Local and regional artists and crafters are sharing their talents for a great cause this holiday season, and the Muscatine Art Center invites everyone to join in the fun. The beloved Heartfelt & Handmade Ornament Competition, its decorations on view through December 5, has returned, and the first day to purchase these ornaments on December 6, at the Heartfelt & Handmade Family Festival and Market.

An arresting exhibition of sculptural works is on display at the University of Dubuque's Bisignano Gallery through December 17, with Nature's Faces: Crow Haven Ceramics and Mississippi Mud Studios treating visitors to the talents of Dean Wellman and Denise McCullough, as well as Mississippi Mud Studios' Gary Carstens.

On November 1, Muscatine Art Center invites families to celebrate an autumnal Mexican holiday through its Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) festivities, an afternoon of free, hands-on activities, artmaking, and bilingual performances that honor this vibrant Mexican tradition.

An eclectic mix of practical lettering and expressive pieces that involve letters, historical recreations, and three-dimensional collages, Cheryl Jacobsen's Lettering and Assemblage: (things I love, my art so far) is on display at St. Ambrose University's Catich Gallery through December 12.