With the Los Angeles Times raving that “Strength, physical and spiritual, exudes from her work as if audibly – a proud shout,” the Pittsburgh-based artist Vanessa German finds her latest exhibition Miracles & Glory Abound showcased at the Figge Art Museum May 11 through September 1, the artist's works also housed in permanent collections in Los Angeles, Baltimore, Cleveland, and Hartford, Connecticut.

Delivering what NoDepression.com calls “a daring blend of innovative modern swagger and classic Americana cool which dares listeners not to come along for the ride,” the bluegrass, hip-hop, and country-rap artists of Gangstagrass play a special free concert at Davenport's Redstone Room on May 10, producing a singular sound that, according to Essentially Pop, “smashes every borderline, every genre, every preconceived idea of what a bluegrass hip-hop fusion might sound like.”

With singer and group co-founder Tony Butala currently celebrating his astonishing 61st year with the trio, the beloved pop vocalists of The Lettermen will return to the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse on May 13, their annual concert engagements overflowing with timeless hits such as “When I Fall in Love,” “Put Your Head on My Shoulder,” “Hurt So Bad,” and “Shangri-La.”

Praised by the Chicago Tribune for its “warmhearted wit leavened with wistful regret” and “inner light of emotional honesty,” playwright Lauren Gunderson's astronomical drama Silent Sky enjoys its area premiere at Moline's Black Box Theatre May 2 through 12 – 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.”