With the works of both Iowa-based artists boasting vivid colors and expressive storytelling qualities, the dual exhibition Laber & Mullins will be on display in Rock Island's Quad City Arts Center through March 20, this showcase of local talent boasting evocative, thrilling paintings by Phillip Laber and Rachael Mullins.

A fascinating collaborative art installation that invites viewers to return to a place before definition, Amniotic Ambiguity: Comparative Embryology to Queering a Space will be on display in Augustana College's Wallenberg Hall February 8 through August 20, artists Maggie Adams and Aykeem Spivey demonstrating how, in this period of incubation, black-or-white thinking is disrupted by a bold labor of love.

Inviting visitors to reflect on themes central to the artist's practice – including the joyful celebration of LGBTQ identity, acknowledgment of ongoing challenges to the community’s rights, and the enduring impact of the AIDS epidemic – Felix Gonzalez-Torres: "Untitled" (L.A.) will be on display in the Figge Art Museum's Gildehaus Gallery from January 24 through June 21.

With the exhibition's trio of artists three hoping that viewers will take some time to look for joy in their work and enjoy a diversion from the tension happening around us, Mutschler, Quick, & Westphal will be on display at the Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery through March 2, the showcase of Midwestern talent featuring photos by Pete Mutschler, folded paper by Rebecca Quick, and serigraphs by Keosha Westphal.