Talking Art

Carolyn Martin talks art with Satomi Kawai and Vero Rose Smith

The dynamic show Tubbs & Moss: A Vintage Jazz Experience will be held on select Saturday evenings throughout the summer. Performing in the new Blueprint Bar & Lounge within the iconic Spotlight Event Center in Moline, pianist Mason Moss and vocalist Sara Tubbs highlight songs from the Great American Songbook in an endearing and high energy performance that is a joy to experience after a long pande...

The Kinogarten film series is a collaboration between the German American Heritage Center (GAHC) in Davenport and Rozz-Tox in Rock Island. Free of charge, all six films will be shown on the first Friday of each month from April through September of 2021 in the intriguing outdoor garden space at Rozz-Tox.

The exhibition “Construct/Destruct” by artist Steve Banks is on display through April 30, 2021 at the Beréskin Gallery & Art Academy in Bettendorf. Featuring large-scale mixed media works or “painted constructions” as well as smaller ceramic sculptures, the artist weaves together architectural, industrial, and road trip images in an homage to our past – what once was, and what has been repurposed....

Marc Zyla, the Principal Horn and Director of Education & Community Engagement for the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, has a new podcast “Because.” Twice a month, a new episode will be released during which Marc chats with artists and explores their stories of the people, places, and things that had to fall into place to make their careers happen.

Kit Polen, Associate Principal bassist for the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, has a unique perspective on the COVID-19 pandemic, as musicians and artists suffered a disproportionate loss this past year after performance venues and concert halls around the world were shuttered. His wisdom and insights are refreshing as we mark the one-year anniversary from when our lives changed so suddenly.

Figge Art Museum Assistant Curator Vanessa Sage will deliver a virtual lecture entitled Rebel Artists on Thursday, March 11, 2021 at 6:30 PM. This is a free event, although registration is required. A Zoom link will be emailed to all participants several hours before the talk begins, and a Q&A session will be held following the conclusion of the lecture.

The Quad City Symphony Orchestra will perform a tribute to the unique sound of American music with their Signature Series III concert on Saturday, February 27, 2021 at 7:30 PM, inspired by the Figge Art Museum’s exhibition For America. This intimate string trio performance will be available for a limited socially distanced audience at the Figge as well as via digital access/live streaming.

Recently retired Chief Curator Emerita Dr. Brandon Brame Fortune, of the National Portrait Gallery, will give a virtual talk entitled American Artists’ Self-Portraits Then and Now on February 25, 2021 from 5-6PM. This is a free event in conjunction with the Figge Art Museum’s exhibition For America: 200 Years of Painting from the National Academy of Design.

The exhibition For America: 200 Years of Painting from the National Academy of Design will be on display at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, IA from Feb 20 - May 16, 2021. Consisting of nearly 100 paintings spanning the time from the early 19th century through the beginning of the 21st century, this exhibit presents an immersion course in American painting through which the visitor will understa...

The Midwest Writing Center is offering an opportunity to have a locally affiliated poet or writer hand craft a poem for someone in your life. Available through February 28, 2021, Bespoke Poems QC has a “pay what you want” policy, although the recommended minimum is $20 and tips are appreciated. Simply fill out an on-line information form with details about the person(s) that you are commissioning...

The Hamburg Historic District in Davenport, IA, affectionately known as the “Gold Coast,” contains some of the widest variety of architectural styles in the Quad Cities. Built primarily by German immigrants in the 19th and early 20th century, the district lies between 5th and 9th Streets (south to north) and between Ripley and Vine (east to west).

Situated on the second floor of the River Music Experience building in Davenport, IA, is The Underground Economy, a full-scale media and production house which bridges the gap between art and entrepreneurship. Containing a podcast studio, a recording studio, and a content editing station, the space is available to creatives via a variety of membership options, with the goal to become an incubator...

The national touring show Beatles vs. Stones - A Musical Showdown is coming to the Adler Theatre in Davenport on October 20, 2020. The tribute bands Satisfaction and Abbey Road, wearing period clothing and playing vintage instruments, will be accompanied onstage during seven of their songs by a string quartet composed of local high school musicians.

Rock Island native John Shallman recently published his first novel, Return from Siberia.

The acclaimed artist Cecile Houel works in Ft. Madison, IA where she has been creating beautiful, realistic portraits of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. Twenty of her large 4’ x 4’ works are currently on display in a variety of locations throughout the Quad Cities. Ten are at the Beréskin Gallery & Art Academy in Bettendorf as part of their “Peace Starts Within” exhibit; six are on display at Quad Ci...

The Quad City Music Academy is a new school for students pursuing their musical education in cello, violin, viola, or bass. Private lessons are offered with a variety of accomplished professional musicians, and specialized courses and workshops are also available. The Academy is the first of its kind in the Quad Cities. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the fall 2020 semester will be held online.

Racial inequity in the arts is well documented across all genres, from theatre, to film, literature, and the visual arts. The public outcry and protests that have occurred this year following the death of George Floyd and countless other people of color have resulted in a strong public reckoning regarding our own implicit biases regarding race. Those biases, in combination with existing economic d...

The innovative sculptor Beverly Pepper was a resident artist with the Visiting Artist program in the Quad Cities in 1981. Over a dozen works were created during her time here. Four of them remain in the Quad Cities, of which three are available for the general public to view. Her sculptures, many of them monumental in size, have been exhibited in major museums throughout the world including the Me...

Originally from the Quad Cities, Samantha Pauly is an actor best known for originating the role of Katherine Howard in SIX the Musical on Broadway, and for her portrayal of Eva Perón in Jamie Lloyd’s critically acclaimed London revival of Evita.

The freelance hairstylist, Amelia Bay, is originally from the Quad Cities and now works in television and on Broadway. She was in the midst of filming for the TV show Law & Order: Special Victims Unit when the entertainment industry was shuttered due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Local singer/songwriter Mo Carter will be conducting a musical tour of the Figge Art Museum on Thursday, March 12, 2020. Inspired by some of her favorite art works, she will perform on her guitar and sing in her bold, soulful voice, accompanied by violinist Melinda Leasman. The “musical musing” begins at 6:30 PM and will wind through multiple galleries.

The country artist Monica Austin has been busy lately, recently releasing her first EP and opening for Wynonna Judd and the Big Noise at the Rust Belt on Feb 21, 2020.

Jon Lovett, host of the irreverent podcast Lovett or Leave It, will be recording his show in front of a live audience at Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City on Thursday, January 30, 2020 at 8PM.