to consider this for you child! ... 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

Maybe this is why 2021 has started off feeling so off? Because Whitey’s has waited this long to name its SHAKE OF THE MONTH!!! Well, you can rest easy, because the famous ice cream shop has finally, FINALLY, named its coveted Shake of the Month honor. And the Village People approve, which, really, is what’s important here, people. And that Shake of the Month is… Hot Chocolate. So, here’s what the good folks at Whitey’s had to say about this Very Special shake, and how things are going to SHAKE out over the next month… or two: Sorry we are a... Read More

BREAKING: As first reported on QuadCities.com, the Quad-Cities region will be reducing covid-19 mitigations starting Friday, as confirmed today during Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker’s press conference on covid mitigations in the state. “On Jan. 15, exactly one incubation period from New Year’s Day, any region that has met the metrics for a reduction of mitigations will be able to move out of Tier 3 of our mitigation plan,” Pritzker said. Illinois Region 2 — including Rock Island, Bureau, Stark, Henry, and Mercer counties — will step back from Tier 3 mitigations and move down... 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. This past week was an historic one for the nation, as well as for Davenport-based River Music Experience. Five Americans died as a result of the massive Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, as pro-Trump insurrectionists disrupted the certification of the Electoral College presidential results. That same Wednesday, RME postponed the planned celebration of the online Music Lab’s 200th episode that afternoon. The half-hour weekday... Read More

2020 was a difficult, unprecedented year for everyone, and the Midwest Writing Center (MWC) wants area residents to be part of a new anthology documenting it. With a submission deadline of Jan. 31, MWC Press is putting together an anthology of creative works responding to the many disasters that were endured last year. To be titled “These Interesting Times: Surviving 2020 in the QC,” the book will feature historic events like Covid-19, the derecho and other natural disasters, police protests, and the contentious presidential election, but they’re also interested in the smaller, untold stories... Read More

Genesis Medical Center, Davenport has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence. Genesis earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include evaluation of... Read More

Bethany Sanders is only 24 years old, but already has 21 years of dance experience  and is quickly gaining a reputation as a passionate teacher and choreographer. The Pleasant Valley High alum started taking tap and ballet lessons when she was 3 and hasn’t stopped moving since. “I absolutely loved it, and added theater to the game when I was 11,” Sanders said in a recent interview. After 5th grade, she started doing theater at Center for Living Arts in Rock Island, and her first musical was “Grease” in 2008, when she was 11, and she performed with Center for Living Arts through junior... Read More