The Western Illinois University Department of Art and Design recently hosted its annual High School Art Exhibition and Awards, with work submitted by students from 10 regional high schools. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the competition was held virtually and was judged by WIU Professor Emeritus Julie Mahoney. She chose 100 works for the show from more than 270 entries, submitted by more than 100 students. The competition is sponsored by Blick Art Materials in Galesburg, the WIU Bookstore, the WIU Department of Art and Design and the College of Fine Arts and Communication. The winners of the... Read More

The Art Legacy League (ALL) has found a new home on the Davenport riverfront and will hold a two-hour open house on Friday, Nov. 20. Founded in 2012, the nonprofit ALL is dedicated to the memory of Father Edward Catich and his contributions to the calligraphic arts, history of writing, and his long legacy of teaching. Father Catich (1906-1979) was an internationally renowned artist, calligrapher and visionary instructor who founded the St. Ambrose University Art Department. The ALL moved from J.B. Young Opportunity Center, 1702 N. Main St., Davenport. It had been there since 2018, and is now at... Read More

The new Quad City Arts Art at the Airport exhibit (Nov. 4 to Jan. 4, 2021) presents Nancy Lindsay’s landscape paintings, Marcia Whitmore’s botanical watercolors and a selection of fossils and minerals from Augustana College’s Fryxell Geology Museum. Nancy Lindsay, of Stone City, Iowa, discovered the beauty of the Iowa landscape when she moved to Iowa in 1998, when her husband introduced her to all the scenic areas. “Palisades, Pleasant Creek, Pinicon, Wapsipinicon and Backbone Parks are some of my favorite places to paint,” Lindsay said in a Quad City Arts release. “As a landscape... Read More

Are you a local artist looking for a spot to exhibit? Would you like to exhibit in one of the most popular gallery spots in the area? Get your submission ready for Quad City Arts! Quad City Arts invites artists residing within a 250-mile radius of Rock Island, IL to submit a proposal for a gallery exhibition during 2021-22. Selected artists will be paired with one or two additional artists for a 2-month long exhibition between July 2021 through August 2022 in one of our two large exhibit spaces. Cohesive bodies of work are highly desired. All media will be considered. To enter, go to QuadCityArts.com... Read More

Brandon Nees’ vibrant new mural at Moline’s Spiegel Building has been drawing raves from art fans around the Quad-Cities! QuadCities.com Arts Reporter Jonathan Turner was there for the unveiling of the artwork, and has provided us with a fantastic video showing the creation of the mural. You can check it out here, on the QuadCities.com YouTube channel.  Read More

MOLINE – Brandon Nees squinted into the sun Wednesday morning at the dilapidated, vacant Spiegel building, and all he saw was bright, boundless possibility. That’s partly because the 25-year-old Davenport artist, who graduated from Moline High School, painted the word “possibility” in big turquoise block letters across seven plywood panels – among nine colorful 7.6-foot-by-6.75 feet panels he created for a $10,000 public mural on the boarded-up ground floor of the city-owned Spiegel building off River Drive (200 20th St.) in downtown Moline. “It’s amazing,” Nees said of the finished... Read More

We’re all hungry for some peace, calm and normalcy. The recent announcement of the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize rang true to regional artist Cecile Houel, who is passionate about diversity and justice. Her portraits of Nobel Peace Prize laureates have been extended at the Beréskin Art Gallery & Academy, 2967 State St., Bettendorf, through the end of the month. She will offer a free tour of her exhibit Friday, Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. Houel – who is based in Fort Madison, Iowa – will speak about her work on this collection, covering the following topics: Alfred Nobel and the Nobel Society, researches... 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

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! This week’s artist is Kevin E. Smith! Here’s his bio: Kevin E.... 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! This week’s artist is Brianna Herrig! As she tells us in her bio… I... Read More