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! If it wasn’t for a man who later became WQPT-TV general manager, National Public Radio (NPR) likely would never have started. This past week, NPR celebrated its 50th anniversary. Jerrold Sandler — who died in Moline Feb. 24, 1995 at age 64, from a heart attack after cancer surgery – got public radio added to the mission of the then-new Corporation for Public Broadcasting... Read More

Western Illinois University’s Infant and Preschool Center’s Silver Circle of Quality designation from ExceleRate Illinois has been renewed for three additional years. The center first received the designation in 2018 as part of the State of Illinois’ new quality recognition and improvement system for early learning and development providers. “Every early learning and development provider who participates in ExceleRate Illinois makes quality a priority,” said Cynthia L. Tate, executive director for the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development. ExceleRate... Read More

At Deere & Company’s world headquarters in Moline Thursday morning, Dr. LaDrina Wilson recalled the wisdom and importance of the African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.” That’s a key concept behind the new “Rise United 2030” campaign launched Thursday by United Way Quad Cities. Wilson, the founder/CEO of Iman Consulting, is one of three chairs for United Way’s 2021 Community Campaign, with Caitlin Russell, Senior Vice President at Russell, and Chad Everitt, Managing Director at Deloitte. The campaign tri-chairs will formally kick off fundraising efforts in August,... Read More

Jora Taylor, a Western Illinois University junior social work major from Monmouth, has been named the 2021 recipient of the Western Illinois University Martin Dupuis/Mukti Fund Award for Leadership. The $1,400 award recognizes a student from the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and allied communities who has provided leadership at WIU. At WIU, Taylor is a social work program student representative, which requires attending weekly meetings to share the needs of students in the program. In addition, as a representative, Taylor assists with the creation of student activities, including Zoom and... Read More

In response to the Sept. 11, 2011 attacks, rocker Bruce Springsteen implored us to “Come on up for the rising.” In his 2015 musical “Hamilton,” Lin-Manuel Miranda implored others to “rise up.” Goodwill and United Way in the Quad-Cities are both picking up the hopeful, aspirational “Rising” theme in two new initiatives, aiming for a better post-pandemic world for us all. Goodwill, the leading workforce provider in North America, on Tuesday announced a new, first-of-its-kind coalition called Rising Together, which will work to create an equitable economic recovery and provide job... Read More

Two dozen Quad-Cities high-school recently learned many important things about their community and made decisions on grants that help serve those needs. Through the Quad Cities Community Foundation’s Teens for Tomorrow (T4T) program, the youth philanthropy group of students announced six recipients of the total of $10,000 in annual grants. They are: Dress for Success Quad Cities’ HireHER program, to support women on the job search — $1,300 Project Renewal Inc.’s Summer Youth Program 2021, to support positive educational, recreational, and social-emotional activities — $2,500 Tapestry... Read More

Disney Princess – The Concert is coming to the Adler Theatre in Davenport on Saturday, March 26, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. Reserved seat tickets will go on sale Friday, May 7, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. online at Ticketmaster.com and in person at the Adler Theatre Box Office (136 E. 3rd St.). Tickets are $44.50, $49.50, $54.50, $59.50, and $75.50. Disney Concerts presents Disney Princess — The Concert, a nationwide tour kicking off November 1, 2021 at the City Auditorium in Macon, GA. “Be our guest” as an all-star quartet of Broadway and animated film icons, their magical Music Director, and enchanting... Read More

With warmer weather and plans for summer outreach in the works, the Rock Island Library2Go mobile bookmobile will roll out a new schedule starting Monday, May 3. The days and times for Mobile Library stops stay the same: Three stops daily, Monday through Thursday, but some locations have changed (see starred routes for changes.) Bookmobile routes through July 29 are as follows: Monday 10:00 am to 11:30 am: St. George Greek Orthodox Church, 2930 31st Avenue, Rock Island 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm: Blackhawk State Park, 4801 11th Street, Rock Island * 4:00 to 5:30 pm: Martin Luther King Community Center,... Read More

Grab some lawn chairs and get ready for a summer full of music in Galva, Ill. The Galva Arts Council is excited to announce a very talented lineup for the third annual Levitt AMP Galva Music Series presented by Regional Media, which starts at May 30. Held at Wiley Park in Galva, starting at 6 p.m., these Sunday concerts are an opportunity for community members of all ages to enjoy free live music in a picnic-style setting. Food and beverages will be available for purchase during concerts. Admission to the concerts is free and attendees are encouraged to invite friends, family, and neighbors for... Read More

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! The intertwined arts of photography, painting and filmmaking can produce a tide of emotion and giving in ways that simple words often cannot. That trio of talents are behind the latest exhibit at Bereskin Gallery & Art Academy, 2967 State St., Bettendorf. Pat Herath, executive director and founder of Moline-based Wells 4 Wellness, met this spring with Pat Beréskin, the... Read More