1/26 ARTY FUN OF NOTE

1/26

ARTY FUN OF NOTE

Hi from the Cambridgeport School Arts Committee. It's that random time of the week where I attempt to inspire you to add some arty fun to your life. Now listen, if you want to get your family to agree to a fun day of art activities, first establish your credibility of knowing what fun is during the first meal of the day. Feb 1 is National Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day. You're welcome.

WOODCRAFT THAT ZOOMS

It's the first Saturday of the month, and that means it's Home Depot workshop time! If you're a fan of the Cambridgeport Grand Prix Derby, note that this Saturday you can build a Home Depot Race Car for free at your nearest Home Depot (Somerville, Everett, Watertown). From 9-12 your kid will learn skills, tool safety and pride while they build a small wooden car, receive a certificate of achievement, a workshop apron, and a pin.

THIS WEEK IN AQUATIC PUPPETRY

The amazing Faye Dupras has created a family puppet production, "The Great Red Ball Rescue," at the Puppet Showplace Theater in Brookline.  Jasper, a timid young boy with a big imagination, loses his favorite red ball to the tides. Can he summon the courage to get it back? He sets out on an adventure across the ocean, meeting fantastical fortunetellers, thieving fishermen, and many mysterious creatures of the deep. Bostix discount tickets bring this show down to under $10.

Meanwhile the Tanglewood Marionettes are at Tufts with The Dragon King. In this show you can experience an underwater fantasy based on Chinese folklore, as a wise Grandmother who journeys to the bottom of the sea to seek the Dragon King, and the answers to why he seems to have forsaken the land above. Tickets are $10 at the door and benefit the Tufts Eliot-Pearson children's School. 

By the way, also at the Aidekman Arts Center at Tufts is the exhibit "Seeing Glacial Time: Climate Change in the Arctic," Thursday, January 30^th from 5-7:30pm. The exhibit runs through mid-May and features exquisite photos and some paintings of glaciers, icebergs, and Arctic life.

BEARDFEST 2014

Sunday, Feb 2, from 2-5 at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave. in Somerville is the fun Beard and Moustache Contest of 2014. Contestants will vie for prizes in 5 categories, and for follicle challenged, best fake beard. Food and drink, scratchy music with DJ Pace, whimsical prizes for contestants, a make-your-own beard table, and a room full of artistic facial hair--what better way to spend a Sunday afternoon? If you like this, keep your eye out for the Northeast regional championships in August. $5.

AIRBORNE COMEDIANS

     

Sunday's family fun at the Coolidge Corner Cinema has The Airborne Comedians, with a high energy, unorthodox comedy juggling show (think lawn-chairs, electric guitars, from atop tall unicycles). 10-30-11:30 $8 children/$10 adults.

CHINESE NEW YEAR

Those born in horse years are said to be cheerful, skillful, talented and good with their hands. 2014 is the Year of the Wooden Horse. While Boston's Chinatown celebration isn't until the 16^th, you don’t have to wait to start to celebrate.

The Chinese Musicians Association will share Chinese culture and music through different instruments during the Chinese New Year Celebration at the Boston Public Library, Copley Square, on Sunday, February 2, 2014, 2 – 3:45 pm.

You can also celebrate Lunar New Year at the wonderful Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem on Saturday, February 1, 2014, from 10:30 am to 4:00 pm. They will have performances, including the Gund Kwok Asian Women Lion and Dragon Dance Troupe kicking off the celebration as it leads the traditional Lion Dance, storytelling, craft activities and sword play, gallery tours, and films throughout the day.

PETER PAN

And if you're at the PEM Salem, go to Beverly and see the

Neverland Theatre present Disney’s Peter Pan, Jr. Fly away with all of your favorite Disney Neverland Characters in this delightful musical, featuring the classic Disney songs from the movie and performed by an all youth cast.

$13-$15.

KINETIC SCULPTURE

If you liked the 5000 Moving Parts Exhibit at the MIT Museum (if you haven't gone, go! It's there until November and is fabulous), be sure to head to the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton. Beginning Sunday, February 2 through June, the museum will have its exhibit Machines and Mechanizations, where movement is an integral part of the design and meaning of the sculptures.