Maquoketa artist Rose Frantzen was recently awarded one of the highest honors in portrait painting. Out of 2,200 submissions, Frantzen’s piece Last Light won the Grand Prize in the Portrait Society of America’s 2026 International Portrait Competition. When Frantzen accepted the award on April 11 in Atlanta, she described Last Light as “a love letter […]
Eastern Iowa Arts & Entertainment
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The One of Us horror book fair returns Saturday with a Pulitzer-winning guest
Like an indie horror film that unexpectedly smashes box office records, the One of Us horror book fest was destined for a sequel. Ran by Ames-based Filthy Loot Press and its founder Ira Rat, last year’s inaugural event celebrated horror fiction and independent writers at Public Space One’s Close House. With the groundwork laid from […]
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Review: Channeling Dolly, Sierra Ferrell entertained floral-adorned fans of all ages on the Hancher lawn
The smell of fresh-cut grass, the roar of generators powering food trucks, and a light dash of summer heat filled the air outside Hancher Auditorium on Friday night, as a massive crowd gathered to see alternative country star Sierra Ferrell perform at Hancher Auditorium’s Fall Welcome concert.
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Review: In a deluge of free entertainment, Alternating Currents 2026 flowed into a loading dock, record store and the QC’s coolest venues
The Quad Cities’ annual Alternating Currents Festival landed on a rainy weekend this year (Aug. 13-16), but the weather didn’t dampen the spirits gathering for over 200 events across Davenport, Bettendorf and Rock Island. The smiles outlasted the downpours as free music, art, comedy and film events carried on, albeit with few a cancellations, a […]
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Filmmaker Drew Johnson on why his team chose to zoom in on East Palestine, Ohio — and how it reminds him of Cedar Rapids
Drew Johnson grew up in Cedar Rapids making movies with his friends in his backyard. Now an adult, his filmmaking career has flourished without Johnson needing to leave the Midwest. He’s was one of the founding members of Loose Films, an award-winning production house based in Columbus, Ohio. Johnson founded the company with Noah Dixon […]
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New Mary Oliver documentary inspires Iowa City orgs to celebrate a poet often disregarded in elite circles
Film director (and former University of Iowa professor) Sasha Waters first recalls being struck by the work of Mary Oliver as a new parent, listening to A Prairie Home Companion in her Iowa City kitchen. Years later, PBS would ask her to make a documentary about the late Pulitzer Prize-winning poet for the American Masters […]
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Keep an eye out for ‘Selena’ and other acclaimed films in the Quad Cities Latino Cinema Series
For many, Selena, released in 1997, was one of the first films about Latino culture they watched. It was for me. While Mexican television shows such as El Chavo del Ocho and telenovelas like Rubí were frequently playing in the living room, Selena, a biopic about Tejano musical artist Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, is one of the earliest movies about Latinidad I can recall being shown.
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Painter Marcia Wegman’s final exhibition includes nods to Things & Things & Things, her beloved bygone Iowa City store
Marcia Wegman has been in the Iowa City zeitgeist since arriving here in 1957 to study printmaking with Mauricio Lasansky at the University of Iowa. Now at the age of 90, Marcia is presenting what she is calling her final show, one that also serves as an homage to her time running a beloved retail store in the heart […]
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A Quad Cities writers’ conference dating back to the ’70s returns this week with a who’s-who of eastern Iowa poets, novelists and professors
For 21 years, the Quad Cities’ David R. Collins Writers’ Conference has helped writers turn ideas into stories, first drafts into polished manuscripts and creative goals into achievable next steps. The conference returns to Augustana College in Rock Island June 25–27 with expanded programming, new opportunities for writers and its most diverse lineup of workshops and events to date.
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Photos: Pokey’s Fest 4 had the longhairs and baldies head-banging in Iowa City
The fourth, expanded iteration of hardcore and punk festival Pokey’s Fest commanded three venues over three stormy nights in Iowa City, and saw the debut of a slick new band. There were last-minute revisions to the lineup and day-of venue changes thanks to uncooperative weather, but would it really be Pokey’s Fest if there weren’t […]
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Review: Veteran rock trio TsuShiMaMiRe and new Q.C. power group Sheer Image had scene kids reveling at Raccoon Motel
Amidst the growing humidity and heat of early June, a nearly sold-out crowd gathered on 2nd street outside and in of The Raccoon Motel in Davenport. The night’s enthusiasm was twofold. Not only did it see the return of the long-running Japanese girl punk trio TsuShiMaMiRe, but this was also the debut performance of a new Quad City hardcore band, Sheer Image.
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Review: ‘Natchez’ shows romanticized history, while sometimes comforting, is far creepier than the truth
When the trailer for the Best Documentary Feature winner at the Tribeca Film Festival, Natchez, first played at FilmScene, my initial, curious response was eclipsed by my partners’ who said, “I’ve been there. We had a family reunion there.” Even before watching the film, its themes of history and tourism were placed firmly on our lap, already haunting the theater. How far away was the past, really?
