Quad City Arts Invites Schools to Take Part in Visiting Artist Series
Teachers and principals of all Quad-City area schools are invited to schedule an outreach visit for their students from a professional performing artist during the upcoming school year through Quad City Arts’ Visiting Artist Series.
School staff from public and private schools can schedule residency engagements for this fall and next spring by
The first Quad City Arts visiting artist for 2021-22 will be Invoke (starting Oct. 4), a quartet that encompasses bluegrass, Appalachian fiddle tunes, jazz and minimalism.
visiting https://www.quadcityarts.com/vas-scheduling.html.
The series serves students and community members in Clinton, Scott, and Muscatine counties in Iowa, and Henry, Rock Island, and Mercer counties in Illinois.
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. The new season of professional visiting artists, to start on Oct. 4, includes:
- Invoke, modern/bluegrass/jazz quartet, in residence Oct. 4-8
- Bassel & The Supernaturals, Syrian-American funk and soul band, in residence Oct. 18-21
- Jazzy Ash, Traditional African-American music for kids, in residence Oct. 25-28
- LowDown Brass Band, all-horn brass ensemble, in residence Nov. 17-19
- Time for Three, pop/Americana/classical trio, in residence Feb. 15-17
- Barron Ryan, pianist and composer, in residence Feb. 21-26
- Hiplet Ballet, classical ballet/hip-hop fusion, in residence Feb. 28 through March 4
- LowDown Brass Band, all-horn brass ensemble, in residence March 22-24
- Jarabe Mexicano, Mexican folk/rock quintet, in residence April 4-8
- LP And The Vinyl, R&B/jazz group, in residence April 25-29
The 48th season of the Visiting Artist Series includes Jazzy Ash in late October, a songwriter and music educator who provides African-American music for kids.
During the 2019-2020 residency season that included in-person activities, more than 26,600 students participated in the program. Experiences included drama workshops for high school students with an East Coast theatre ensemble, a technique discussion for junior high band students from a Toronto, Canada jazz ensemble, side-by-side concert performance with a Texas string quartet, hip-hop dance presentations on history and technique for elementary students — all arts experiences that students would otherwise not have access to.
Quad City Arts will begin hosting artists for the 2021-2022 Visiting Artist Series this October with a weeklong residency with Invoke, a modern/bluegrass/jazz quartet from Austin, Texas. Residencies will continue through April 2022 and will focus on presenting outreach engagements in schools and community sites in and around the Quad-Cities.
Since 1974, the Visiting Artist 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 master classes at pre-K sites, elementary, intermediate, and high schools as well as college campuses and community organizations. Among program components:
- Quad City Arts charges a subsidized fee of $250 for each performance; they work very hard to keep this cost as low as possible.
- Artists are generally flexible and able to collaborate with you on the best outreach for your students, whether that’s an all-school performance, a workshop, a masterclass, or Q&A.
- Artists can perform in a variety of settings, such as a classroom, a gym, or an auditorium.
- Performances last about 45 minutes to an hour.
To find out more about these artists and to schedule a school outreach, visit https://www.quadcityarts.com/vas-scheduling.html.
