A world-premiere presentation telling an all-too-current tale of Zoom-meeting anxieties, the three-song cycle Operatini serves as the fourth commission in the 23-year history of Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre, its February 11 debut a virtual collaboration by composer Nancy Hill Cobb, librettist Melinda Boyd, and mezzo-soprano Suzanne Hendrix-Case.

With its first photography exhibit since the venue opened in the summer of 2017, Bettendorf's Beréskin Gallery & Art Academy treats guests to 43 works from 23 area artists in the February 5 opening reception for The Photographic Exploration Project, with the included artists ranging “from very talented hobbyists to those that are professional,” according to gallery owner Pat Beréskin. “For our first call to entry for photography, we are quite pleased with the quality of the results.”

A hilarious day-long event with a serious purpose, the Stella Artori presentation Saving Our Job$ Virtual Comedy Festival will, on February 14, be hosted by Coralville's Xtream Arena & GreenState Family Fieldhouse and presented locally by Iowa City's Big Grove Brewery, with the online Valentine's Day celebration boasting national and international touring comedians, as well as serving as a fundraiser for Spectra venues all across North America.

Although most people are more familiar with New Orleans' Mardi Gras and Brazil's Carnival, Germany has its own extravagant regional celebration known as Fasching, and on February 15, Kathlyn Hoffman will deliver a virtual presentation on this fascinating street party in Fascinating Fasching, a German American Heritage Center program offered in partnership with the Dank Haus.

Held in conjunction with the venue's current exhibition Blakelock: By the Light of the Moon, the Figge Art Museum's Assistant Curator Vanessa Sage will host a Virtual Gallery Tour on February 11, employing BeamPro technology to showcase and celebrate the artist's dynamic paintings, his place in art history, and his connections to the National Academy of Design.

From February 12 through 14, Grammy-nominated songwriter and piano sensation Jim Brickman will be showcased in a quintet of live virtual performances, with Share the Love, LIVE! designed as an uplifting, family-friendly showcase of Brickman's gifts and hit songs such as “Love of My Life,” “Destiny,” “Angel Eyes,” and “Valentine,” the latter an appropriate tune for an at-home Valentine's Weekend celebration.

Held in conjunction with the 11th installment of the venue's latest group exhibition, the artistic talents of 42 students from area colleges and universities will be showcased in the Figge Art Museum's opening celebration for College Invitational, a virtual event highlighting techniques and mediums including drawing, painting, collage, printmaking, clay, digital illustration, silkscreen, mixed media installation, and found materials taking place on February 4.

In a special cinematic offering presented as part of Fathom Events' Black History Month celebration, one of the most adored figures in science-fiction history shares her true-life tale of reaching for the stars in Woman in Motion: Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek, & the Remaking of NASA, an exhilarating new documentary tribute – screening at Rave Cinemas Davenport 53rd + IMAX on February 2 – featuring Star Trek's iconic Lt. Uhura, Nichelle Nichols.

Taking place, fittingly, on the final exhibition day for the venue's T.J. Dedeaux-Norris Presents the Estate of Tameka Jenean Norris, the Figge Art Museum will present the video A Eulogy for Tameka Janean Norris on January 31 – a unique performative “funeral” for artist T.J. Norris' recently deceased artistic persona whose talents are showcased in the exhibit.

Presented by Kevin Braafladt, the Army Sustainment Command Deputy Historian at the Rock Island Arsenal and the Army Sustainment Command History Office, the February 10 program Unrestricted Submarine Warfare & the Zimmermann Note serves as the latest virtual offering in the Davenport and Rock Island Public Libraries' series exploring the Quad Cities' and Rock Island Arsenal's historical ties to the first World War.

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