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.

Aquatic paintings, bold tapestries, and woven baskets combine for a fascinating and eclectic trio of exhibitions on display through April 29, with the Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery hosting exhibits by Waterloo, Iowa painter Brian Buckles, Davenport-based textile artist Rowen Schussheim-Anderson, and Moline's woven-basket creator Kelly Hanson.

One of the most influential – albeit mostly unknown – women in American art history will be the subject of a March 4 virtual program presented by the Figge Art Museum, with the Davenport venue hosting Dr. Ranelle Knight-Lueth's Who Was Leila Mechlin?, an exploration on the prominent member of the American Federation of arts who also served as an art critic for the Washington Evening Star and Sunday Star newspapers.

The latest exhibition by a noted area sculptor and multi-media artist, Steve Banks: Construct/Destruct will be on display at the Beréskin Gallery & Art Academy through April 30, with Banks' fascinating artistic themes and subjects including ruined temples, Ionic columns, fragments of architecture, and more.

The fascinating role of portraiture throughout art history will be the subject of a virtual Figge Art Museum presentation on February 25, with American Artists' Self-Portraits Then & Now serving as a companion event – one hosted by recently retired Chief Curator Emerita Brandon Brame Fortune of the National Portrait Gallery – to the Figge's eagerly awaited exhibition For America: 200 Years of Painting from the National Academy of Design.

Always an eagerly awaited series at the Figge Art Museum, the latest incarnation of Young Artists at the Figge will be on display through May 16, with the Davenport venue again celebrating the accomplishments of budding creative talents of local elementary art students whose works will be showcased in six individual exhibits and their accompanying Recognition Days.

Art aficionados are invited to celebrate the Figge Art Museum's highly anticipated For America: 200 Years of Painting from the National Academy of Design alongside Figge Director Michelle Hargrave, National Academy of Design Director Gregory Wessner, and American Federation of Arts Director Pauline Willis, with the Academy's Director of Collections Diana Thompson and Figge Assistant Curator Vanessa Sage - in a February 18 Virtual Opening Celebration - exploring parallels between their collections and the origins of this grand exhibition.

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