“Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World” was screened earlier this month in Iowa City and will air on PBS as part of "American Masters" on Aug. 25.

Top-notch musical performances, health education, Black authors, and youth activities are part of the 12th-annual Bill Bell Jazz and Heritage Festival, August 21 and 22 in Rock Island.

Iowans put their talents on display with competitive floriculture, fine art, baking, canning, weaving and more. Rob and Deb Zeitler have gone from winning blue ribbons to being featured at the Smithsonian.

As an actor, it seems Ben Gougeon was born to play his latest real-life role – executive director of the nonprofit Quad City Arts, the organization’s third full-time leader in less than two years.

In this episode of Talking Art, host Ben Gougeon sits down with director Tristan Tapscott to discuss The Mockingbird’s upcoming production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman at Black Hawk College. With Ben taking the stage as Biff Loman, the two explore the process of bringing this American classic to life, Tristan’s background in theatre, and the ideas and relationships at the heart of the play. They also look ahead to The Mockingbird On Main’s new partnership with Black Hawk College and what it could mean for the future of theatre, education, and artistic opportunities in the Quad Cities. The production opens August 20 at the Black Hawk College Theatre.

After years of neglect and foreign ownership, the historic Bix Beiderbecke boyhood home is now under new ownership and faces a brighter future.

The Two Rivers YMCA in Moline is not only building to expand its facilities, it’s building a new future to meet community needs, officials said in a groundbreaking Tuesday morning, Aug. 11.

A new art installation in Des Moines will honor former Des Moines Water Works CEO Bill Stowe, who spent years advocating for better water quality in Iowa. The artwork doubles as an outdoor classroom, where people can learn about the threats to Iowa’s drinking water.

If you’re a fan of Monty Python and a Harry Potter nerd (and I know you’re out there), you’ll want to hurry to The Black Box Theatre to take in the wacky and quirky Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic, a 2015 original comedy by playwright Matt Cox directed by Kailey Ackerman. The play is a parody of the Harry Potter book series by J. K. Rowling, but from the perspective of the "Puffs": that is, members of the Hogwarts house, Hufflepuff.

…could I get that in a sentence, please? Um…H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S…hilarious! So describes the Quad Cities Music Guild’s current production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee directed by Quad Cities gem: Mike Turczynski.