EAST MOLINE, ILL. — It’s nothing but good news and opportunities this week in The Jaded Optimist.
This is for the thinkers and the creatives out there. As I gradually share more news about the new headquarters for MainStream Multimedia, I want you to know there is space for you here, too.
MainStream’s lobby is one of three rooms in its new headquarters and has ample space to showcase independent artists.
This is for musicians, music teachers, bands and ensembles. It’s for tutors, of individuals and groups. For art instructors, and also for artists who don’t teach — and in all mediums, including those that need sinks, large-screen projection, or the ability to teach remotely.
It’s for independent artists seeking to reach a progressive audience, and who want a spot to showcase their creations. It’s also for book clubs, study groups, and planning committees.
All of these people can find more support from MainStream, in our new headquarters at 659 15th Ave., East Moline, a few blocks from not only its former location in my house but also from the Mississippi River that borders both Illinois and Iowa.
East Moline an apt location for new MainStream HQ
I couldn’t think of a more apt community than East Moline for MainStream to open our headquarters. As a business committed to intersectional awareness, supporting artists and expression, and progressive thought in the original “helping others” meaning of the word, MainStream is an ideal fit with East Moline.
For starters, East Moline is one of the Quad Cities’ two most diverse cities, with more than 40 percent of its population non-white.
East Moline, part of the Quad Cities along the border of Iowa and Illinois, is home to MainStream’s new headquarters.
Our new three-room headquarters at 659 15th Ave. is also within blocks of the up-and-coming Rust Belt and The Bend Event Center, redeveloped areas along the Mississippi River that are already transforming the entertainment scene in the Quad Cities with concerts, events, restaurants and new shops including the pending fourth home for Yabba Dabba’s House of Glass.
Our office is right in the path of improvements slated to connect downtown East Moline to the Rust Belt and The Bend in the coming years. The $23.7 million Greater Downtown East Moline Revitalization Project is supposed to begin this spring, benefitting not just MainStream but other businesses already located here, including Kalvva Apparel, Freymann Photography & Design, the Palace Tavern, and the Whiskey Stop, plus dozens more businesses along and around 15th Avenue.
With all of this promise, East Moline is also a community in great need. It’s designated an “R3 area,” which is a designation created by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority for allotment of tax proceeds from cannabis sales. R3 areas are parts of Illinois that are “high need, underserved, disproportionately impacted by historical economic disinvestment” and have high rates of child poverty and unemployment. Given our focus on challenged identities, operating out of East Moline is one way to honor that commitment.
We’re also within miles of the East Moline Correctional Center, a great quality for MainStream because one of our key goals is to provide job retraining and part-time work opportunities for those re-entering after incarceration.
Seeking to showcase others, inspire art and learning
MainStream‘s headquarters, like the magazine and website itself, is intended to showcase others.
In particular, we are seeking independent artists, writers and musicians/bands to showcase your creations here. If you’re also interested in offering your creations for sale, we can do that, too.
MainStream also has space for artists to create your work, or to teach others how to create. Amenities include multiple large sinks, a full-keyboard Kawai electric piano/organ, tables, great lighting, tables and chairs, wi-fi access, and projection equipment.
Music instructors who need a teaching space are welcome to inquire, and so are musicians who need rehearsal space — especially those in need of a full keyboard.
MainStream is also an ideal space for education tutors to meet with their students. And for small gatherings, or discussion groups, our new space can accommodate groups of up to 20. One group that will be starting at MainStream in January is the Beyond Beliefs discussion group, a look at social justice and activism through the lens of ethics.
You can schedule a look at the space by calling 309-106-1372.
Prepping to mail and distribute the MainStream magazine to more than 285 locations throughout Illinois and Iowa is one of the key tasks that now has a space at the new MainStream headquarters.
Magazine and website production, audio-visual creation now has space
The other exciting thing about our new headquarters: it’s where the “magic” will now happen, of creating the monthly magazine and building a much stronger website. I’ll be spending endless hours here meeting with clients, story subjects, hopping on the phone, designing ads, laying out the monthly magazine, posting online content, fleshing out our calendars and more …. all the things that used to happen in my home office and living room.
Contributing writers will be able to hop onto computers here if needed, or conduct research. And before the end of the year, we’ll kick in to some long-awaited audio-visual segments, which I unsuccessfully attempted to produce for more than year from a converted bedroom.
In addition, we have space here (instead of my living room) to prepare MainStream‘s substantial mailing distribution, which involves sending or delivering 1,550 copies across two states, to more than 285 locations. I know my cats will join me in deeply appreciating this adjustment; they always get a little stressed when the it’s time for the magazine mailing, and their space begins to fill up with packets, envelops and labels.
The many greater ways we can serve readers, the local community, and independent artists overall are almost impossible to describe. I’ve given it my best shot here.
If you’re interested in learning more about showcasing your art, selling your art, scheduling rehearsal or tutoring, offering a class, holding a small group gathering — or if you have a need we haven’t mentioned here that needs a cool and flexible space — I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
You’re also welcome to swing by our new headquarters to learn more about MainStream; inquire about advertising; apply to be part of our stable of freelance writers, photographers, and graphic designers; or share a story idea. We don’t yet have regular office hours, but you’ll find our doors open most of every weekday and often in the evening or wee hours of the morning.
It’s a whole new dimension to MainStream, and I’m excited to see what direction it will take. Connect with me by emailing reachus@main-stream.org. Or you can call or text 309-306-1372.
This column is the second in a weekly series titled The Jaded Optimist and is intended to focus on solutions and hope while also confronting heartache and disappointment.
