Superman is hardly the only “Man of Steel.” That moniker could apply to Steven Maeck of Decorah, Iowa, a sculptor who works in welded and assembled steel. The 64-year-old Vermont native is among 10 Midwest artists chosen this year to have their sculptures leased and placed throughout the Quad-Cities last month, in Quad City Arts’ public sculpture program. The pieces will be on display through June 5, 2022. Maeck’s work, “Muso’s Thought,” is near the Channel Cat dock on the Mississippi River in downtown Moline near the Radisson hotel. Since 2002, he has designed and fabricated sculptural... Read More

Quad City Arts’ plan to help regional artists stay motivated by creating artwork throughout the quarantine — which began in March 2020 — will continue into 2021 with the culminating exhibition of chosen works postponed to October 2021. The plan is to share the artwork with the public when we can safely gather socially, said Dawn Wohlford-Metallo, visual arts director at Quad City Arts. “As the pandemic wears on, it is more important than ever for people to express themselves creatively,” she said. All artists residing within a 250-mile radius of the Quad-Cities are invited to... Read More

Many public places throughout the Quad-Cities are more beautiful and colorful because of Quad City Arts, which marks its 50th anniversary this year. The late executive director Lloyd Schoeneman (who died at 49 in 2001 from cancer) was the driving force behind our public sculpture program. In the 1990s, Lloyd introduced the concept of community-built art to the Quad-Cities, organizing design charrettes which resulted in the Navigation Steps at Leach Park (Bettendorf) the Nature Spiral at Illiniwek Park (Hampton) and the Lindsay Park Architectural Sculpture Park (Village of East Davenport). He also... Read More

Saturday in the Arts is a comprehensive, in-depth look at a personality, issue, or trend in the Quad-Cities arts and entertainment scene, running every Saturday morning on your site for fun, free, local entertainment and features, QuadCities.com. The Quad-Cities would not be the Quad-Cities without Quad City Arts. Founded in August 1970 as Quad City Arts Council, the nonprofit serves a six-county area in eastern Iowa and northwestern Illinois and is celebrating its 50th anniversary, committed to making quality arts education accessible to everyone through arts opportunities, programming, and community... Read More

On exhibit from August 21st through October 9th, 2020 is the show SIGNALS featuring Matthew Boonstra & Alan Pocaro with Original Prints by Elizabeth Powell. SIGNALS is a collaborative presentation by sculptor Matthew Boonstra, Charleston, IL and printmaker Alan Pocaro, Champaign, IL. The show will consist of sculptures and wall-mounted works on paper. The artists explore what it means to communicate in an era dominated by technologies that promise to enable deeper, more meaningful sharing, but just as often provide the opposite. Both artists have shown extensively throughout the Midwest, as... Read More

Quad City Arts will offer the photography of Ken Urban and paintings by Margaret Ertz as their gallery entry through June 19. Ken Urban’s photographs tell a story. He travels the backroads of the Midwest with his camera in hand. This show is about the forgotten silos that blanket the countryside, no longer in use, but towering symbols of days gone by. In the rural American landscape, with its ever-changing farm practices and abandoned barns on the verge of collapse, the silos are often the only reminder of the past. Occasionally a tree blooms and grows in the protection of these silos. Urban’s... Read More

Quad City Arts’ online exhibit through June 19, 2020, will be photography by Ken Urban of Durant, IA and paintings by Margaret Ertz, of Burlington, IA. Ken Urban’s photographs tell a story. He travels the backroads of the Midwest with his camera in hand. This show is about the forgotten silos that blanket the countryside, no longer in use, but towering symbols of days gone by. In the rural American landscape, with its ever-changing farm practices and abandoned barns on the verge of collapse, the silos are often the only reminder of the past. Occasionally a tree blooms and grows in the protection... Read More