Cedar Rapids resident Priscilla Steele had entered a pair of drawings into the 29th Annual Rock Island Fine Arts Exhibition competition. She felt that the two figures related well to one another and that, together, they strongly represented her artistic talent.
Pat Edwards is a small, soft-spoken woman, and her oil paintings are also small and soft-spoken. However, there is a quiet power in her person and in her work. The Catich Gallery at St. Ambrose University is currently featuring Here and There, an exhibit of her paintings that will be on display through April 22.
I was greeted by myriad colors and shapes as I entered the MidCoast Fine Arts Gallery in LeClaire to see its current exhibit. Lisa Mahar's three-dimensional, functional art is unfettered and bold, while Leslie Bell's more muted portraits and figure paintings are sensual and evocative.
Iowa's agricultural abundance, natural landscapes, and teeming wildlife are themes that tie together the work of Iowa artists Larsh Bristol, Douglas Eckheart, and Brian Roberts, currently on exhibit at Quad City Arts in Rock Island.
As I walked into MidCoast Gallery West in downtown Rock Island, I was immediately transported back in time to my grandfather's garage in upstate New York. The image was complete, from the old dusty equipment whose purpose and use were a mystery, to the used license plates adorning the walls where the grimy pegboard paneling didn't quite cover.
In taking a tour of three art shows this weekend, the pick of the litter is Sheri Seggerman's and Elizabeth Shriver's show at MidCoast Gallery West in downtown Rock Island. The Quad City Arts Center is presenting The Artist in You, an exhibition juried by Nick DiGioria, Kunhild Blacklock, and Gloria Burlingame.
Classic figure studies and traditional pottery grace the showroom at the Quad City Arts gallery in downtown Rock Island, and John Beckelman's pottery displayed with Priscilla Steele's drawings represent a return to style, shapes, and techniques that existed long before bits and bytes created the digital era.
Rowen Schussheim-Anderson and Monique McDonald have several of their woven and beaded artworks on display at the Peanut Gallery in downtown Rock Island, and aside from a misstep into glib politics, the show offers two artists adept at their craft, even hinting at new directions.
Is Quad City Arts going to the dogs? Apparently so, at least from August 20 to September 24. Quad City Arts sent out a call for entries for dog-themed art, and the jury decided on 70 works by 48 regional artists now on display.
The current show at MidCoast Gallery West is all about transformations by artists perfecting their work and style. The exhibit, featuring 37 photo-paintings by Dave Sorensen and 25 sculptures by V. Skip Willits & Kristin Garnant, runs through June and is well worth the trip to downtown Rock Island.

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