The life and accomplishments of Quad Cities namesake will be showcased in Bettendorf Public Library's latest virtual presentation in its popular “Community Connections” series, with local historian Gena Schantz, in the May 20 program George Davenport & the Founding of the Quad Cities, tracing Davenport's many careers and examining how he adapted his talents to serve and foster the development of the communities that surrounded him.

Delivered as part of the Davenport Public Library's virtual 3rd Thursday at Hoover's Presidential Library & Museum programming, the May 20 Zoom webinar Iowa's Communal Utopias will find Peter Hoehnle delivering a sweeping overview of different attempts by Iowans to create their own form of utopia featuring the Iowa Pioneer Phalanx, Salburia, the Icarian Communities, the Clydesdale Colony, Communia, and, principally, the Amana Colonies

One of the most popular recent series for binge-watching will be explored, and critiqued, in a special virtual presentation on May 20 with the Figge Art Museum's hosting of Why Did “Bridgerton” Erase Haiti?, Dr. Marlene L. Daut's webinar discussion of her article of the same title that examines the black aristocracy present in Haiti during the English Regency era, and how the Caribbean is often ignored by historical costume dramas such as Netflix's Bridgerton.

Accompanied by an entire repertoire of jazz standards and iconic pop hits, a 2005 graduate of Rock Island High School returns to the Quad Cities when the Matt Barber Trio plays a live concert event at Davenport's Grape Life Wine Store & Lounge on May 28, an evening that will find Barber and his longtime touring musicians performing classics from the five albums he has recorded since 2007.

Movie lovers with a firm grasp of recent(-ish) film history can show off their smarts when Bettendorf venue The Tangled Wood hosts 2000s Movies Trivia Night, a May 18 event in which area cinephiles are invited to trade their knowledge for cash prizes while answering questions on cinematic works in the decade of Erin Brockovich, There Will Be Blood, The Dark Knight, and Up.

Praised by the New York Times for his “unblinking alertness” and delivering “a new kind of oddity and a renewed sense of provocation about painting,” a lauded artist will be the subject of the virtual May 16 presentation In Conversation: Jeremiah William McCarthy and Walter Hatke, in which McCarthy – the National Academy of Design's curator and co-curator of For America: 200 Years of Painting from the National Academy of Design speaks with Hatke about how his practice resonates with the work of the artists featured in the exhibition.

Described by Broadway World as “a musical so jam-packed with hits that it's almost overwhelming,” the toe-tapping, soul-lifting revue Beehive: The '60s Musical enjoys a late-spring/early-summer run at Rock Island's Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, this infectiously entertaining salute to female pop, rock, and soul singers lauded by DC Metro Theater Arts as “a big-hearted, well-accomplished, utterly tuneful joy.”

Some of the most memorable and beloved tunes from the worlds of theatre and movies will receive delightful virtual interpretations from May 21 through May 23, with the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts presenting the original musical revue The Show Must Go Online, a student-performed collection of hits from students of the venue's theatre program Young Footliters.

The multi-faceted experiences of individuals from America and abroad are being reflected in a pair of new exhibitions at the Quad City Arts Center, with the Rock Island venue, through June 18, presenting art on the walls, on the floor, and hanging from the ceiling courtesy of the Peter Xiao paintings in iNundATIONs and Ioan Marcu's mixed-media sculptures in Immigrants.

Many thanks to all who entered the River Cities' Reader’s Spring 2021 Photo Contest for which we received entries in the categories of "Life," "Liberty," and "The Pursuit of Happiness." Here are our winners and favorites. Thanks to all who submitted!

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