Arresting works by a trio of Midwestern artists will be on display at the Quad City Arts Center through June 24, with the Rock Island venue currently showcasing a wide variety of artistic mediums: encaustics by Cindy Lesperance of Oakwood Hills, Illinois; clay sculpture by Elizabeth Shriver of West Branch, Iowa; and hand-painted textiles by Rachel Davis of Downers Grove, Illinois.

Purchased in honor of the Figge Art Museum's late museum trustee, board president, and museum supporter Tom Gildehaus, the visitor favorite Corn Zone will be on display at the Davenport venue through September 4, its “corn field” installation of oversize blown-glass ears carefully suspended from the museum's ceiling with rope, and designed to explore the fragility of glass, the story of corn, and contemporary issues in farming.

A collaboration between Davenport's Figge Art Museum and 7th-graders at the city's Creative Arts Academy of the Quad Cities, the student exhibition Family Path: How Objects Tell Our Story will enjoy a closing reception on May 19, its young artists' works inspired by the Figge's current exhibition Border Cantos / Sonic Borders, on display through June 5.

Many thanks to all who entered the River Cities' Reader’s Spring 2022 Photo Contest for which we received entries in the categories of "Safe," "Effective," and "Trust the Science." Here are our winners and favorites. Thanks to all who submitted!

A trio of varied artistic mediums by a quartet of gifted Midwestern artists will be decorating the Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery through the fourth of July, with travelers and art lovers alike to delight in the sumi-e paintings of North Liberty, Iowa's Karen Kurka Jensen, the acrylic sculptural paintings of Chicago artist Sally Havlis, and the glass art vessels of Staunton, Illinois' father-and-son team James and Phillip Bruch Scheller.

Families can enjoy an afternoon of fun, fascinating, and free activities and performances at the Figge Art Museum when the Davenport venue and its outdoor Bechtel Plaza, on May 15, host a celebration of Border Cantos / Sonic Borders, the exhibit designed to explore the complexities of the southern border through photography, sculpture, and sound, inviting patrons to bridge boundaries and initiate important conversations.

On May 5, Figge Art Museum visitors are invited to experience the landmark 10th season of the Peabody Award-winning Art:21 – Art in the 21st Century, the longest-running television series on contemporary art, in a screening featuring one collective and 12 individual artists – among them photographer Richard Misrach, whose work is currently on view in the Davenport venue's Border Cantos / Sonic Borders exhibit.

An eagerly awaited springtime event taking place over Mother's Day weekend in Davenport's spacious Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, the 2022 Beaux Arts Spring Fair will treat visitors to an outdoor celebration of visual arts and fine crafts on May 7 and 8, with the annual event featuring food, live music, children's activities, and works for sale by nearly 100 artists and Midwestern vendors.

With the venue presenting its first exhibition of visual art since 2020, Rock Island's Rozz-Tox houses a collection of colorful and evocative new and small paintings in Leslie Bell: Little Theaters, an exhibit (on display through May 29) boasting the talents of the beloved, retired professor of art at Davenport's St. Ambrose University.

For those seeking a change from the traditional landscape of the Quad Cities, Bettendorf's Beréskin Gallery & Art Academy will, through June 30, house a representational exhibition of water, sky, volcanic rock, and white structures in It's All Greek to Me: Island Impressions by Robert Zeidler, a collection of never-before-seen works inspired by the artist's recent travels to Greece and the Aegean Sea.

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