MidCoast Musings
Hot off the presses!
MidCoast has a new brochure, created by local artist Jeff VanEchaute of pi design. Testimonials were gathered and images were assembled. Thank you to Jack Wilhoit, artist/volunteer, and Dick Oberg, Oberg Photography, for images.
The cover is a detail of a painting by Lisa Mahar which celebrates the Quad Cities in colorful symbols, landmarks and motifs. Last week, Lisa told me that having her painting on the brochure gave her confidence to enter it for an out-of-town juried competitive exhibition, and to her amazement she won the top award. That’s what we love to hear!
The brochure was produced to better inform the community about the services MidCoast provides. Enjoy a selection of excerpts from the brochure, voices of our friends and neighbors, throughout this month's newsletter.
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What if MidCoast disappeared due to lack of funding? We REALLY DO NEED YOUR grassroots financial support for 2018. At whatever level you can help, please do. The Go Fund Me and mailing address options are below. MidCoast is a 501c3 non-profit organization.
And finally, thank you to our area artists for the 32 entries we received for 2019 exhibitions with MidCoast!
~ Sherry
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CALL FOR ENTRIES: Rock the Arts, Dec 7-8
Friday, December 7, 6-9 p.m.
Saturday, December 8, 12-3 p.m.
Entry Deadline: November 24
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The December
Rock the Arts will take place in a focused trio of Rock Island venues: the Desoto Building, MidCoast Gallery West/The ARTery and Quad City Arts.
Demonstrations include the Quad City Wood Turners (wood turning) and Joel Knanishu (raku firing) at Desoto. Kids can experiment with clay.
Artists may register to show their art works at booths or tables: $35 for an indoor space and table.
All fees will be pooled to market the December
Rock the Arts.
For registration, send a sample of four images of your art with description of media, contact Sherry at
info@midcoast.org or 563-424-1210.
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CALL FOR ENTRIES: Winter Ornament Contest at Bucktown
Entry Deadline: December 1
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Top prize is $100, with several additional awards. Submissions are due December 1, and will be on display at Bucktown through Final Friday (December 14).
Ornaments will be for sale, with proceeds going to support public art programs at Bucktown.
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SPACE AVAILABLE at Bucktown
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First floor
Suite 107: 150 sq. ft., $115/month
Casements are all rented, but applicants will be placed on a waiting list.
Second floor suites
Suite 200: 454 sq. ft., $340/month
Suite 201b: 749 sq. ft. $562/month
Suite 203: 966 sq. ft. $725/month
Suite 205: 815 sq. ft. $611/month
Suites 202-206: 2,030 sq. ft., $1,523/month
Leases will run through December 2019, with the option of month-to-month rental. Access 24/7, utilities included. Suites do not have individual sinks. There's access to second floor restrooms, as well as first-floor mail delivery. Visual artists are encouraged, other activity options, including office space, will be considered.
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Shop Amazon. Support MidCoast.
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We know you love shopping on Amazon. It's ok, we do too.
Did you know when you shop through AmazonSmile (
smile.amazon.com), the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price to MidCoast Fine Arts.
How cool is that?!?!
We know the holidays are right around the corner. Why not spread twice the cheer? And we'll make it SUPER easy, just click on the AmazonSmile button or go to
smile.amazon.com and search for MidCoast Fine Arts.
Happy shopping and thanks in advance for your support!
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Support the Arts. Support MidCoast.
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We're a non-profit community arts agency founded and run by artists. Our mission to stimulate our community's cultural and economic vitality through the support of regional visual arts and artists is accomplished by having amazing art-focused programming and events like Final Fridays, ArtWorks Expo and Riverssance Festival of Fine Art.
Donations can be
online or mailed to:
MidCoast Fine Arts
225 East 2nd Street
Davenport, IA 52801
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MidCoast Gallery West / The ARTery
1629 2nd Avenue, Rock Island
Open: Wed. - Sat., 11:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
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Lori Miller and David Hast
through November
Friday, November 9, 6-9 p.m., Closing Reception
Meet the artists while enjoying snacks, drinks, and live music!
Lori Miller, a fiber collage artist for over 18 years, creates works using fabrics and other tactile media. Her art is inspired by nature, color and the vibrancy of life. Her intuitive process composes mosaic pieces to capture ideas, organize colors and utilize negative space.
Miller observes, “Even with all of the world’s imperfection and chaos, I seek out the beauty and grace in the everyday. I believe there will always be an amazing balance between confusion and hope—and I want the viewer to feel that connection through my fragmented images."
David Hast studied art at Black Hawk College, and works in carefully rendered images, including pen and ink drawings and oil paintings formed to shapes of musical instruments. The imagery is built up of richly intertwined snippets of objects and figures. He sums up his approach as: “May God save us from the imagination of those who have no imagination.”
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Mixed media landscapes by Lori Miller
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Tomorrow's Dream by David Hast
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Moline Centre Station
1200 River Drive, Moline
Open: Mon. - Fri., 6 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.;
Sat., 8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.; Sun., 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
This is the only art gallery in town that is open every day of the week!
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Glen Lowry
through November
Since childhood, Glen Lowry has been inspired by lively illustrations in children's books. Using a variety of media, he blends the boundaries of fine artist, illustrator and designer. He works in charcoal drawing, pastel, acrylic paint, digital drawing/painting and screen printing.
His images show "different animals in friendships to convey understanding the other, or diversity, by looking at all the types of animals around the world."
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Cat and Socks serigraph by Glen Lowry
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Bucktown Center for the Arts
225 E. 2nd St., Davenport
Open: Wed. - Sat., 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
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Artoberfest!
Final Friday, October 26, 6-9 p.m.
Free Admission
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Purchase a festive artist-decorated glass for $10 and enjoy a variety of craft beer samples. The Pleasant Valley Art Club will have a craft activity for children.
On the second floor in suite 203, photographer Mark Stegmaier will have a special one-day exhibition. The show includes many aerial photos of Quad city running events but also includes collages, portraits and diverse images from a lifetime of photography.
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Photography by Mark Stegmaier
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MidCoast Gallery at Bucktown
Emma Farber Cunningham &
Barbara Toner
through December
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Collecting the Sky 2
by Emma Farber Cunningham
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Emma Cunningham’s main body of work is composed of imagined landscapes that mix representational and abstract elements. She creates works to “strike a poetic balance between extremes and call upon the viewer's imagination to effectively ‘complete’ each scene.”
Her Bucktown exhibition works were inspired by the cosmos—nebulas, galaxies, and all sorts of colorful interstellar bodies. “Because I use my imagination to generate content, it seemed appropriate that I finally ‘look to the stars’ for inspiration.”
A graduate of Black Hawk College and St. Ambrose, Cunningham received her MFA from Illinois State University and returned to the Quad Cities as an adjunct art instructor for both Black Hawk College and Scott Community College.
Barbara Toner was born in Philadelphia, but has lived in Bettendorf, for more than 30 years. She discovered the lure of fused glass creation shortly after her retirement, first dabbling in jewelry, then mastering mosaics and plates, and finally coral and floriform bowls, clocks and plates.
She notes, “I like to call my body of works for this exhibition ‘Fragile: Flowers and Nature in Glass.’ I've been excited at times with how glass can mimic the forms and fluid lines of trees, flowers and animals as it changes during the firing process.”
Since glass is both a natural substance (silica) but is fragile in finished form like the environment, she sees the medium as an appropriate and exciting metaphor for thinking about protecting our world.
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Fused glass by Barbara Toner
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November 24
Shop Small Saturday at
Bucktown, Centre Station and Gallery West
That Dam Shopping Trip
Bucktown
November 30, 6-9 p.m.
Final Friday Wine Walk with carolers from
Black Hawk College Choral
Bucktown Center for the Arts
(Supported by a gift from Dr. Kurt Christoffel)
Winter Ornament Competition entries due
December 14, 6-9 p.m.
Winter ornament competition awards &
music by Classical Moods Quartet including Bucktown artist Gwen Patton
Bucktown Center for the Arts
Opening reception for Kathleen (Casey) Washington
MidCoast Gallery at Bucktown
March 2
Chuck-a-Puck Fundraiser for MidCoast with Quad City Storm
TaxSlayer Center
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Copyright © 2018 MidCoast Fine Arts. All rights reserved.
MidCoast Fine Arts
PO Box 4142 Rock Island, IL 61204-4142
225 East 2nd Street Davenport, IA 52801
MidCoast Fine Arts programs are partially supported by operational grants
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