2/7 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.

Lunar New Year 2014 – The Year of the Horse

On Saturday the MFA is free from 10-4:45pm. You can watch a parade and performance with Gund Kwok Lion Dance Troupe. Learn about Gong-Fu, Chinese Martial Arts, and Saebae, a Korean bowing ceremony. 

Meanwhile, the Chinatown festival happens on Sunday, February 9^th. This is when the different lion dance clubs (the dancers are also martial artists) go door-to-door throwing around fireworks and eating lettuce. It's loud and messy, and the biggest celebration around.

Feeling Jazzy?

There is a new live jazz series that is taking place at The Green Room. That's 62 Bow Street in Union Square, Somerville. Saturday, Feb 8, 3pm ($10) you can see Cheap Parlor Tricks.

Second SatARTdays

Join some of the artists of Joy Street Studios Saturday, Feb 8, for their monthly open studios from 12-6. Maybe you'll find an interesting Valentine's gift. Joy Street Studios are at 86 Joy Street in Somerville.

Recharge with a Weekday Field Trip!

Here's a tip for those of you free on a weekday afternoon. Break up the winter blahs. Pick up your kid at school, and drive to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, arriving at 4pm. Your kids are free, and you'll pay the reduced price entry. You will be there without the lines or crowds or timed entries of the weekend, and have plenty of time to see Boursier-Mougenot's sonic installation. This is a big room with 70 beautiful zebra finches flying around and a path that meanders around their aviary which is also home to a flock of Gibson Les Paul and Thunderbird bass guitars attached to amps. The birds land on the instruments, hop on them, and voila, a constantly changing soundscape. Afterwards, go have dinner in Salem, catch a glimpse of the ocean, and be home by bedtime.

A Couple Later Night Events of Note for the Parents

Somerville Local First is having a benefit concert on Sunday night with Mission of Burma. It will be their only Boston area performance in 2014. It's at the Regent Theater in Arlington. Also placing are Peter Prescott's (Burma's drummer) other band Minibeast, and Bugs and Rats. Doors open at 7 PM, show at 7:30 PM. Tickets: $27, $22. Help us celebrate all our local heroes by coming to the show! Buy your tickets here. 

Next Wednesday, Somerville flutist Peter H. Bloom invites you to another evening of FiLmprov on February 12  – improvised music (woodwinds, brass, piano, percussion) to the world premier of Kate Matson's film, "Silhouettes." It's at 8pm at MIT, Killian Hall, 160 Memorial Drive, and it's free. Information: 617-452-3205. 

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.

1/22 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 in your life.

NOT-LAME, FAMILY-FRIENDLY ROCK!

There is a rock show at the Sinclair this Saturday your whole family can all go to! And it's two good local bands, not potentially excruciating "children's" music. And in case you fear your kid's attention will flag and You are still into it, Knucklebones will have stuff for them to play with, and there will be face paint and the like. The two bands are Parks, who recently had a single called <a href="http://parksband.bandcamp.com/track/sweater-weather">Sweater Weather"</a> which was in the Phoenix's "Class of 2013" cover story.

The other band is <a href="http://bentshapes.tumblr.com/audio">Ben Shapes</a>.

You can get tickets online from Ticketmaster or stop by the Sinclair box office (52 Church St.) in Harvard Square and skip the fees.

All kids need adult supervision, and one adult can bring up to three children. A child is 12 or under.

ICA: FILMS AND FILMMAKING PLAY DATE

The last Saturday of the month means it's free play date time at the ICA from 10-4pm. Kids are always free at the ICA, but each kid gets two adults in free during play dates, too. This one is a day of films (some made by kids!). The full listing of films is online. There are also hands-on activities that foster an awareness of the filmmaking process. Kids can work with film artists on a project about pixilation and step into the Art Lab to design a movie set and take action. Be a film critic and vote for your favorite film of the festival.

While you've been drawn to the waterfront…see the Fort Point Arts group show DRAWN TO WATER at the Atlantic Wharf Gallery at 290 Congress Street. It will be there through March 28, with the opening reception Thursday the 23^rd from 5-7:30pm. The exhibition includes paintings, drawings, photography, prints, video and sculpture in which water plays a central role. Check out some of the preview images online.

AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL CIRCUS: CIRCUS OZ

The family deal to note on BOSTIX this week is Circus Oz. It's the National Circus of Australia, and are "plucky" acrobatic daredevils performing "From the Ground Up" at the Shubert with Bostix discounts available on February 19. They claim it is great for ages 5 and up.

BULGARIAN SENDENKA

On Sunday the 26^th in Woburn there is a Sendenka – a traditional Bulgarian folkloric music and dance gathering with performances by Divi Zheni and others, including a children's dance ensemble, and dance and song instruction and traditional food. It starts at 4pm at the ACAS Activity Center at 29 Montvale Ave in Woburn, free parking. Children 8 and under free, $15 general admission, $10 seniors/students.

VISUAL ART ABOUT SOUND AND MUSIC?

This exhibit at the Washington Street Art Center (that's between the Biscuit/Dali and Union Square) strives to convey the emotion and genre of music through various visual mediums. Can you draw a song? Sculpt a sound? Is this like when Frank Zappa said, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture?" Find out through the 25^th.

ADULTS LIKE STORY HOURS, TOO!

If you want to ditch the kids with a spouse or friend and head out for some quality literary time at your level, Note that Gish Jena and Leah Hager Cohen are at the main library from 6-8 in the Broadway Lecture Hall discussing writing and culture (free), Gary Shteyngart is at the Brattle reading from his memoir that same night at 6pm ($28, include admission and a copy of Little Failure) see the Harvard.com site, and Isabel Allende is reading from Ripper: A Novel at the First Parish Church at 7pm on Tuesday the 28^th ($5 tickets at Harvard.com).

 PS: DO YOU NEED A SHAVE, OR IS THAT FACIAL ART?

The Somerville Arts Council sponsors BeardFest 2014 in a week and a half. If you're on your way to competitive whiskery, register now. More on attending the beard and moustache contest in next week's edition.

PPS: DO YOU DO BIG, PUBLIC ARTWORK?

Submit a design for one of the new stations on the Green Line extention through Somerville.

1/14 ARTY FUN OF NOTE

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 in your life. I try to mention the family-friendly, affordable, and Cambridgeport School area events mostly, but I throw in some other fun, because I have ARTistic license here.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. – MLK Jr.
CRAFTY MLK JR DAY OF SERVICE IN CAMBRIDGE
You can register to volunteer for Cambridge's MLK Day of Service. This is always a popular event, filling the Sr. Center and City Hall with people of all ages from all over the city working together to sew blankets, sort food for food pantries, make hundreds of Valentines for elders, and put together activity kits for children in hospitals. Make Cambridge a better place between 2-5pm on Monday. Register here.
ARTY MLK JR IN BOSTON
Meanwhile, across the river, the MFA is always free on MLK Jr. Day. From 10am-4:45 Sunday you can celebrate his legacy with performances, art-making activities, gallery tours, and more.
Also Sunday, at the JFK Presidential Library & Museum from 10:30-11:30AM you can groove to some amazing African drumming for free as Benkadi Drum and Dance group is performing traditional rhythms and movements from Mali and Guinea.
Jordan Hall is where MLK Jr. spoke when he came to Boston, and he met Coretta Scott on the steps there. She eventually became his wife and the mother of their four children. If you get the $15 tickets at 2pm, you too can go to Jordan Hall in their honor and hear the Boston Children's Chorus (BCC) perform "Only Love."
ICE ICE BABY
American Dental Partners is sponsoring a cool event at the Peabody Essex Museum on Saturday. The family oriented play date from 1-3 will show you Chill out with chainsaws, chisels and professional ice carver Don Chapelle. Watch the artist demonstrate the tools of the trade and create your own ice piece to add to the collaborative sculpture.
BELMONT WORLD FILM's Family Film Festival Click for all the info on the four days of animated and live action films from all over the world playing at the Studio Cinema in Belmont and the Regent in Arlington.
JAPANESE NEW YEAR The Children's Museum is celebrating Japanese New Year on Sunday the 19th.
CLASSICAL MUSIC and STORIES The Powers Music School presents free live classical music story programs at area libraries, and the one on Saturday at 10:30 at the Belmont Public Library is "Green Eggs and Ham."
FREE ARSENAL ART FUN If you find yourself in Watertown, the Arsenal Center for the Arts has Free Family Fun on Saturday from 10-12 for all ages. Experiment with paint, paper and collage to create works of art together, and leave with a masterpiece.
DUDLEY SQUARE KEEPS ROCKING IT If you've been following all the fantastic street/public art projects in Dudley Square in Roxbury, you'll enjoy this night of presentations by the Dudley Square Municipal Center Public Art Finalists.

1/9 ARTY FUN OF NOTE

MFA fun at the BPL
The Museum of Fine Arts and the Boston Public Library have teamed up this month to offer painting, printmaking, and wire sculpture construction led by educators from the MFA. Visit the library's calendar to find an arts session near you.
Ticket Deals for Shows, Skating
The holidays are over but some big shows can still be seen. Getting tickets from BosTix.org with the promo code: ARTSBOSTON can take a bite out of the price. ONCE, the musical that won eight 2012 Tony awards and the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album is here, for instance. Also, Belmont World Film's Family Film Festival is happening January 17-20 and BosTix has half price passes to that.
Oh, and speaking of tickets. This is kind of arty, though sportsy: If you manage to still get a ticket (on Ticketmaster) to the 2014 Prudential US Figure Skating Championships, use the code FIRSTNIGHT for a: Buy One Ticket, Get One deal.
Celtic Music Festival
This weekend is the Celtic Music Festival, with concerts, workshops, dance performances and a dance party. The festival's mission: to produce locally-based Irish, Scottish and Cape Breton music and dance in an upbeat, all-ages friendly environment. http://www.clubpassim.org/BCMFest
Friend Day at Boston Ballet - Boston
Boston Ballet School is running Friend Day on Sunday the 12th. It's for toddlers – 7 years at their Boston Studio (19 Clarendon St. in the S. End) 9:30am-1:30pm. Your kid can try a free class:
Creative Dance 1 (3 years) 11:30am-12:15pm
Creative Dance 2 (4 years) 1:00-1:45pm
Pre-Ballet 1 (5 years) 9:45-10:30am OR 12-12:45pm

Pre-Ballet 2 (6 years) 10:30-11:15am

Primary (7 years) 11am-12pm
Coolness in Central Square
Are you familiar with Danger!Awesome? It's a laser etching store/maker space right on Prospect Street (soon to be on Mass Ave). It has its roots in the founders wanting to make an animation on toast and ending up making an animation on toast with lasers for the band OK Go, and one of them recently being voted into Cambridge City Council. Anyway, on January 27th Danger!Awesome will be holding its first class on 3D modeling: Digital Sculpting for 3D Printing! Learn how to sculpt digital clay to create pieces that will be printed from the shop's Form1 3D printer. Visit http://digitalsculpting.eventbrite.com/ for more info and to sign up.

11/14 ARTY FUN OF NOTE

HOLIDAY SHOWS FOR HALF PRICE Did you know many of the big holiday shows that happen this time of year are available half price through the (Boston) Mayor's Holiday program? http://www.mayorsholiday.com/categories/index/7/0/KIDS_AND_FAMILIES
OPEN STUDIOS: WATERTOWN, FENWAY ARTS (BOSTON) 11/16-17 BRICKBOTTOM (SOMERVILLE) 11/23-24 Check out all the fun and amazing artists in many media at Watertown Open Studios this weekend: http://watertown-open-studios.org Also, a great painter's building, the Fenway Arts Building also has open studios this weekend with various musicians from Berkelee playing live in the lobby in the afternoons. http://fenwaystudios.org/openstudios.php And the next weekend a very fun extravaganza of creativity with mood elevators and treats from The Biscuit at the amazing Brickbottom Buildings and neighboring Joy Street Studios: brickbottom.org | joystreetstudios.com
CULTURAL CELEBRATIONS: NORWAY & TURKEY I don't know much about this one, but there is a festival hosted by Boston's Norumbega Society, celebrating Norwegian culture and crafts at the Concord Carlisle HS from 10am – 3pm on the 16th. Meanwhile, from November 29 through December 15, Boston's Turkish Festival is taking place with a variety of events: http://www.bostonturkishfestival.org/index.htm
THE DECORDOVA The DeCordova Museum is a particularly beautiful place to visit in the fall (be sure to get a view from the roof). It's right in Lincoln, about a 30 minute drive. Beginning this weekend is their annual Wonderland extension of their great museum store into a fantastic craft show/sale. Also on the 17th from 1-3 is their monthly family art program aimed at ages 2-12; this month's event involves an exploration of Orly Genger's monumental sculpture Red, Yellow, and Blue. We're talking about following a colorful rope installation through the awesome Sculpture Park with related fun activities. http://www.decordova.org/calendar/clone-artfull-explorations-nov-2013 http://www.decordova.org/calendar/wonderland-2013-artists’-market
CHAIN REACTION FRIDAY Here near MIT, we all know the day after Friday as a day of clever innovation, not mindless consumerism. From 1-4pm be sure to check out the sixteenth annual CHAIN REACTION day! A gazillion kids get involved to line up their chain reaction works of art into one massive chain reaction. You can register a team through this week (the 15th), but watching it and getting ideas for next year is also a fine plan. Spectators: $15 for adults or $12.50 in advance. $5 for children ages 5-17, students, seniors and MIT ID-holders. 
Free for children under 5. http://web.mit.edu/museum/programs/fat2013.html
5000 MOVING PARTS at the MIT MUSEUM Abd opening on November 21st is this amazing exhibit of kinetic sculpture at the MIT Museum, a short walk from Cambridgeport School: http://5000movingparts.mit.edu If you go see this on Chain Reaction Friday, your ticket will get you in free until 6pm.
SMFA SALE The annual sale of student work from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts is November 21-24. Go at the very beginning to find the great stuff for your house or holiday gifts. http://www.mfa.org/programs/special-event/smfa-art-sale-0
BELMONT FILM FESTIVAL CELBRATES WESTON WOODS November 23-24 at the Studio Cinema and Beech St. Center in Belmont there will be classic and new films from the Weston Woods Studios library, anniversary cake, and a talk and book signing from the father daughter author/illustrator team of Rebecca and Ed Emberley. Weston Woods did the childrens book films, CDs, audiocassettes, etc. based on many beloved children's books from Maurice Sendak, Lois Lowry, Robert McCloskey and more. http://www.belmontworldfilm.org

11/7 ARTY FUN OF NOTE

FREE BOOKS, REALLY GREAT FREE BOOKS, REALLY

Are you familiar with World Book Night? Fantastic books are chosen each year to be given away for free. Publishers contribute special editions, UPS helps deliver them for free, local bookstores volunteer to coordinate taking shipments, and you volunteer to give them out FOR FREE. Sometimes cool things really happen. Want to be part? Apply to be a World Night Book giver here – let them know where you'd give your books so that people who don't always have access to books would get them. (I've simply given them away at a bus stop the last couple of years. ) Note that World Book Night this year is 4/23 which is during April school vacation: http://www.us.worldbooknight.org

ALLSTON OPEN STUDIOS

12-6pm both weekend days it is Open Studios in the Allston Arts District: http://www.allstonarts.org Check out what's going on in this small community, maybe get some holiday shopping done early. Support your local artists!

GROOVERSITY PERCUSSION FESTIVAL

Saturday, November 9 from 1-6pm (you can walk in anytime), check out the Grooversity Percussion Festival at the East Somerville Community School (ESCS), 50 Cross Street, Somerville. The theme is Music, Peace and Justice. The mission is to empower kids and adults to make meaningful, positive change in their lives and communities through music and dance. The festival will feature workshops in world drumming by renowned masters, a panel discussion on Peace and Justice through Music Education, as well as a samba dance class, and several special percussion performances. The festival will also be streamed online in real time and may be viewed at www.grooversity.com

ART + SCIENCE = FOOD

Have you ever heard about the cool course at Harvard in Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to the Science of Soft Matter? The lecture portion of it is open to the public and is fascinating fun. Famous chefs come and present public lectures. Inspired by the course on Monday nights. They start at 7, but get there early to get a seat. http://ofa.fas.harvard.edu/cal/details.php?ID=44179

FOR ASPIRING CRAFTSPEOPLE AND THOSE WHO LIKE TO KNOW HOW THINGS ARE MADE

The North Bennet St. School in the North End is one of the oldest craft schools in North America. It's a fascinating place to explore and unless you attend the school, you need to go to the Open House on Saturday from 10-3pm to peep inside and check out the process and behind-the-scenes of how amazing furniture, instruments, jewelry, books, and more are created. MFA If you are an MFA member, the Family Member Day with all it's workshops and fun is on Saturday.