Nearly 200 works by gifted student artists will be on display at Rock Island's Quad City Arts Center through May 1 in the expansive 48th High School Art Invitational, a glorious celebration of local talent featuring the Quad Cities’ most promising artists expressing themselves through paintings, drawings, sculpture, paper, recycled materials, and film.

With the gifted artist on hand to introduce her exhibition, artistic practice, and techniques, an exhibit celebration and artist talk for Louise Kames: I Don’t See Anything That’s Not Beautiful will take place at Davenport's Figge Art Museum on April 3. Focused on creating works that explore the beauty of natural decay, the line between life and death, and what remains after, Kames will reflect on both her career and her current Figge showcase, which boasts large woodcut prints and charcoal and pastel drawings of a dying willow tree from her yard in Dubuque,

A fascinating exploration of both a well-known German-American blacksmith and a revolutionary addition to the transportation industry, Immigrant Innovators: The Fruehauf Trailer Company will be on display at Davenport's German American Heritage Center through June 29, the exhibit offering insight into the company’s origins, its development over the decades, and its ultimate downfall after the Fruehauf family’s involvement.

Ever since the 2018 musical bio-pic Bohemian Rhapsody won four Academy Awards and grossed more than $215 million domestic and $875 million worldwide, Freddie Mercury and Queen have been hotter than ever – which is sure to be proven by the raucous crowd response on March 22 when Moline's Vibrant Arena at the MARK pays tribute to the iconic British rockers in the stage spectacle One Night of Queen performed by Gary Mullen & the Works.

Praised by AllMusic for their “intriguing and quite effective blend of hard melodic rock with progressive rock tendencies and awesome vocal arrangements,” the musicians of the iconic rock ensemble Head East bring their "Flat as a Pancake 50th Anniversary Tour" to Davenport's Adler Theatre on March 21, performing cuts from their 1975 album debut 14 years after being inducted into the Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Music Association's Hall of Fame.

Described by the Examiner as “a band unlike any other” and by Blurt magazine as “a hybrid of Idris Muhammad, George Clinton, Ohio Players, and Earth, Wind & Fire,” the tightly-wrapped funk, rock, and R&B musicians of Here Come the Mummies headline a March 21 concert at East Moline venue The Rust Belt, their infectious grooves leading The Bob & Tom Show co-host Bob Kevoian to call one of their concerts “the most fun I've had in 20 years.”

A thrilling night of high-energy blues is guaranteed at the Davenport RiverCenter on March 22 when the venue hosts a shared headlining event with two masterful blues outfits: the Madison, Wisconsin-based touring artists of The Jimmys, and the homegrown talents of the Avey Grouws Band.

Delivering high-energy numbers from an album inspired by the musical worlds of the Grateful Dead and New Orleans funk, a rock, folk, and psychedelia master bring Joe Marcinek’s Dead Folk Summit to Davenport's Redstone Room on March 21, this singular night of entertainment boasting performers Melody Trucks, The Fitzkee Brothers, and others alongside Marcinek himself.

Touring in support of his September release Get Outta Your Mind, and known by many as a playable character in the video game Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer, surf-rock singer/songwriter Donavon Frankenreiter headlines a March 22 engagement at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, AllMusic raving that the artist "has a good-natured stoned drawl of a voice that delivers his light and breezy lyrics perfectly and with slacker soul."

Alash, March 27

Internationally acclaimed throat singers whose American credits include touring with Béla Fleck & the Flecktones to promote the Grammy-winning album Jingle All the Way that featured the Russian talents as guest artists, the musicians of Alash make an eagerly awaited return to Rock Island's Rozz-Tox on March 27, the trio noted for their subtle infusion of modern influences into traditional folk music.

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