Exhausted and Exhilarated: Reflections from Alternating Currents

Sometimes our eyes are bigger than our stomachs. We let the excitement of our ecosystem grow like wildfire. The result? Always something epic, validating once again that Culture Bright is special. It helps numb the pain of dreaming big as a lean 2.5-person team. Even in exhaustion, we’re already imagining the next bold thing we’ll do together.

Each collaboration is another puzzle piece. The new world we’re building is taking shape, and the picture gets clearer with every project. Coming out of our rebrand, Alternating Currents gave us the chance to model what’s next: an arts and cultural festival with our Legacy Partners—QCSO, QCBC, QC Arts, Common Chord, Putnam, and Figge—at the center.

Our Legacy Partners weren’t just participants. They were proof of concept. Their presence makes Culture Bright a force. This year, we shined Culture Bright into Alternating Currents like never before.

The Cultural Trust intends to lead in enriching art and culture for all. That requires authentic convening and coordination. You could see it at the kickoff: what was once an alley is now fully activated, floor to ceiling with art and culture 365 days a year. And you could feel it at the finale, as the Quad City Botanical Center lived its mission of connecting plants to people and extended it to music in the garden.

Culture Bright is a movement. After Alternating Currents, it feels more like a freight train powered by unprecedented partnership.

Event Highlights

Arts Alley Kickoff
We returned to where Culture Bright first launched last summer. This time, the alley was transformed: murals, café lights, vendor shops, a live painter, face painting, balloon artist, scavenger hunt, Plant Bus, and music drifting down 2nd Ave in Rock Island. What began as an experiment now feels like both a homecoming and a launchpad. If you haven’t been to that space, go get a drink at Icons and take it in. It’s truly something to see.

Family Day at Common Chord
Heat didn’t stop families from gathering for music, art, and connection. Kids left with maracas and chalk on their hands. Parents lingered near the Putnam’s Dino Jeep and everyone took their last chance to participate in the Figge’s Community Canvas . As the day wound down, the crowd’s attention shifted toward LeClaire Park: where the Symphony waited. There were even dino prints connecting our two Culture Bright spots, poetic foreshadowing of another Culture Bright collaboration coming up.

QCSO Chicago Pops
If there was ever a moment to measure why culture matters in everyday life, this was it. Oppressive heat, wagons loaded with picnic gear, long lines. And still, thousands came.

• The QCSO Youth Symphony opened with the “Jurassic Park” theme, setting the tone…more foreshadowing. What is this music telling us about the future?

• The Pops followed with groove after groove as the Figge glowed in the background.

• Strangers danced, friends toasted, families sang.

• Fireworks closed the night, because there was no other way to end it.

QCBC + AC Finale
The Plant Bus, the only one of its kind in the country, turned one this month. We marked it with cupcakes and record-breaking crowds at the Botanical Center. Children splashed in the garden while adults ducked into the cooling tent between sets. More than once, we heard the same thing: “I wish this could happen every day.”

My Sincerest Gratitude

• To all who came: thank you for showing up and spreading the word. Tell anyone who asks they should have been there, the magic is hard to put into words.

• To Jack Cullen and the Alternating Currents team for making sure The Cultural Trust had a real seat at the table.

• To our Legacy Partner leaders and staff, who led by example and showed what true collaboration looks like.

• To Tiffany and Brianna, my Cultural Trust team, who worked like ten.

• To my husband, who made it possible for me to staff every event by loading coolers, hauling wagons, passing out snacks, even packing a first aid kit. Always with a smile. No one will every truly know how much time, energy, and effort he puts into this work.

The Quad Cities has a circle of cultural leaders sitting at the table without ego. Silos are down. Collaboration is up. Innovation feels inevitable.

We are baking something special with remarkable people. I am both exhausted and exhilarated—which is the right combination when the work matters. And make no mistake: culture matters here. It always will.

—Jen Lewis-Snyder, President & CEO of The Cultural Trust