Community Calendar

Spring is here and NIAAA is having our 2nd photo contest. We hope to have all nine counties we serve represented. We are looking for an iconic photo to represent each county: it should be something easily recognizable, a hidden treasure or notable view.

Please remember, this contest is open to everyone so please feel free to submit your own entries.

Spring is here and NIAAA is having our 2nd photo contest. We hope to have all nine counties we serve represented. We are looking for an iconic photo to represent each county: it should be something easily recognizable, a hidden treasure or notable view.

Please remember, this contest is open to everyone so please feel free to submit your own entries.

Homecoming: In Color celebrates the reopening of Rockford Art Museum after a year-long renovation closure. This exhibition features a selection of popular pieces and hidden gems, showcasing the rich diversity of our revered collection.

Homecoming is organized by Rockford Art Museum Chief Curator, Carrie Johnson. The exhibition is sponsored by Dean Alan Olson Foundation and partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.

The Coliseum Museum welcomes Joy Meyer as our Taft Gallery Artist for April & May.

Joy Meyer earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Art and Art Education from Northern Illinois University. She retired in 2005 after teaching art for thirty years. Joy also taught many workshops for both teenagers and adults during her career and shortly after retirement. She has won numerous awards for both her painting and her teaching.

Joy has enjoyed working in many different media including watercolor, pen and ink, pencil, glass etching, stained glass, and silk painting, but the medium she has chosen to specialize in during recent years is Acrylic Painting. She enjoys working in a fairly realistic style using primarily bright, cheerful colors. Her actual painting techniques vary depending on the subject matter being painted and the mood desired, often using many techniques within a painting to better represent the details within the painting. Joy also enjoys the challenges of working in an increasingly wider variety of subject matter.

The Coliseum Museum of Art, Antiques and Americana presents Focus on Photography, juried exhibition of works by photographers working in all photographic mediums -- digital, film, mixed and unique processes -- now through May 17.

The Next Picture Show is excited to once again host the Illinois Watercolor Society for their 41st Illinois Watercolor Society National Exhibition throughout the month of May. This show features talented artwork by artists from the USA, Canada, and beyond!

This annual competition is open to artists living in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The Freeport Art Museum's annual Regional Juried Exhibition (RJE) mission is to offer established and emerging artists the opportunity to debut work created in the last two years. Opening on Saturday, May 10, 2025, the show runs through July 19, 2025. As FAM has gained a distinguished reputation for displaying a wide range of contemporary art, this exhibition has become a visitor's favorite.

Each year, FAM invites a new juror to select approximately 50 artworks for inclusion, and to give awards for first, second, third place, and honorable mention. This year's juror is Rodrick Whetstone, an Assistant Professor of Graphic Design teaching in the Department of Art and Design at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Award winners are announced at the opening reception.

The museum is open 10-5 Tuesday-Friday; 12-5 Saturday; closed Sunday and Monday

Stockholm Inn is the home for Trinadora's (Janel Nelson and Ron Holm) potpourri of music from 5pm to 7pm on 1st Saturday and 5:30pm to 7:30pm on 3rd Friday of each month. The musical mixture includes vintage and contemporary pop, folk, country, jazz, blues, Latin, Celtic, and variety music - everything except the proverbial kitchen sink 🙂 Janel and Ron accompany their vocals with keyboard, ocarina, guitar, ukulele, fiddle, harmonica, sax, bass, steel guitar, concertina, and more. The room can fill up, so please phone 815.397.3534 for reservations, and mention that you need seating in the music area.

The Coliseum Museum of Art, Antiques and Americana presents a WWII Radio Hour Musical Concert on Friday, May 16 at 7pm. Pre-show entertainment provided by Beverly Kearns at 6:00pm.

In the WWII Radio Hour Musical Concert, featuring favorites such as “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” “Bei Mir Bist Du Schon,” “In the Mood” and “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree,” the costumed and piano-accompanied trio reenact a 1940’s radio hour that is perfect for all ages! While answering musical requests from soldiers and loved ones during wartime, Patti, Maxine and Andrew entertain the “studio audience” with Andrews Sisters-style tunes and choreography, Abbott and Costello comedy sketches, and a touching tribute to Veterans of the United States Armed Forces.

Regular Museum hours are Wednesday-Saturday, 10:00am - 5:00pm.

Featuring favorites such as “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” “Bei Mir Bist Du Schon,” “In the Mood” and “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree,” the costumed and piano-accompanied trio reenact a 1940’s radio hour that is perfect for all ages! While answering musical requests from soldiers and loved ones during wartime, Patti, Maxine and Andrew entertain the “studio audience” with Andrews Sisters-style tunes and choreography, Abbott and Costello comedy sketches, and a touching tribute to Veterans of the United States Armed Forces.

Pre-show entertainment provided by Beverly Kearns.