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Time to kick off the unofficial start of the holidays.

It's not quite Thanksgiving, but it is time for Festival of Trees in The Cities.

Some 150 trees are decorated by designers to adorn the Davenport River Center for the annual Festival of Trees ten day celebration.

It's an annual event that helps support Quad City Arts.

And we're looking at not only festival this year, but the role of Quad City Arts as it enters a changing leadership with the departure of executive Director Kevin Maynard.

But let's start with the transformation of the River Center, something that started at the very beginning of the month just to culminate right now.

And joining us is Quad City Arts Director of Community Development Kristall Laursen.

So tell me a little bit about this year's theme, Merry and Bright.

I like that idea, and it kind of weaves throughout the exhibits, right?

Yes, absolutely.

You know, it's really meant to inspire the designers that come out and build their trees.

So we don't really know how it's going to be interpreted or built upon.

But it definitely inspired our decor.

You'll see it all over Festival.

In fact, there's a special photo up under the atrium, the stairs, in the River Center there where you can get a photo picture taken with your family or your friends and celebrate the merry and brightness.

Well, we're talking about 150 trees.

What's great about it is, is there's different categories, of course, that are judged.

Yes, but the creativity is amazing that some people just simply think out of the box.

Yeah, it's really cool to see, you know what?

I think some incredibly talented designers in our community who maybe wouldn't consider themselves traditional artists, who can come out and showcase their talents in a different way, on a different medium, and something that many of us grew up with trees and, and front door wreaths and entryways and hearts and and, and then to give the public an opportunity to bid on them and take them home.

I think that's really special.

It is special.

And and the two thing is about festival, like you said right?

Oh.

I'm sorry.

You can be inspired or steal ideas.

And then the bidding.

So let's talk about the bidding part.

I mean, everything that's there, most everything is either bid on or is for sale.

Yes.

You can take most of at home.

We actually start the bidding early.

So on premiere party night, that's if you you kind of know what you want.

You know, you want to come out to premiere party.

That's Friday the 22nd, and you can buy it now.

So everything's price to buy now.

If you don't want to mess with the bidding part, you say, I want that tree that's coming home with me.

Do it.

And people do that and people do that.

Yeah, yeah.

They really some people know exactly what they like.

And so, or they bought the same tree year over year because they know the designers, right?

Connected to them.

So what will happen then?

It's Sunday at 4 p.m. Sunday, December 1st.

When we close festival, we will charge the credit card of the highest bidder and they'll get that tree.

The other thing is, like you said, I mean, there's there's the door wreaths all over the place.

Some of those are amazing.

Yeah.

And those are also for sale.

Those are for sale.

So are the entry ways.

There's three there will be three in there like steps.

And then the entryway is designed.

There's also the hearth.

So we'll have I wanted to talk about that because actually that's my favorite area is to take a look at the hearth and homes and these people that actually take mock rooms and just create, Christmas memories.

Yes.

It's amazing.

Somebody can see a fireplace and envision an entire holiday scene.

It's really, really magical.

It really is the unofficial kickoff to the holiday season.

I mean, is that the way it feels with Quad City Arts?

Absolutely.

You know, our team, we're a small team.

We've got about eight people on staff right now.

We're looking for our new Executive Director.

And, it really it's all year long.

You know, we have these meetings in January.

We're doing deep holiday discussions in July.

It's really Christmas in July for us.

I mean, we do this leading up to and now we're really in crunch time as we're getting ready to open the river because you get the keys to the river center, like November 1st, right?

That's right.

Most of November we have the River Center, and it's 100,000 square feet that we have to fill with holiday magic.

And I mean, again, if we're talking about eight people, it's really the volunteers that make this happen.

They are the foundation of all of it.

Let's get that space ready.

I think a lot of people just think it's holiday magic.

Poof.

There it is.

Yeah.

And well, maybe that's good.

I mean, keep that magic alive.

But on the other hand, I mean, it is an awful lot of work.

Absolutely.

We have a management team, a steering committee.

They do a lot of the decision making throughout the year.

Many of them have been involved for years and years on the Festival of Trees, and they really, then manage another 200 plus volunteers who come in and actually set up the space, get everything ready and then manage for the 11 days that we're in there with the public for River Center.

So there's a lot of tradition, too.

I mean, there's people that definitely come to see the train, or they want their kids or grandchildren to see the train, or they come to shop, or they come for Santa, or they come to see various things, maybe the stage, it really is a family event.

And the fact that it's been around for almost 40 years, it's traditions that are being passed down to other generations is that way.

You feel that is absolutely how we feel.

And you said maybe and I don't want to spoil it today, but one of the words that's going to be in our 40th theme, which has already been determined, and that is traditions, and it's looking back, right.

What have we been doing all this time, and what was the purpose?

The guiding foundation for the development of the Festival of Trees is to support Quad City Arts, and our Visiting Artists series, which brings diverse public performances and performing artists to the Quad Cities, brings them into the school systems, exposes children to different types of performance art they wouldn't otherwise see.

It's inspired people for years, and Festival of Trees really started in 1986 with a small group of women.

These these were women who had, spouses who were ahead of, you know, John Deere and other major businesses in our community.

And they said, we we support arts programing, we support Quad City Arts.

What can we do around this time of year to make a really special celebration of art and design and also raise money to support the arts programing And you always think of it as it was 1986, one of the toughest economic periods in Quad City history.

And supporting the arts was probably, you know, with all the cuts that were going on, it was low on priorities.

And I just like that.

That's the genesis of Festival of Trees.

The other thing is, like we said, it's a family event.

And I know that you have, high school art.

Is that on the main floor?

Yes.

It does take up a good portion of the main floor And I got to tell you, I like that, too, because it used to be up on the second floor.

And if you didn't go to the second floor, you missed it.

And I think it was a few years ago.

The Quad City Arts decided, no, this needs to have a like a premiere location.

And that's kind of cool too, because you've got the young artists involved.

Yes.

We always, you know, one of Quad City Arts missions and visions for our mission to enrich the quality of life for people in the Quad Cities is to support our young artists.

So we do that through a variety of other programing.

But we like to infuse that into programs that we have established, like Festival of Trees.

And so we have 14 high schools signed up.

It's one of the largest exhibits that takes place on the floor of Festival and brings out a lot of families and friends who want to come and support their high schoolers who might be considering art as a career, and hopefully they continue a relationship with us.

And we're recording this before the parade.

But the parade has always become, you know, it's a major kickoff to festival, and a lot of people just think of Christmas and think of that parade.

And there's some new balloons this year.

There are some new balloons.

So the city of Davenport is going to be walking with Mr.

Potato Head is, the first time we've had him in our festival, parade.

We also have a brand new, excuse me, a brand new parade that hasn't even or balloon that hasn't even been in a parade thus far.

So it's a character from a cartoon called PJ Mask, and it's the character Cat Boy.

So the balloon providers have been sending me snapshots of Cat Boy as he's getting built in their warehouse, and they're very excited for him to be debuted in our Quad Cities.

I think it was about 20 years that I was a parade judge.

And you, you position yourself for most of the years near the the Sky Bridge, because you judged how well they could bring the balloon down under the Sky Bridge or, or whether the soldier could salute properly and stuff like that.

There's a lot of skill.

I mean, it's kind of fun because they do practice the night before, of course, but it's kind of fun to watch, local people manning those balloons.

Yes.

And I've heard there have been some windy years.

So, yeah, this year for good weather this time.

Yeah.

The other big thing is Isabel Bloom.

The statue is pop up most this year.

Yeah.

I mean, people can preorder and those things do sell quickly.

Yes.

You know, it's great to continue to celebrate an artist that was local to the Quad Cities, Isabel Bloom, who has made a huge impact in art in our area.

It's a little four inch statue.

She's got a little white, red hat, a little green scarf, a little bit of color to it.

That's all right.

So, 3150.

You can buy that in our gift shop.

The other new thing, a signature brew from Front Street Brewery.

Yes.

This was fun.

So Kevin Maynard, our former executive director, big craft beer fan, so got our minds thinking about this.

They decided to do a special brew for Festival of Trees.

They're calling it Miracle on Front Street.

Nice.

So it'll be available all weekend in their taproom.

And the restaurant will also have a tasting at Premiere party at our event.

And they're also submitting a nontraditional tree, so you'll have to come.

Oh, that's cool.

That's about.

That's very cool.

So let's talk about the volunteers because you did bring that up.

I mean, any organization such as this couldn't function without volunteers.

You have about 2000 of them.

Yes, yes.

That's amazing.

And it takes everybody.

And whether a person wants to just sign up for a little three hour shift and come out and join some fun, you'll get a festival ticket.

You'll also get entered into a raffle.

So we try to treat our volunteers.

Really nice to you.

I mean, again, they are the reason this event can happen.

Without volunteers we wouldn't have Festival of Trees.

It's that simple.

So do you have a part of the festival that you enjoy the most?

I mean, because I already told you some of mine so personally.

And this may be a shocker.

I grew up near here, but I didn't.

I've never been to festival.

All right, so this is my first year.

Are you looking forward to anything in particular?

Oh, I'm I'm you're going to become a Christmas person after this year.

I am I think the holiday parade.

We've got the ten character balloons.

It's going to be a really fun morning.

I'm looking forward to the trees.

I've heard a lot about how creative people get with them.

I've seen some pictures.

I'm excited to just be there and experience the holiday bash.

Okay, so here it is.

As a newbie, this is what you got to do.

Okay.

Yeah.

Is that I mean you just kind of stand in a corner where some of the trees are and look at people's faces.

It is amazing.

Especially children.

It's just amazing to see people, like, light up.

Yeah.

And so that's kind of the cool thing about Festival.

The other thing is that, like you said, you're already planning for the 40th.

That's right.

Tell me about that, because, I mean, we haven't even started this year.

That's the thing with these kinds of events.

Yeah.

And the many, many months of planning.

So, 40th anniversary is happening in 2025.

We are really looking to make it bigger and better and have so many more activities and attractions for people.

It's going to be really fun, but it's also going to be an opportunity to look back and see everything we've accomplished over the last 40 years, because people want the traditions.

Like I said, there's certain things people want, but you want to freshen it up and you want to add new things.

That's true.

You have to keep a little bit of new excitement, but you also want to retain the things that people feel really strongly about.

And they have those memories of, you know, going with their grandma to the tree shop and getting a Whitey's ice cream and then going to see Santa and then, you know, getting their tree bidding on some trees, taking in some entertainment on the center stage.

There's so many activities that people feel really strongly about and are connected to.

And so we keep all those core activities pretty similar with some variety.

But we have a few new things this year.

So Neckers Jewelers, local fami owned business, they do a great job supporting community activities.

We decided to do something called the Five Golden Rings Scavenger Hunt.

And so this is something for everybody at Festival.

If you're 18 or older, you can go online.

We will have a scavenger hunt ready.

You find the five golden rings scattered around Festival, and then you're entered for a drawing for a diamond pendant.

So they are, helping us promote festival helping us get out there.

And we're coming up with new ways to kind of surprise and delight.

So, so whether you've been there a bunch of years or if it's your first time, get ready for some inspiration.

Right?

That's absolutely right.

We're we're excited to have everybody come out and, go online, check out all the activities, see what we've got going on.

I will also say, the Downtown Davenport Partnership has developed a website with a list of local businesses that are doing promotions as well for that weekend, that full week of festival.

So if you go online, you want to do a full day.

If we don't have enough holiday fun for you, you can get more of it downtown, get some good deals and support local businesses too.

That's Kristall Laurson, the development director for Quad City Arts.

Still ahead, what does Quad City Arts do with the money raised through Festival of Trees?

We talked with the Interim Executive Director in a moment, but first, let's take a look at some of the events happening right now and in the days ahead.

Thanks to Visit Quad Cities.

Check out the things to do this week in the Quad Cities Start off with a dinner and a show for Magic and Burger Night On November 25th at Tap 22 Next you can attend the Sugar Plum Ball on November 26th At the Waterfront Convention Center On November 27th you can attend an Adult Game Night At the Mississippi River Distilling Company Or on November 27th you can attend The Hip Hop Nutcracker at the Adler Theatre Finally, check out the Quad Cities Saxophone Christmas for free on November 30th at the NorthPark Mall For more events like these, check out our events calendar At visitquadcities.com It is a magical time at the Davenport River Center as the Festival of Trees kicks off.

And while you walk the aisles, you'll not only marvel at some of the incredible displays, but you may come to realize that they are pieces of art themselves.

We talked with Quad City Arts Interim executive Director Kady Derbyshire about the impact of the Festival of Trees, and how Quad City Arts uses the money.

What is the importance of Festival of Trees for Quad City Arts?

Well, it's our main fundraiser, so the funds that we raise from Festival of Trees is going to go to us.

Being able to continue our programing and our operations expenses for the entire rest of the year.

It also helps us put on the next Festival of Trees because they are not cheap.

Well, and I was just thinking that is that the the investment in festival is major.

It's major.

Yeah.

The, the amount of money and resources we put into putting this, festival on, would probably blow some people's minds.

But that's we have such terrific volunteers that completely make it possible.

It would be impossible to put on this big of event and host this many people from the community without having such incredibly dedicated and invested volunteers.

Well, and it's also a tradition.

Yes.

And you have a feeling for Quad City Arts.

You, I want to say, feel responsible to continue it, but in a way you do.

Oh, absolutely.

This is a beloved holiday tradition.

And I can tell you right now the the tickets to some of our special events like Sugar Plum Ball and Teddy Bear Tea, those have regularly sold out, traditionally sell quickly, and I love that we can do that.

I love that there is so much interest from the community to continue these events to to go out and show up and take their children to these events is, it's a really rewarding experience to know that you are having a real impact in your community that way.

Well, you were saying that as a child you would come to festival from Geneseo.

I mean, so you kind of know how those memories are made.

Exactly.

And it, you know, the holidays, it's such, it's such a special atmospheric moment.

I know not every family, decorates their home for Christmas.

Not every family celebrates the same holidays.

But many, many of us grew up in a household where we decorated for something.

There was something important happening.

There was some seasonal event that happened, and our parents or our family members would put, I would put a lot of effort into creating the home into this sanctuary, this beautiful, homey place.

And I think that the spirit of that, can be felt through Festival of Trees.

It's also interesting because so much of what is on display at the River center is art.

And you don't really think of Christmas and people decorate their homes, some of them incredibly lovely, some of them very family traditionally.

But it really is a form of art that I never really thought of it that way.

Absolutely.

And that is one of the things that I didn't really appreciate as a young person.

But now as an adult, I look around at what our community members are presenting at Festival of Trees, these incredible trees, these wreaths, these stockings, these table ornaments, these gingerbread houses, and these must have taken dozens of hours, hours and hours and planning and, putting all of the effort in to tie all of the wires on each one of those ornaments.

And, I think it's just a great way to recognize that all of us want to be creative.

All of us have that desire to create and put something beautiful into the world.

Quad City Arts is is so into outreach.

I mean, that that really is in your DNA is to get art into the community.

And this is another form of that, yes.

Yes.

All of our programing is really focused at connecting the community to, creative Outlet or giving them a platform to showcase their art or giving them the skills to pursue art.

That is, the whole mission of Quad City Arts is to how can we better support our community so that they can be the best version of themselves?

And the ripple effect of that is that you get a more vibrant, diverse community.

Let's talk about quantity arts right now, because right now you're looking for a new executive director, Kevin Maynard, just up and left.

He went to Florida for a job that, like you said, he had always wanted a dream job.

What do you think his impact has been over the last few years for Quad City Arts?

Oh, well, Kevin was beloved by the staff, by the board, by many community members.

He really cared.

I think the biggest impact is from Kevin is just how much he cared and how much it meant for him to continue these programs, expand these programs.

Kevin was really instrumental in getting involved in a lot of the, towns in the Quad Cities to get deeper involved with their commissions, with their city councils, to see where where would be a partnership that we could expand upon.

We also have the Artist Index on our website, which was sort of the brainchild of one of our staff members.

And then Kevin was instrumental in getting the funding and the board's support to put the artist index together.

So those are some major impacts from him, because Quad City Arts was also instrumental during the pandemic to make sure that that artists were supported in so many different ways, that I always just kind of remember that is that when you think of an arts, group such as yours, I always talk about the outreach and how the community is getting something, but also the artists are getting something as well.

Yes, yes, the pandemic was terrible.

I mean, that was a rough time for all of us, but just the fact that Quad City Arts, continued through that and is probably stronger now than we were before, is a testament to the fact that we are not just a not just an arts entity, but we're a community entity.

You know, people want us here, and there's a lot that we can give back to the community.

And people see that one of the big, areas that the, Festival of Trees funds is the visiting artist, series.

And I want to talk about some of the things that are coming up, because you introduce different types of performers to the community that they may not otherwise see.

Sonny Jane is coming into Moline and also making a visit in a Geneseo that's coming up December 3rd and fourth.

That's the that's the first one that's coming up in December.

Yes.

We're taking a little break on visiting artists during the month of November because of the festival.

But yes, Sonny Jane will be here.

I encourage the public to go to those public performance is, that he's kind of a form of music that you maybe haven't heard, maybe isn't on the radio.

He's a drummer.

He's a composer.

He's a singer.

So there's a lot to be seen there.

And that's Moline Public Library, I think.

Geneseo library.

And then the Butterworth Center is the last performance.

If you get a chance to see that Chicago dance crash coming January 16th, you're going from one kind of extreme to the other.

But that's kind of what you'd like to do.

That's right.

Yes.

We want to highlight all parts of of the arts, not not just, art hanging on a wall in a gallery.

That's not what art is.

Art is all forms of creativity.

And I'm really excited about Chicago dance crash there.

I think they're going to be phenomenal.

They incorporate hip hop, jazz, ballet, street styles of dance.

Well, I mean, you talk about synergy.

You think maybe adults will go to that Chicago dance crash young people?

I hope so, yes.

And then what I love is for the kids.

Somebody loves you, Mr. Hatch, is what it's called.

But it's a puppet show, and it's coming up the end of January.

Yeah, that's kind of cool because, I mean, you're hitting every age group over the next two months.

Yes, I, I love our visiting artists series because we, we bring the artists directly to the schools.

We put these performers in front of a, a floor full of, you know, elementary school kids that are sitting in their auditorium or their gym floor.

And I remember as a kid growing up and those were the best days in school when you had that, when you had that string quartet or you had that dance group that came and you all, you all took a break from learning math and you got to sit on the floor.

It was an assembly, I loved it.

Yeah, I love those days.

And now you're able to do that, through the visiting artist.

Also, I want to get to the call for entries because that's so important, because it really does almost chart.

Next year in some ways in the year after that.

So contemporary wood burning exhibition is coming this spring, which is going to be very cool.

But the entry deadline is January 8th.

If somebody is interested in taking part in this or wants more information, what do they do?

Well, they would go to our website, quadcityarts.com and on our resources tab go to that.

And then you'll see there are calls for entry.

We're looking for anybody who deals with wood in any sort of medium.

Well or what is their medium I should say.

And they need to be a local artist within 250 miles, but we're currently taking applications for that.

And then that art will be on display at both our gallery in Rock Island and the airport.

And we're talking I mean, if you're talking about wood work or any type of wood art, I mean, that's a large variety, big spectrum.

Yes, exactly.

So we're really hoping that we'll get a lot of diverse entries.

That's exciting.

And that's once again, the deadline is January 8th.

And then I do want to talk about your January 20th call for entries deadline.

And that's for your exhibition almost starting next fall of 2025 into 2026.

That's an important deadline for artists.

Yes.

Our, the woman in charge of that whole department, her name is Dawn, and she does a great job of getting everyone lined up well in advance.

This is a big push then, right now to get all of those artists to submit their entries.

And this is any type of art, any form fiber, ceramics, wood paint, acrylics, photography, 2D art, 3D art.

If you're an artist of any type, we want to see your submissions and then it gets displayed, hopefully in the public and perhaps even bid upon.

Yes, you can at right now, you can go down to our Rock Island Gallery and peruse the art gallery right now.

And those works are for sale.

Many of them are for sale.

And then getting back to the beginning is Festival of Trees.

All of those trees are for sale as well.

They sure are.

Yes.

So start bidding now, right?

Yes, yes.

Please show up.

We have we've switched to is all pretty digital.

So you'll scan a QR code and you can make your bids right there.

Quad City Arts Interim executive Director Kady Derbyshire Festival of Trees is open every day until next weekend, except for Thanksgiving, so enjoy it on the air, on the radio, on the web, on your mobile device, and streaming on your computer.

Thank you for taking some time to join us.

As we talk about the issues on The Cities At IHMVCU, we've always been here for you.

You are and always will be our top priority.

We care about your financial health and we are here IHMVCU is a proud supporter of Wqpt.

The future, that's where our minds are at Western Illinois University, Quad Cities.

We are innovators searching for something new outside of the textbooks dog loving, leadership driven, world changing.

Whether you choose to study on campus or online, your future is designed on your terms.

Start your future at WIU.EDU/QC public affairs programing on Wqpt is brought to you by The Singh Group at Merrill, serving the wealth management needs of clients in the region for over 35 years.