Bettendorf – On Friday, February 15, 2013, from 5:30-7:30 pm, the Family Museum will host a grand opening of Fox Hollow, the Town Square and Farm exhibit gallery, for Family Museum members and VIP guests. This invitation-only event celebrates the completion of Phase II of a $1.3 million renovation. Members of the media are welcome to attend, and they may bring members of their immediate families if they wish. The exhibit will open to the public on Saturday, February 16.

There will be a ribbon cutting at 5:30 pm sharp with the assistance of our Honorary Mayor of the Day, Payton, age 5. Payton and five other area children were winners of a drawing at the Family Museum to choose a mayor and five ribbon cutters for the VIP event. Mayor and ribbon cutters may be available for interviews prior to gallery opening depending on parent approval. Media is welcome to arrive early.

The Family Museum has completely transformed the Museum galleries with Fox Hollow, a friendly community where visitors can chat with a neighbor, shop for groceries, work in a garden, play in a treehouse, or wave to the mail carrier. Fox Hollow includes familiar features of everyday life, such as park benches, a streetlight, a grocery store, and a fire engine. The new cityscape will include a Post Office, Fire Station, Shoe Store, Ice Cream Stand, Pizza Parlor, Vet Clinic, and Harvest Market. At each location a friendly face greets visitors to tell them a little bit about their job. Penny the Mail Carrier loves to meet people in her community on her mail route, Sal the Pizza Man enjoys making fresh pizza for families, and Farmer George encourages kids to pick produce and help take care of the farm animals.

In the center of the Town Square is a large interactive kinetic sculpture designed and built by KidZibits out of Minneapolis. Guests can maneuver metal balls through the use of hand cranks up to the top of the structure where the balls then travel down ramps, spirals, and curves as the balls roll and ding and hit obstacles.

The majority of the renovation was completed by Exhibit Concepts out of Vandalia, Ohio (near Dayton). A representative will be on hand to answer questions at the opening event.

Fox Hollow encourages children to interact with the environment and to learn through exploration and play. Fox Hollow is a reflection of the Quad City community with its friendly people, bountiful resources, and iconic river way. The Family Museum staff would like to thank the community that inspired Fox Hollow and made this renovation a reality.

This Family Museum renovation has been made possible through the generosity of the following organizations: City of Bettendorf, Scott County Board of Supervisors, State of Iowa - Vision Iowa CAT Grant, Hubbell-Waterman Foundation, Alcoa Foundation, Scott County Regional Authority, Riverboat Development Authority, Modern Woodmen of America, Dorothea LeClair Bequest, Family Museum Foundation, Community Foundation of the Great River Bend, 3M Foundation, Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust, and Grainger.

Davenport, Iowa (February 6, 2013) - Beginning February 9, the Figge Art Museum will present the work of Los Angeles-based sculptor Alison Saar in the exhibition titled: Alison Saar: STILL...which will be on display through April 14 in the third floor gallery.

Saar, who is receiving international attention, combines bold figurative sculptures with found and repurposed objects such as tree branches, old lumber, pots and pans and boxing gloves to create moving, personal statements. The works in the exhibition play on the many meanings of the word "Still"?to quiet or appease, to persevere, an apparatus for transforming liquids, or lifeless (as in still born)?to explore issues of aging, gender and racial identity, and our progress through life.

Informed by artistic traditions from the Americas to Africa and beyond, and by her mixed racial upbringing, Alison Saar fuses her paradoxical responses to the black-and-white delineations of political and social forces into a powerful, visual, and kinesthetic tension. She uses the everyday experience, history and associations of her materials, African art and ritual, Greek mythology, and the stark sculptural tradition of German Expressionism to infuse her work with a primal intensity that challenges cultural and historic references and stereotypes.

Museum visitors will have the opportunity to meet Alison Saar on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. for a discussion about her exhibition in the John Deere auditorium followed by a catalogue signing in the Museum Store. The talk will be free with membership or paid admission.

Saar received her BA from Scripps College and her MFA from Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles. Her work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the High Museum in Atlanta, and many others. She has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Anonymous Was a Woman, and she was recently named a USA Fellow. The exhibition is organized by the Ben Maltz Gallery at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, and is curated by Gallery Director Meg Linton. The catalogue and exhibition are sponsored by the Contemporary Collectors, Orange County, and the presentation of the exhibition at the Figge is sponsored by Iowa American Water.

Companion Programs:

Members Only Preview Reception

5:30 p.m. Friday, February 8

Meet Alison Saar and exhibition curator Meg Linton

Alison Saar Talk

2:30 p.m. Saturday, February 9

Alison Saar discusses her works in the John Deere Auditorium. Join her in the Museum Store immediately following where she will sign copies of the exhibition catalogue for STILL...

Artists Talk

7 p.m. Thursday, March 14 and 28

Speakers: Zaiga Thorson, Terry Rathje, Steve Banks and Skip Willits

Experience the exhibition Alison Saar: STILL... through the eyes of four local artists as they each discuss the artworks from their own perspectives.

Docent-led Tours

1:30 p.m. Sundays in March

6 p.m. Thursday March 14 and 15

6 p.m. Thursday, April 11

All programs are free with membership or paid admission.

About the Figge Art Museum

The Figge Art Museum is located on the riverfront in downtown Davenport at 225 West Second Street. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday and Sundays 12-5 p.m. Thursdays the museum is open until 9 p.m. Admission to the museum and tour is $7. Admission is free to Figge members and institutional members. To contact the museum, please call 563.326.7804, or visit www.figgeartmuseum.org.

The Taste of New Orleans is Coming to the Figge on Fat Tuesday

Davenport, Iowa (February 5, 2013) - The taste of New Orleans will be invading the Figge Art Museum for the 9^th annual Mardi Gras Rajun Cajun Fest taking place one week from today on Fat Tuesday, February 12.

Area chefs from the Figge, Thunder Bay, Machine Shed, Gendler's Black Ram, Crow Valley Country Club, Johnny's Italian Steakhouse, Gramma's Kitchen and Select Specialty Hospital will be cooking Cajun-inspired appetizers, entrees and desserts in the lobby of the museum from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Guests will have the opportunity to sample each chef's Cajun creations including chicken and sausage jambalaya, crawfish tails with alligator gumbo, oyster po'boys, beignets and much more. There will be live music by local artist Lewis Knudsen, the option to participate in a make-your-own Mardi Gras mask art activity, a cash bar and a chance to cast votes for your favorite chef.

This is the first year the Figge has hosted the event and all proceeds will benefit the museum's outreach programs for thousands of area students. Advance tickets are $25 each or two for $45. To purchase tickets, visit www.figgeartmuseum.org or call 563-326-7804 x2046. Tickets at the door are $30 each or two for $55. Doors open at 5:00 p.m.

About the Figge Art Museum

The Figge Art Museum is located on the riverfront in downtown Davenport at 225 West Second Street. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday and Sundays 12-5 p.m. Thursdays the museum is open until 9 p.m. Admission to the museum and tour is $7. Admission is free to Figge members and institutional members. To contact the museum, please call 563.326.7804, or visit www.figgeartmuseum.org.