Eleven Days

What can happen in eleven days? 

A vacation can change your perspective. 

A conversation can change your mind. 

A single opportunity can change the direction of your life. 

Beginning this week, the Quad Cities will experience eleven consecutive days dedicated to art, culture, music, history, science, and creativity. 

Think about that for a moment. 

For nearly two weeks, there will always be somewhere to go, something to experience, someone to meet, and a story waiting to be told. 

It begins with our friends at Alternating Currents, whose free festival (August 13 – August 16) has introduced thousands of people to artists, musicians, filmmakers, comedians, and performers throughout the Quad Cities. 

As that celebration concludes on August 16, the Culture Bright Summer Series begins (August 16 – August 23), inviting our community to experience six of the Quad Cities’ Legacy Partner organizations in a new way. 

On the surface, they may look like separate events. 

Both share similar sentiment. 

They’re both an invitation to experience the Quad Cities differently. 

For years, we’ve talked about what makes this region special. 

The Mississippi River. 

Our history. 

Our people. 

Our resilience. 

I’d add something else to that list. 

Our willingness to build together. 

No one organization could create eleven days like this on its own. 

It takes artists willing to share their gifts. 

Volunteers willing to give their time. 

Sponsors willing to invest. 

Donors willing to believe. 

Organizations willing to work together instead of apart. 

Most importantly, it takes a community willing to show up. 

Because culture doesn’t exist inside museums. 

Or concert halls. 

Or theaters. 

Culture comes alive when people walk through the doors. 

When families spread blankets on the lawn. 

When friends linger after a performance because the conversation is too good to end. 

When a child experiences something for the very first time and begins asking questions on the ride home. 

Those moments don’t happen by accident. 

They happen because someone decided to attend. 

Over the next eleven days, you’ll have countless opportunities to do exactly that. 

Attend a concert. 

Walk through a museum. 

Explore a garden. 

Hear an orchestra. 

Discover an artist you’ve never experienced before. 

Spend an evening with neighbors you haven’t met yet. 

You don’t have to do everything. 

Just don’t let the eleven days pass without doing something. 

Because communities are shaped by the experiences we choose to share. 

And every time we choose to show up, we invest in the kind of Quad Cities we want to become. 

Eleven days. 

Hundreds of artists. 

Thousands of neighbors. 

One community. 

I’ll see you there. 

Explore the full Culture Bright Summer Series schedule at CultureBright.org.

Because culture matters here. 

And it always will.