Seventeen cities and counties across Iowa will receive 23 "Great Places" grants totaling $1.9 million. Davenport will receive $100,000 for a Centennial Park "sprayground" and $100,000 for the "Front Porch Parkway." The program is in its fifth year and is sponsored by the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs. For more information, visit CulturalAffairs.org.
Rock Island's Human Rights Commission will sponsor a public forum on human rights in the city on Thursday, August 27, at 6:30 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center (630 Ninth Street). The commission is interested in hearing from Rock Island citizens on matters of human rights as they may affect employment, housing, finance/credit, public education, economic opportunity, and quality of life.
"The Visible Cities" is a poetry project developed by Ryan Collins and sponsored by Quad City Arts to coincide with a poetry residency he will have in the Quad Cities October 19 through 22. The theme for this project/residency is "Looking at Place & Identity Through Poetry." As part of his residency, Collins will be moderating a blog at VisibleQC.Blogspot.com, where he will post his own original content, links to poetry resources, and information about local/regional arts and culture. Additionally, he will be posting poems submitted by local poets that best engage the theme as articulated in the submission guidelines.
Maquoketa Art Experience will host the first of four seasonal landscape workshops August 17 through 21, with a two-hour symposium featuring Grant Wood scholars. The featured artist for the workshop is Ellen Wagener. The final day's events will begin in Stone City, the site of Grant Wood's Stone City Art Colony. The symposium on Stone City's Regionalist history will be held at the General Store Pub (12612 Stone City Road in Anamosa, Iowa) and is open to the public, with a recommended donation of $20. For more information, visit Maquoketa-Art.org or call (563)652-9925.
Renaissance Rock Island has announced Mike Atkins as its new housing counselor, responsible for conducting home-buyer-education workshops, housing counseling, credit counseling, and foreclosure-prevention education. His primary responsibility will be to talk one-on-one with potential Rock Island home-buyers. To date, 434 home-buyers have been helped through Rock Island Economic Growth Corporation's single-family home-buyer programs. For more information on the organization or home-buyer programs, call (309)788-6311 or visit LiveRI.com.
The Quad City Wind Ensemble invites past members of the group and new players to its open rehearsal on Sunday, August 23, at 6 p.m. in St. Ambrose University's Galvin Fine Arts Center (518 West Locust Street in Davenport). All members of the ensemble will be asked to audition during the weekend following the open rehearsal. Specific requirements for each instrument can be found at IHSMA.org/all_state_audition_info2009.shtml#etudes. More information about auditions will be available at the open rehearsal.
Tom Noddy will be performing "Bubble Magic" at the Family Museum on Saturday, August 15, with shows at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.FamilyMuseum.org. For more information on Noddy, visit TomNoddy.com. The performance is free with paid admission or Family Museum membership. For more information, visit
Ice skaters from the Figure Skating Club of the Quad Cities competed at the State Games of America held in Colorado Springs, Colorado, from July 30 to August 2. Katie McCullough took gold in Preliminary Compulsory Moves, which tests a skater's ability to do spins, jumps, and footwork without music. Karly Lent walked away with a silver medal in the Silver Showcase with her artistic performance to Miley Cyrus's "Hoedown Throw Down." For information on the State Games, visit TheSportsCorp.org/html/sportsCorp/SGA2009/about.html.
The Quad Cities Comic Book Convention will be held on Sunday, August 16, at the Ramada Inn (3020 Utica Ridge Road in Bettendorf). It will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and admission for the public is free. Dealers from three states specializing in comic books new and old, toys, and related collectibles will be on-hand to buy, sell, and trade. For further information, contact Alan at (309)657-1599 or visit EpGuides.com/comics.
John and Claudia VenHorst of Scott County will be inducted into the 2009 Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the 4-H Exhibits Building at the Iowa State Fair on Sunday, August 23. Ninety Iowa counties are participating this year and have selected inductees for their outstanding service and dedication to 4-H. The Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame was initiated in 2002 to help commemorate the 100th anniversary of 4-H.
