ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS (August 11, 2023) — A keystone program of Quad City Arts, this nationally-recognized residency program brings professional performing artists directly to schools to do outreach performances that might otherwise be out of reach. Featuring artists from different artistic and cultural backgrounds, these performances inspire, uplift, educate, and transform a student’s academic, social, and emotional well-being. Since 1974, this program has brought in 476 residences, more than 830 artists, over 10,400 school visits, more than 450 concerts and just over 2.73 million reached.
In the 2022-23 season alone, the series impacted 29,342 K-12 and college students.
If you would like to support this program by sponsoring a residency, please contact Karie Gilson at 309.793.1213 x104 or you can make a secure donation online to help power our next fifty years!
The 2023-2024 season is filled with music, dance, and theater from diverse cultures presented by acclaimed artists. Native Pride Productions, founded by Larry Yazzie, will visit in December 2023 to share stories and teaches about traditional Native-American as well as contemporary styles of dance blended with traditional Native-American and mainstream music during his solo and troupe performances.
Internationally-recognized hip-hop dancer, choreographer, and teacher, Amirah Sackett will be in residence February 2024. She explores and embodies her Muslim-American identity through combining hip-hop movement and Islamic themes. She reached viral video fame after being featured on POPSUGAR Celebrity, The Huffington Post, AJ+, and Upworthy.
Visiting in April 2024, Wanees Zarour is an award winning Palestinian-American composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist steeped in maqam and jazz music. Zarour directs the Middle East Music Ensemble at the University of Chicago, co-directs the Chicago Immigrant Orchestra, and leads “East Loop,” a septet that explores the intersections between the maqam and jazz traditions.
As a passionate origami artist and teacher, Kuniko Yamamoto enchants audiences of every age with dramatic storytelling using myths and fables from ancient and modern Japan, spiced with social revelations to educate and amuse. Her residency will include a Japanese tea ceremony at Quad City Arts in May 2024.
Teachers and principals of all Quad City Area schools are invited to schedule an arts engagement for their students from a professional performing artist during the upcoming school year through Quad City Arts’ Visiting Artist Series. Residency host sites can sign up for visits ranging from all-school performances to hands-on workshops or performance opportunities with artists in residence hosted by Quad City Arts.
School staff from public and private schools can schedule residency engagements for this fall and next spring by visiting quadcityarts.com/vas-scheduling.
Community sites will be able to schedule engagements for their patrons and clients in the coming weeks through the same website. More details will be posted on quadcityarts.com/vas.
The series serves students and community members in Clinton, Scott, and Muscatine Counties in Iowa, and Henry, Rock Island, and Mercer Counties in Illinois.
Since 1974, the Visiting Artists Series has engaged Quad City residents of all ages in quality arts experiences with professional performing artists. Artists of various disciplines present demonstrations, workshops, and masterclasses at pre-K sites, elementary, intermediate, and high schools as well as college campuses and community organizations. For more information about the Visiting Artists Series residency program, visit quadcityarts.com/vas.
Quad City Arts is a non-profit arts organization committed to enriching the quality of life in the Quad Cities Region through the arts. All Quad City Arts programs are funded in part by our Quad City Arts Partners (donors like you), Festival of Trees, and operating grants from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, and the Iowa Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts. Quad City Arts is a proud partner with the Quad Cities Cultural Trust.
