With spring (almost) in the air, it's time again for the River Cities’ Reader’s annual Spring Photo Contest!

For 2021, we've decided on three new categories for your submissions: “Life,” “Liberty,” and “The Pursuit of Happiness.”

Entrants are welcome to interpret the categories however they wish.

On April 15, the Putnam Museum & Science Center’s Curator of History and Anthropology Christina Kastell presents a Virtual Curator Talk for Davenport's Figge Art Museum, introducing the Putnam's current Faces of the Past, an original Putnam exhibit that explores portraiture around the world and across time as a reflection of self-identity, popular culture, mythology, and ritual.

An eagerly anticipated annual exhibition returns to the Quad City Arts Center after last year's online-only experience, with dozens upon dozens of phenomenal student artworks on view in the 44th Annual High School Art Invitational, a showcase of burgeoning talents working in all mediums and the incredible creativity of our area's gifted youths.

Presented on April 1 in conjunction with the Figge Art Museum's current exhibition For America: 200 Years of Painting from the National Academy of Design, the virtual Scholar Talk with Margie Cain finds the co-director of Rock Island's Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum sharing information on the venue, its collections, and its exhibits in connection with artist and inventor Samuel F.B. Morse, whose painting Self-Portrait is showcased in the popular Figge attraction.

On March 26, Figge Art Museum members are invited to hop on a computer and travel to Washington D.C. in the virtual tour Across America: The Smithsonianan online visit to the Experience America exhibition focusing on artists in the 1930s and the exciting opportunities available to them during that period.

Presented on March 25 in conjunction with the Figge Art Museum's current exhibition For America: 200 Years of Painting from the National Academy of Design, the virtual program The Enterprising Eliza Greatorex finds professor and author Katherine Manthorne speaking on the Ferdinand Thomas Lee Boyle portrait Eliza Greatorex, a famed work painted upon the subject's election to the Academy in 1869.

On March 26, Figge Art Museum members are invited to hop on a computer and travel to the Big Apple in the virtual tour Across America: The Met an online visit to New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art in which Met docent Laura Conley will guide participants through highlights of the venue's American Art Collection.

A special in-person event held in conjunction with the current exhibition For America: 200 Years of Painting from the National Academy of Design, the Figge Art Museum's March 19 “After Hours” celebration will treat guests to a socially distanced and semi-private evening at the museum to view the exhibit, wine and individual charcuterie plates from the Figge Cafe, and guides available in the exhibition space to answer questions.

On March 18, Michelle Hargrave, the Figge Art Museum's executive director and CEO, and Mark Russell Smith, music director and conductor for the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, will team up for the virtual presentation Art Meets Music, a thoughtful and fascinating exploration of its titular themes and the roles the art forms play in tandem with one another.

Vibrant explosions of color and character are currently on display in the Quad City Arts Center's exhibition Machinations of a Colorholic, and gallery visitors can enjoy a special meet and greet with the exhibit's artist when acrylic painter Elaine Rexdale chats with patrons and discusses her artistic process at the Rock Island venue on March 13.

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