Presented on January 19 as part of the Davenport Public Library's 3rd Thursday at Hoover's Presidential Library & Museum series, the virtual program Iowa & the Great Depression will find Park Ranger Peter Hoehnle speaking on how Iowans experienced the 1930s, with discussion on the ways that they survived hard times, and how some residents turned to radical action in response to the ordeal.

A beautiful and informative documentary that found its inspiration during the shelter-in-place phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, My Garden of a Thousand Bees serves as the second presentation in River Action's annual QC Environmental Film Series on January 29, the film created when wildlife filmmaker Martin Dohrn set out to record all the bees he could find in his tiny urban garden in Bristol, England, filming them with one-of-a-kind lenses he forged on his kitchen table.

With her latest exhibition showcasing more than a dozen new works, one of them an installation created specifically for its Davenport venue, noted area artist and professor Zaiga Minka Thorson is the invited guest at the Figge Art Museum's February 2 artist talk, during which the longtime Black Hawk College instructor will discuss the pieces on display in her collection Storms & Silver Linings.

Hailed by StageLeft.nyc as "taut and lively" and by Theatre Scene as "a compelling play on important and topical themes," playwright Lauren Gunderson's unique and unpredictable dramatic comedy Natural Shocks makes its Quad Cities debut at Moline's Black Box Theatre from February 2 through 12, with DC Metro Theatre Arts adding its praise by deeming it a work that "raises important points about the need to take action in times of crises."