ATTENTION LOCAL ARTISTS! QuadCities.com is starting up the QuadCities.com Virtual Art Gallery to display your work! We’ll display up to a half-dozen of your artworks, along with an artists bio and pic of you and a link to your patreon, paypal or contact info so interested patrons can contact you to buy your artworks! If you’re interested, email Director of Digital Media Sean Leary at Sean@QuadCities.com!  Read More

Welcome to the QuadCities.com Virtual Art Gallery! In this feature, we’re spotlighting area artists and their work. Every Tuesday we’ll feature a new local artist. It’s free and our way of showcasing awesome area artists and allowing them to include a link to their own online gallery or patreon! If you’d like to be included in the gallery, just send your bio, a headshot pic of yourself and up to a half-dozen .jpgs of your art to Sean@QuadCities.com. We look forward to featuring you and your artworks in our gallery! Today’s artist is well-known and respected in the local art... Read More

From July 2-August 31, 2020, Quad City Arts Art @ the Airport presents Ralph Scott’s digital paintings, Andrea Van Wyk’s oil paintings and Terry Rathje’s sculptures. Ralph Scott (East Peoria, IL) manipulates cellphone images to create digital paintings. Through the use of software, Scott can achieve painterly effects or rework the composition to place emphasis on the most important details. He combines images, such as a tricycle with clouds, to create an otherworldly effect. The finished images are printed on aluminum. Andrea Van Wyk (Pella, IA) paints realistic magnifications of flowers... Read More

Sept. 30, 2016 was one of the best nights of my life. At the Boho Chic Gallery in downtown Davenport’s Bucktown Center for the Arts, I was surrounded by friends, samples of Front Street beer (including its Bucktown Stout), and copies of my first book, “A Brief History of Bucktown: Davenport’s Infamous District Transformed.” It was because of this quirky collection of art galleries and studios – which had a brief, busy, vital life from 2005 to this past March – that I was commissioned in August 2014 by The History Press to write the definitive story of the colorful east end of downtown... Read More

Isabel Bloom has decided to consolidate its Quad-Cities retail locations into its East Village location, cutting its Moline store after 30 years in business and its LeClaire shop after six years. The company released a statement late Friday that read as follows: Dear Friends, On behalf of our entire team at Isabel Bloom, we thank you for your loyalty and support, especially during these past few months. Your support, whether it be through online orders, curbside pickups, or local deliveries, has meant the world to us. Thank you for your words of encouragement through social media, phone calls and... Read More

As Illinois relaxes its social restrictions Friday (including allowing all gatherings of 10 people or fewer), the Quad City Arts Center, 1715 2nd Ave., Rock Island, will reopen Friday at 10 a.m. Free entry is available 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. to 5 Saturdays. Following the next phase of the “Restore Illinois” plan, which also allows bars and restaurants to open outdoor seating under restrictions, executive director Kevin Maynard said May 29 was the earliest the downtown gallery could reopen. “We’re taking all the precautions, taking it seriously,” he said Thursday. “Both... Read More

ROCK ISLAND — Through Facebook and their website, Quad City Arts announced the winners of the 43rd Annual High School Art Invitational and presented $5000 in cash prizes and scholarships to area high school students and teachers for excellence in fine art. The awards are as follows: Senior Scholarship sponsored by The Butterworth Foundation, Zimmerman Honda and Jane & Kevin Koski: Liam Haskill, Rock Island High School   Senior Scholarship sponsored by Morency Family Foundation Lydia Bloome, Bettendorf High School Best of Show sponsored by Carlo Centore Michael PK, Central DeWitt High... Read More

Finally! Here’s some good news! Quad City Arts is pleased to announce the 2020 Arts Dollars grant awards to 24 nonprofit organizations, totaling just over $85,000. Since 1979, Quad City Arts grants have provided funding for local artists and non-profit organizations to enrich the quality of life in the Quad City region through the arts. Since 1990 alone, more than $1,000,000 has been awarded. Arts Dollars funds are generously provided by the Hubbell-Waterman Foundation and the Illinois Arts Council Agency, a state agency. The Awards go to: Capacity-Building Grants: Quad Cities Woodturners Education... Read More

WQPT – PBS for the Quad Cities Region and Western Illinois University – Quad Cities’ Student Services encourages all Quad Citizens to submit images of art, photos, and designs for possible display in the 5th Annual Campus Art Show.  A limited number of works will be selected by a panel of judges, but the deadline for entry is Wednesday, March 18, 2020. The show will run from April 1st through April 30th 2019 in the WIU-QC Library. A Community Reception will be held on Wednesday April 15th at 5:30pm on Western Illinois University – Quad Cities’ campus. The Exhibition is limited to paintings,... Read More

The Figge Art Museum will welcome Sue Taylor, Grant Wood scholar and author of Grant Wood’s Secrets, on Sunday, March 8. Taylor will kick off her Iowa tour at the Figge with a talk about artist Grant Wood that will reveal secrets about Wood’s personal life and the impact it had on his art. From Wood’s close relationship with his mother to how he posed as masculine to hide his homosexuality from his rural community, nothing will be off limits. Taylor, who is a Professor Emerita of Art History at Portland State University, will stay after the talk for a Q&A session. “Understanding... Read More