Freedom School through Bella Ease has been working on visual art projects to display during Quincy’s second annual Juneteenth Celebration on Saturday, June 17, thanks to partnership funding from Arts Quincy. 
Students in the program learned about the significance and history of the holiday which honors the end to slavery in the US and is considered the longest-running African American holiday. In 2021, it officially became a federal holiday. 

Swimming Complex field to kick off summer with a celebration featuring art activities, a meal, health and sun safety information as well as a showing of Disney’s Encanto! The evening kicks off at 6 pm with Blessing Heath System serving free walking tacos and the movie starting at 6:30 pm.
While the movie plays, families can visit arts organization booths to make crafts and learn more about arts programming for kids. Participants include the Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County, Quincy Children’s Museum, Quincy Community Theatre, Quincy Public Library and The Art Center.

One of the most fascinating Underground Railroad sites in the United States is right here in Quincy. Now renamed as the Underground Railroad Museum, the home of Dr. Richard Eells and his wife Jane is open for tours on Saturdays now through November. The couple were active abolitionists who lived in this 1835 brick house in Quincy. In August of 1842, their lives changed forever when an escaped enslaved man named Charlie from nearby Lewis County, Missouri was brought to the house by a free Black man named Berryman Barnet.

Music educator, Dan Sherman, was awarded the 2023 George M. Irwin Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Music and Fine Arts. The presentation took place during the Quincy Park Band’s opening season concert in Madison Park. 
Dan Sherman is beloved by area residents as a music educator and his contributions to local music have had a positive impact throughout the tri-states. The award is in recognition of a lifetime of service and dedication to the entire arts and culture sector and excellence as a musician and educator throughout Quincy and the surrounding area.
“It’s our honor and privilege to acknowledge Mr. Sherman with our most prestigious honor, a George M. Irwin Lifetime Achievement Award,” says Arts Quincy Executive Director Laura Sievert “Dan has made an incredible mark on Quincy’s young musicians and has created a positive impact on students, the school and the community during his years employed in the Quincy Public Schools, working to develop performing arts programs in the parochial schools, performing with countless community choirs and instrumental ensembles and so much more. He’s a constant and enthusiastic supporter of all the arts and a joyful person to work with.”    
The George M. Irwin Lifetime Achievement Award celebrates decades-long commitment to the arts in any discipline. Individuals recognized are leaders, innovators and devoted artists and teachers. The award is sponsored by the business and individual members of Arts Quincy. 

Meet Jeffrey Seibert, a member of the Quincy Woodworkers Guild. Close to four years ago a friend in the guild invited him to a meeting and he has been attending ever since. Jeff enjoys the fellowship, seeing others’ projects and the sharing of knowledge and skills. Jeff enjoys volunteering with Woodcrafting Days at the Illinois Veteran’s Home.
Jeffrey Seibert is a retired pharmacist whose career spanned more than four decades. Woodworking has been a hobby of his for at least the past thirty years and nowadays he enjoys this hobby in a peaceful, woodsy setting in the Liberty area.

​Arts Quincy has sponsored and painted a new mural at Baldwin Elementary School. It is the 14th piece of public art installed by Arts Quincy in four years and the fourth partnership with the artist and program manager Jaycie Womack Spake.

​By Emily McClanathan
When Stephanie Javaux opened a music school for six young violinists in 2012, she never dreamed that
ten years later, three of her adult children would be working alongside her to teach more than 65 students.
Since those early days, the Quincy-based family business — now titled the Javaux Music School — has
grown to offer private lessons in four instruments, as well as group classes.

DOGWOOD ARTS BRUNCH RAISES FUNDS FOR ARTS ED
​Arts Quincy's Live Cake Decorating Competition was the feature entertainment during the Dogwood Arts Brunch at Quincy Country Club on Sunday, May 1. This year's theme was “May Day at Dogwood.”
 
In just over one-hour, cake decorators created some of the most stunning works of cake art and Bethany Bristol Coulson with Underbrink’s Bakery was declared Quincy's Best Cake Designer as well as the winner of the People’s Choice Award. Although this is Coulson’s first time competing in the live event, Underbrink’s has won the title “Grand Champion” three times in a row!

​The Dr. Eells Underground Railroad Home is once again welcoming visitors for an open house this February. Step back in time to a tumultuous moment in Quincy’s history when the town was on the front lines of the fight against slavery. The Dr. Eells home, located just 4 blocks from the Mississippi River, was the first stop for many escaped enslaved people on their road to freedom. Visitors will learn about Quincy’s role in the abolition movement and what it was like to live in a free state bordered by a slave-holding state in the early 1800s.