“48th High School Art Invitational" at the Quad City Arts Center -- through May 1 (pictured: display from 2024 exhibition).
Through Thursday, May 1
Quad City Arts Center, 1715 Second Avenue, Rock Island IL
Nearly 200 works by gifted student artists will be on display at Rock Island's Quad City Arts Center through May 1 in the expansive 48th High School Art Invitational, a glorious celebration of local talent featuring the Quad Cities’ most promising artists expressing themselves through paintings, drawings, sculpture, paper, recycled materials, and film.
Each spring, Quad City Arts displays artwork from top high school artists and their art teachers. High school art instructors in the greater Quad City region are invited to choose works by their top five students in any category, plus additional works in the categories of film, paper sculpture, and recycled materials. The exhibit fills the walls of Quad City Arts’ downtown Rock Island gallery, the opening ceremony is attended by hundreds of Quad Citians supporting young artistic talent, and students receive thousands of dollars in awards from exhibition sponsors. Everyone is welcome to vote for their favorite high school artist in the People's Choice contest.
For many students, the 48th High School Art Invitational will be the first time they receive formal recognition for their creative talents. This can inspire them to pursue careers in the arts and find out how their talents can be applied. Creative people have the ability to problem-solve which is a trait sought after by numerous professions. In addition to the opportunity to show their work publicly, this exhibition is important to show students the process of competing for gallery shows. As professional artists know, getting into exhibitions can be discouraging, but there is value in seeing which pieces were selected. This exhibition is important for the public because it shows the incredible creativity of our young people and our future workforce. Creative people have the ability to problem-solve which is a trait sought after by numerous professions.
This year's assemblage of participating schools and art instructors includes: Assumption High School (Michelle Sexton); Bettendorf High School (Autumn Huff, Hilary Puglisi, and Timothy Solbrig); Central DeWitt High School (Cassie Garrity and Deb Richmann); Davenport Central High School (Annette Eechaute-Lopez and Renee Ott); Davenport Central/the Creative Arts Academy (Clint Balsar); Davenport North High School (Michele O'Brien); Davenport West (Aaron Gillespie and Brian White); Davenport West High School (Neal Meeker and Chad Wolf); Figge Art Academy (Pat Bereskin); Kewanee High School (Lisa Stisser); Mercer County High School (Tara Guidinger); Mid City High School (Stacey Jeffrey); Moline High School (Joel Delp, Chelsea Henning Saberton, Elizabeth Nache, and Tauwon Taylor); Pleasant Valley (Dave Schaeffer, Rachel Schepers, and Ashley Willits); Rock Island High School (William Gustafson and David Schriefer); Rockridge CUSD #300 (Dana Densberger); Schole' Quad Cities (Trish DeHeer-Ladson); Sherrard High School (Kaylee Gundling); and United Township High School (Jon Nevenhoven.
The 48th High School Art Invitational will be on display at the Rock Island gallery through through May 1, regular gallery hours are Mondays through Fridays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission is free. For more information, call (309)793-1213 and visit QuadCityArts.com.
