A 40-year tradition that has attracted more than 25,000 people each summer to downtown Iowa City, the Iowa Arts Festival, from June 2 through 4, will host more than 100 visual artists, include an Emerging Artist Area geared toward elevating student work, and feature a beverage garden, a variety of culinary delights, children’s activities, and thrilling live-music performances, including by this year's headliner Alejandro Escovedo.

From now through July 20, Davenport RiverCenter visitors are invited to journey through art history, and more than 300 iconic masterpieces, in the touring sensation Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience, a three-dimensional experience that exhilarates every sense and brings to life one of the most influential artists the world has ever known.

A trio of gifted Midwestern artists are currently showcasing dozens of glorious works in a variety of mediums at the Quad City Arts Center, with the Rock Island venue's exhibition Raabe, Rial, & Xiao, through June 23, boasting recent sculptures by Lisa Raabe, fused-glass works by Michelle Rial, and paintings by Peter Xiao.

Boasting a variety of work by graduating seniors in the school's Department of Digital Art and Design, the University of Dubuque's Bisignano Art Gallery is housing The DART Senior Art Show through August 11, the wide-ranging exhibition a celebration of its students' thesis projects over the past academic year.

An eagerly awaited springtime event taking place over Mother's Day weekend in Davenport's spacious Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, the 2023 Beaux Arts Spring Fair will treat visitors to an outdoor celebration of visual arts and fine crafts on May 13 and 14, with the annual event featuring food, live music, children's activities, and works for sale by more than 80 artists and Midwestern vendors.

No fewer than four gifted Midwestern artists – two based in Iowa, two in Illinois – are currently showcasing beautiful works at the Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery through the fourth of July, with the collective exhibition Boros, Hatchet, Schneider, & Stratton housing woodblock prints by Gabriella Boros of Skokie, Illinois, wood reliefs by William Hatchet of Ankeny, Iowa, stitched textiles by Barbara Schneider of Woodstock, Illinois, and wood sculpture by Jay Stratton of Bettendorf, Iowa.

Held in conjunction with the Figge Art Museum's assemblage of 11 arresting prints by a former teacher at the Davenport Museum of Art (now the Figge) and Davenport's St. Ambrose University, the Davenport venue will, on May 18, host the insightful virtual program Celebrating Maria Cusumano with Mark Towner, the online guest discussing his late wife's work in the Lewis Gallery's current exhibit Mother, Goddess, Crone: The Art of Maria Cusumano.

Maquoketa Caves Prairie - New England Aster

The River Cities’ Reader 2023 Spring Photo Contest received submissions in three categories: "Prairie," "Oaks," and "Ethanol." Here are our winners and favorites. Thanks to all who submitted!

A life-size bronze sculpture, Lincoln with Boy on Bridge, stands in downtown Davenport’s Bechtel Park near the Arsenal Bridge. Abraham Lincoln stands on a railroad track gazing forward; a seated boy looks up to him. Jeff Adams’ sculpture depicts a small moment between events that brought America closer to Civil War.

Held in conjunction with the Davenport's venue's popular and fascinating springtime exhibition, curators Kevin Jones and Christina M. Johnson will participate in an April 20 Curator Talk at the Figge Art Museum as they discuss Sporting Fashion: Outdoor Girls 1800 to 1960, a groundbreaking survey of the history of women's sportswear.

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