Quad City Arts Grants Nearly $150,000 through Arts Dollars Program

Quad City Arts Unveils 2025 Arts Dollars Grant Awardees, Empowering Artists and Organizations with nearly $150,000 in Funding

Quad City Arts is pleased to announce 2025 Arts Dollars grant awards to 29 organizations and 9 individual artists. Since 1990, Quad City Arts has supported the local art community by awarding more than $1,600,000 in grants to local artists, non-profit organizations, and schools. 

Funding Sources
Arts Dollars funds are generously provided by the Hubbell-Waterman Foundation, the Quad Cities Community Foundation - Isabel Bloom Art Education Endowment, and the Illinois Arts Council Agency, a state agency. In total, Quad City Arts granted almost $150,000 to local artists and organizations during this grant cycle, up from $115,000 in the 2024 cycle. 

Grant Recipients
The 2025 Arts Dollars grants encompass a wide array of projects, each uniquely contributing to the cultural tapestry of our community. This complete list of recipients showcases the breadth of creativity and commitment to community enrichment among Quad Cities' artists and organizations

Capacity Building Grants: 

• MC Art Collective—Art Week in Aledo 
• WVIK—Community Content Studio 
• Seton Catholic School Art Club—Smartboard for Arts Classroom 
• Together Making a Better Community—Sound Equipment for their new auditorium 

Education Grants: 

• Amber Dale—Pinhole Photography Workshops 
• Crossroads Cultural Connections—Visiting Artist School Program 
• Junior Theatre Inc—Affordable Arts for All: Production Rights for Junior Theatre 
• Muscatine Art Center—Summer Enrichment Series 
• Spring Forward Learning Center—Painting Classes w/Zay Williams 
• United Township High School—Creation of High School Mariachi Band 

Project Grants: 

• Antonio Varela—Generaciones; photo/video project on Latin leaders of the QCA 
• Autistic & Loved Foundation—Mural for Sensory Gym 
• Azubuike African American Council for the Arts—Pulling Focus Film Festival 
• Ballet Quad Cities—Creation of a new Dance Me A Story program 
• Black Box Theatre—Solo Fringe Festival 
• Bix Beiderbecke World Museum & Archives—100th Anniversary of ‘Davenport Blues’ concert feat. Gunhild Carling 
• Curtis Lewis—Development and Production of one-act play ‘The Half’ 
• Daniel J. Flosi—Printing of fine arts chapbook ‘Riverend Series’ 
• Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre—North Meets South Festival 
• Fresh Films—Summer Film Intensive 
• Gaye Shannon-Burnett—Story Quilts for African American Fiber Arts Exhibition 
• Greg Hipskind—Summer Kickoff Concert for QC Rock Academy 
• Haus of Ruckus—Funding for 4th Season 
• Her Voice Media—Fireside Stories 
• Hot Glass Inc.—Glass Sculpture for Moline Public Library Garden 
• Jessica Beshears—Creation of Undercurrent Magazine 
• Lucas Berns—Development of ‘Artifical and Still’ collection of digital weaves 
• Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center—Photo Voice photography project 
• Mercado on Fifth—Dia de los Muertos cartonería workshops 
• Narratives—Narratives QC Spoken Word Poetry Program 
• Opera Quad Cities—Production of Die Fledermaus 
• OUTLETProgramme—OUTLETProgramme Concert Series 
• Polyrhythms—Third Sunday Jazz Series 
• Quad Cities Pride Alliance—Performers for Pride Festival 
• Rock Island Public Library—Art Literacy art exhibitions 
• Shellie Moore Guy—The Family Tree writing/family history workshops 
• Vince Jetter Community Center—Cultural Arts programming 
• World Relief Quad Cities-- Arts in English Summer Camp for Refugee Youth

Quad City Arts is committed to advocating for the arts as a vital component of a vibrant community. We extend our deepest gratitude to our partners, supporters, and the talented grant recipients of 2025. Together, we continue to make the Quad Cities a place where art and culture flourish!

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