Quad City Arts Launching Online Educational Materials Line This Week
Quad City Arts will launch its collection of online educational materials, called the Visiting Artist Series Educational Resources, this Wednesday.
The website, found at https://www.quadcityarts.com/vas-educational-resources.html, offers exclusive content from professional artists and ensembles, such as ballet fusion company Hiplet, pianist Barron Ryan, steel pan artist John Patti, Mexican folk/rock quartet Jarabe Mexicano, and National Players theatre company.
Their contributions include brief demonstration videos, study guides, workshop-style videos, and more. This collection of resources stands in 
for the planned in-person educational residency activities for Fall 2020 and Spring 2021.
Access to Educational Resources is free and open to teachers, parents, and other educators looking for supplementary arts materials and content.
This Educational Resources continues to give students access to high-quality arts programming with added flexibility. Videos are captioned in both English and Spanish. The entire season of artists in residence is available, from musicians to actors, dancers to storytellers. Teachers, students, and parents can access performing artists’ resources on any device connected to the internet, anytime, anywhere.
The roster for the resource website includes groups like a hip-hop ballet company of black professional dancers, a steel pan artist, a Chicago-based Japanese drumming ensemble, and an East Coast theatre rep company — arts experiences that students would otherwise not have access to. Many of the artists included in the Educational Resources site were originally scheduled for an in-person residency in the Quad Cities for this season of the Visiting Artist Series.
The roster of artists is as follows:
- John Patti, steel pan artist
- Sultans of String, world/jazz band
- Ho Etsu Taiko, Japanese drum ensemble
- Barron Ryan, composer/pianist
- Reggie Harris, songwriter and storyteller
- Jarabe Mexicano, Mexican folk/rock quintet
- LP and The Vinyl, multi-genre jazz band
- Chicago Dance Crash, hip hop/contemporary dance company
- Hiplet, classical/hip hop ballet fusion
- National Players, ensemble from the Olney Theatre Center
- Stick & Bow, marimba and cello duo
This resource will continue in future seasons as a complement to the traditional in-person residency activities as well as an opportunity to improve local students’ access to the performing arts.
For more information, visit https://www.quadcityarts.com/vas-educational-resources.html.
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 preK sites, elementary, intermediate, and high schools as well as college campuses and community organizations.
The Visiting Artist Series brings artists and ensembles to present educational outreach and public performance, enriching the quality of life in the Quad Cities region through the performing arts. For more information on this residency program, visit www.quadcityarts.com/vas.
About the Visiting Artist Series
Quad City Arts is a nonprofit local arts agency dedicated to enriching the quality of life in the Quad City region through the arts.
Quad City Arts receives significant support for the Visiting Artist Series from Regional Development Authority, Iowa Arts Council, Scott County Regional Authority, Bechtel Charitable Trust, National Endowment of the Arts, Arts Midwest Touring Fund, Rock Island Community Foundation, the Community Foundation of Greater Muscatine, Doris & Victor Day Foundation, U.S. Bank Foundation, Melvin McKay Trust, Mary Iva Gittens Knouse Trust, Moline Rotary, Rauch Family Foundation I, U.S. Bank Foundation, Bettendorf Rotary, Moline Rotary, Kiwanis Club of Davenport, Quad City Arts PASS and Festival of Trees.
Contact: Margot Day, performing arts director at Quad City Arts, mday@quadcityarts.com or 309-793-1213, ext. 106.
