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."

With Philly Cheeze Blues' Phillip Smith raving that the musician's My World Is So Cold album boasts "a bus load of soul," adding "I love the funky guitar riffs and the infectious rhythm," blues guitarist extraordinaire Kent Burnside headlines a January 27 concert at Davenport's Gypsy Highway Bar & Grill, the artist the oldest grandson and one of the closest pupils of the legendary R.L. Burnside.

A unique and interactive concert experience that allows adult to enjoy the music they love while also providing fun and interactive activities for kids, Common Chord's new series Music Explorers will, on January 29, find its inspiration in the British Invasion, at event inviting Redstone Room patrons to cross the pond and rediscover the music of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, and many more legendary artists.