The Quad City Arts 43rd Annual High School Art Invitational might not be able to have a live showing due to coronavirus concerns, but Quad City Arts isn’t letting them get them down! QCA has set up the artists’ works online in a Virtual Gallery Live NOW at this link. Each spring, Quad City Arts shows works from top Quad City high school visual artists and their art teachers. The exhibit fills the walls of Quad City Arts’ downtown Rock Island gallery, the opening ceremony is attended by hundreds of Quad Citians supporting young artistic talent, and students receive thousands of... Read More

“I don’t know what I’m going to do.” His voice, usually brash and loud, is quiet and cracked. “I mean, I’m depressed. Obviously, it sucks, because the money is a big thing. It’s not just me playing out. My wife is a waitress and bartender, and I’m a bartender a couple nights a week. That’s just extra. But we need it.” They have a couple of kids. They have five jobs between them. Or, well, they used to. Now they have one. His. His “day job,” he used to call it. Now it’s their only lifeline to an income that was way too small for them all to live on, but which now has to... 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

Looking to check out some colorful artworks? Quad City Arts Art @ the Airport presents encaustic paintings by Cindy Lesperance (McHenry, IL), color reduction woodcuts by Cathie Crawford (Peoria, IL) and mixed media sculptural work by Dawn Wohlford (Bettendorf, IA) March 3 to April 28. Cindy Lesperance’s work will explore the abstractness of the earth when viewed from an aerial perspective. Lesperance uses encaustic medium (wax with pigment) to create smooth polished sections of color and then adds her signature drop technique to provide interesting textural areas. Each work becomes a composition... Read More

From January 30 through March 20, 2020, see works of art by regional artists who are best known as tattoo artists. Fine art and tattooing go hand in hand. Both utilize skills such as ability to draw and an eye for color. Although not required for a license to tattoo, many tattoo artists have degrees in fine art, studied art, or at the very least, have a lifelong passion for drawing or cartooning. Good people skills and the ability to interpret a client’s idea visually are other essential skills for tattooing, but “The Artist Behind the Tattoo” provides an opportunity to see the fine art of... Read More

Born to a Chinese father and Jewish mother, and raised in the multicultural metropolis of Toronto, saxophonist Allison Au found music as a young child. Her work is a concoction steeped in the tradition of jazz but skillfully laced with elements of classical, pop, R&B/hip hop, Latin, and world music. From Oct. 28 through Nov. 2, Au will bring her quartet into schools and community sites to provide musical outreach through a residency with Quad City Arts Visiting Artist Series. The Allison Au Quartet won a JUNO Award (a Canadian GRAMMY) in 2016 for “Best Jazz Album of The Year: Group”... Read More

Apprentices from Quad City Arts Metro Arts Youth Apprenticeship Program are in the final stages of painting four murals on the doors of Davenport’s Freight House. These new panels complement the five panels completed by 2015 Metro Arts apprentices. Lead artist Sarah Robb, one senior apprentice, and seven apprentices painted murals at the Freight House, 421 W. River Drive, Davenport, during the fall session for the 2019 Metro Arts Youth Apprenticeship Program. Apprentices worked on weekends and weeknights after school in September and October. The mural panels are scheduled to be completed on... Read More

Harlem Quartet, the fourth visiting artist in the 2019-2020 season, will bring their musical talents and educational outreach to the Quad Cities Oct. 21-25. The New York-based quartet, currently serving a three-year residency at London’s Royal College of Music, will visit 11 schools and community sites during their week of outreach work. The quartet has been praised for its “panache” by The New York Times and hailed in the Cincinnati Enquirer for “bringing a new attitude to classical music, one that is fresh, bracing and intelligent.” The ensemble has also won plaudits from such veteran... Read More

Quad City Arts has a new pair of artists exhibiting from October 18th through December 6th — the gallery will be hosting drawings by Emily Newman of DesMoines, and photographs by Randy Richmond of Muscatine. Emily Newman presents “Sky Weave” Newman’s work deals with time and space. She makes contrasts in her art between small woven landscapes and outer space. The artist choses to explore pictorial space and actual space, through various fiber compositions.  She uses the compositions as a metaphor to connect people to a place.   Randy Richmond presents “The Set Table:... Read More

Meet local artists in Quad City Arts’ Art @ the Airport Gallery from 5-7 pm on Wednesday, October 16. Light snacks and a cash bar will be available. Free parking vouchers will be available for this event. See collages by Amber Williams, painting by Carla Markwart and artistic birdhouses by 20 Quad City Artists, through October 28, 2019.   Amber Williams creates fascinating collages out of repurposed magazines and paper. She uses many themes in her work including aquatic, landscapes and animals. Her compositions have an incredible amount of detail and her color palette is stunning, filled... Read More