A pair of summertime exhibits by Illinois artists – with some of their works boasting a distinctly summertime theme – are currently on display at the Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery, with the Moline locale, through August 29, housing vividly colorful oil paintings by Wapella's Judy Steffens and acrylic paintings and mixed-media assemblages by Rock Island's Lisa Mahar.

Touring in support of 2022's Explosions, a May release that Cryptic Rock called "an intense album you can listen to over and over and still find cathartic release of heartbreak and pain with each spin," the alt-rock and -metal talents of Three Days Grace make a July 19 stop at East Moline venue The Rust Belt, the group's credits including a half-dozen top-10 Billboard album smashes and more than a dozen chart-topping singles.

Making a stop in Davenport in support of their most recent album Madness a work crafted during the early months of the pandemic that demonstrates, as AllMusicCom. stated, that the musicians “were evolving even when the world seemed to come to a standstill” – the synth-pop and alt-rock talents of Poliça headline a Raccoon Motel concert on July 19, the group noted for such Billboard-charting hits as “Dark Star,” “Lay Your Cards Out,” and “Chain My Name.”

One of the most deservedly beloved of all titles in the William Shakespeare canon, the magical, pastoral romance A Midsummer Night's Dream enjoys a July 16 through 24 run courtesy of the talents of Genesius Guild, its presentation – the comedy's first return to Lincoln Park in a dozen years – reuniting audiences with an iconic work enjoyed for centuries by audiences of all ages.

A gifted solo and group musician whose talents led Rock and Blues Muse to laud her as "an accomplished guitar virtuoso with a voice that rivals the best," Ana Popovic headlines a special concert event in the Rhythm City Casino Blues Night, the Davenport venue's July 15 event showcasing the gifts of the Yugoslavian native whom American Blues Scene deemed a "blues-rock guitar goddess."

Low, July 15

Touring in support of their most recent, critically acclaimed album Hey What, married musicians Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker bring their indie-rock outfit Low to Davenport's Raccoon Motel on July 15, the duo's lauded vocal harmonies inspiring music journalist and historian Denise Sullivan writes to call them "as chilling as anything Gram [Parsons] and Emmylou [Harris] ever conspired on - though that's not to say it's country-tinged, just straight from the heart."

Making its eagerly awaited July 14 through 16 return, the 42nd Walcott Truckers Jamboree at the Iowa 80 Truck Stop will showcase exhibits, displays, games, cookouts, fireworks, local and national country and pop musicians, and even a beauty contest for trucks in celebration of America's big rigs and those who drive them.

A much-loved actor/musician, dedicated rancher, and decorated World War II soldier will be the subject of a live July 17 performance at the German American Heritage Center, with the Davenport venue hosting To Hell & Back: The Story of Audie Murphy, Duffy Hudson's one-man salute to the American hero whose struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) made him an advocate for research and care for veterans struggling with the condition.

Glorious colors and imaginative designs will be gracing the pavement of Rock Island's Schwiebert Riverfront Park in Quad City Arts' 2022 Chalk Art Fest, a July 16 and 17 weekend event featuring live music, children's activities, food and drink vendors, and more than $1,800 in cash prizes.

Praised by the Chicago Tribune for its “warmhearted wit leavened with wistful regret” and “inner light of emotional honesty,” author Lauren Gunderson's astronomical drama Silent Sky enjoys a July 14 through 24 run at Geneseo's Richmond Hill Barn Theatre, with this moving play a work that, according to the Tribune, “shines with the luminous joy of re-centering women whose achievements have been too long overlooked by the telescope of history.”

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