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.

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.

With its first photography exhibit since the venue opened in the summer of 2017, Bettendorf's Beréskin Gallery & Art Academy treats guests to 43 works from 23 area artists in the February 5 opening reception for The Photographic Exploration Project, with the included artists ranging “from very talented hobbyists to those that are professional,” according to gallery owner Pat Beréskin. “For our first call to entry for photography, we are quite pleased with the quality of the results.”

Held in conjunction with the 11th installment of the venue's latest group exhibition, the artistic talents of 42 students from area colleges and universities will be showcased in the Figge Art Museum's opening celebration for College Invitational, a virtual event highlighting techniques and mediums including drawing, painting, collage, printmaking, clay, digital illustration, silkscreen, mixed media installation, and found materials taking place on February 4.