Davenport - Iowa - Culture
Today, Davenport Iowa , Land area is 62 square miles and population over 97000 (97512 2003/07/01). Davenport is home to many businesses that play part of a diverse local industrial base, while Davenport’s shopping areas serve the entire Quad Cities. Over 2,200 acres of park land and nearly 40 schools and colleges serve local residents. Davenport has remained a progressive city with a respect for the past and the "cause for good government." Davenport has indeed borne out the confident predictions of its founders as the "Queen City of the West. Davenport is bounded on the southerly side by the mighty Mississippi River and is one of the few locations that the river runs in an easterly westerly direction. Davenport rises vertically over 200 feet from the shores of the Mississippi.
Cultural programs and recreational activities play an active role in the lives of Davenport citizens as it is home to the Putnam Museum of History and Natural Sciences ,and one of the largest art institutions in the state of Iowa, the Davenport Museum of Art . The DMA has a magnificent collection of paintings and prints by American Regionalist Grant Wood. The Davenport Public Library serves as a resource centre for all citizens of Davenport while assuring maximum access to information for lifelong learning. Top quality golf courses, swimming pools, tennis courts, scenic biking trails and athletic fields offer abundant opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors including the grandeur of the riverfront.
Quad
City Symphony Orchestra played
its first concert on the evening of May 29, 1916. That night its
conductor, Ludwig Becker, raised his baton and led the orchestra that
began as the Tri-City Symphony in a concert that proved to be a great
success. A newspaper reported, "The orchestra was made in a
night." The founders of the orchestra were all members of local
families with long standing interests in music and all of them were
musicians. Three of them, Albert Petersen, Alfred Mueller and Robert
MacDonald, summoned Ludwig Becker former concertmaster of the Chicago
Symphony who early in his career had played in orchestras conducted by
Johannes Brahms and Richard Strauss, to conduct the orchestra.
The Davenport Museum of Art - DMA is located in Davenport, the geographical boundaries it serves are unlimited. The DMA is open to all and is supported by a combination of public funds and generous private contributions. Few communities this size have such a notable collection of art - one that spans more than four centuries of artistic achievement in painting, print-making, drawing and sculpture. A gift of 334 paintings from Charles August Ficke to the City of Davenport formed the nucleus of the Davenport Municipal Art Gallery's permanent collection when it was established in 1925. The Gallery was renamed the Davenport Museum of Art (DMA) in 1987. The DMA serves as a regional cultural resource with public access to important works of art and quality arts education. Today, the DMA has acquired more than 3,200 works of art.
RiverCenter/Adler
Theatre - Theatre
and the modern River centre create a state-of-the-art convention centre located in downtown Davenport. The
River centre/ Adler Theatre complex has
over 100,000 square feet of flexible space available for meetings,
conventions, trade shows, and special events. There are two column free
exhibit halls, ten breakout rooms, an executive board room, two meeting
rooms for smaller groups, a spacious atrium and a two story concourse
area. The historic Adler Theatre is a beautiful art deco masterpiece built
in the early 1930’s and restored in the mid-1980’s. The
theatre has a 2,400 seat capacity and is handicap accessible.
The Quad Cities is an area located on either side of the Mississippi river comprised of two cities in Iowa, Davenport and Bettendorf and two cities in Illinois, Moline and Rock Island.
