Art in the Garden is August 7 at the Quad City Botanical Center in Rock Island, Illinois. The 5th annual event features local and regional artists including potters, painters, sculptors, jewelry makers and others who are inspired by nature to create. Their works will be exhibited and sold at this outdoor show. The handcrafted works will be on display in tents throughout the gardens and a variety of art price points will be offered. The event includes music by Roger Carlson and friends, demonstrations by the wood turners and fun activities for the kids. Purchase tickets at qcgardens.com or pay at... Read More

This year’s Art in the Garden is Saturday, Aug. 7 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Quad City Botanical Center, 2525 4th Ave., Rock Island. The 5th-annual event features local and regional artists — including potters, painters, sculptors, jewelry makers and others who are inspired by nature to create. Their works will be exhibited and sold at this outdoor show. The handcrafted works will be on display in tents throughout the gardens and a variety of art price points will be offered. Pieces to be sold include sculpture, jewelry, pottery, quilts, paintings and painted objects, charcoal and pastel... Read More

Art in the Garden is August 7 at the Quad City Botanical Center in Rock Island, Illinois. The 5th annual event features local and regional artists including potters, painters, sculptors, jewelry makers and others who are inspired by nature to create. Their works will be exhibited and sold at this outdoor show. The handcrafted works will be on display in tents throughout the gardens and a variety of art price points will be offered. The event includes music by Roger Carlson and friends, demonstrations by the wood turners and fun activities for the kids. Purchase tickets at qcgardens.com or pay at... Read More

The Quad City Botanical Center is hosting its Headwaters of the Mississippi River Ribbon Cutting event on Friday, May 14. Join us as we celebrate the opening of our Children’s Garden phase two addition. This exciting interactive play exhibit expands our popular water feature and includes a naturalized pond, representative of the headwaters in Itasca, Minnesota. Due to social distancing guidelines, invitations were sent to select donors, grantors, elected officials and supporters of this project. The ribbon cutting is not open to the public, but media are welcome. The new exhibit opens to the... 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 Covid-19 pandemic not only drove many people crazy, but it’s driven them more than ever outdoors – for comfort, relaxation, exercise and simple enjoyment of the natural world. The beautiful, restorative calm of the Quad City Botanical Center, 2525 4th Ave., Rock Island, has been perfectly positioned to welcome those weary pandemic warriors. And with a new executive... Read More

If you visit the Quad City Botanical Center by the end of May – and you certainly should – you’ll see a portrait of an artist as a young man. A very young, talented man indeed. Eight-year-old Levi Folker of Davenport is the youngest artist ever to have his own exhibit in the 23-year-history of the QCBC, with 28 of his deeply colorful, imaginative paintings on the walls in the main hallway. They’re on display for all of April and May. “I like painting because it makes me happy,” Levi, a second-grader at Adams Elementary, who’s been homeschooled this past year, said recently. “I like... Read More

Ryan Wille, a former marketing manager of Quad City Botanical Center, has been chosen next executive director of the Rock Island-based nonprofit, succeeding Ami Porter. A 2009 graduate of Bradley University in Peoria, Wille was the marketing manager at QCBC (2525 4th Ave., Rock Island) from March 2016 to October 2018, and since then has been development manager of the Humane Society of Scott County. “Ryan, he is a great leader. He is a wonderful person,” Porter said Tuesday morning. “He is very passionate about the gardens. He cares very much about the success of the gardens and he’s... Read More

Looking for some new plants for your home this spring? The Quad City Botanical Center is taking orders for its annual Plant Sale, with curb side plant pick up Friday, May 7, and Saturday, May 8. Friday pick up is for members only 3 PM – 7 PM. Saturday pick up is for the general public 9 AM – 12 PM. Members and the public are invited to pre-order plants by April 18. Details about plant pick up are on the website’s plant sale page, qcgardens.com/plant-sale This year, approximately 50 different varieties of annuals and perennials are included in the sale. Individual plants are available for... Read More

The Quad City Botanical Center is taking orders for its annual Plant Sale, with curb side plant pick up Friday, May 7, and Saturday, May 8. Friday pick up is for members only 3 PM – 7 PM. Saturday pick up is for the general public 9 AM – 12 PM. Members and the public are invited to pre-order plants by April 18. Details about plant pick up are on the website’s plant sale page, qcgardens.com/plant-sale This year, approximately 50 different varieties of annuals and perennials are included in the sale. Individual plants are available for sale from $3.50 – $12.50 with a majority of the... Read More

Living Proof Exhibit, a Quad-Cities non-profit that provides the therapeutic benefits of the arts to people touched by cancer, has gathered its arts partners together to provide a virtual escape for those affected by the disease. “Due to the pandemic, we aren’t able to get volunteers into the hospitals to support people undergoing cancer treatments,” said Pamela Crouch, executive director of Living Proof Exhibit. “Instead, we’ve created a bookmark with a QR code that will take patients to virtual programming from us and our arts partners.” “The bookmarks are super easy to use,”... Read More