May 3 to 9, 2019:
Pictured above: Museum of Modern Renaissance, Somerville, May 6, 2017. (Copyright Greg Cook)
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Friday, May 3, 6 p.m.
Reception for Todd McKie “Pardon Me for Painting” at Gallery NAGA, Boston
The local artist’s paintings are like the love children of Joan Miro and William Steig.
Friday, May 3, 6 p.m.
Reception for “Secrets of the Unseen” at Fountain Street gallery, Boston
Artists Marie Craig and Allison Maria Rodriguez explore “the possibilities of transcendence and rebirth through a conventionally unrecognized, hidden power” with installation, video, photography, animation, drawing and performance.
Friday, May 3, 6 to 9 p.m.
Somerville Open Studios speak preview
Select artists across the city open their workspaces to your prying eyes—in advance of the full city open studios on May 4 and 5. The weekend’s highlights include Hilary Scott’s themed home and the visionary Museum of Modern Renaissance. Free.
Friday, May 3
“Gorham Silver: Designing Brilliance 1850-1970” at RISD Museum, Providence
This exhibit surveys 120 years of production by the Providence firm that rose to be the largest silver company in the world. Mary Todd Lincoln even bought one of their tea services for the White House. They impressed with pieces ranging from a modernist cubist coffee set to ornate designs that look like something out of a fairy tale palace or Neptune’s undersea castle. Exhibition continues through Dec. 1, 2019
Saturday, May 4
“William Steig’s Sylvester and the Magic Pebble: A Golden Anniversary” at Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Amherst
The late Boston writer and illustrator William Steig drafted fables of surpassing wonder and strangeness. For example, his 1969 book “Sylvester and the Magic Pebble,” which won the Caldecott Medal. It’s the story of a donkey who finds a magic pebble that he (accidentally) uses to transform himself into a boulder, much to his unhappiness. The exhibition offers preliminary sketches, storyboards, dummy books, Steig’s paints and tools, personal family photographs and his prized Caldecott Medal. Exhibition continues through Dec. 1, 2019.
Saturday, May 4, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
International Indigenous Peoples Cultural Conference at Roger Williams University, Bristol, Rhode Island
Fourth annual one-day conference highlighting the diversity and complexity of indigenous cultures throughout the world. This year’s focus is the Polynesian culture of the south Pacific islands. King Aleka Dayne Aipoalani, Ali’i Nui of the Polynesian Kingdom of Atooi will be the event’s honored guest. Panel discussions. Cultural demonstrations. Free.
Saturday, May 4, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Wake Up the Earth Festival at Southwest Corridor Park, near Stony Brook MBTA Station, Boston
The 41st annual celebration of spring includes a parade, several stages of music, dance and theater, the Skate Stage near the skateboard park, and craft, nonprofit, and food vendors.
Saturday, May 4, 11 a.m.
Spring Foraging for Wild Urban Edibles. Meet at Mattapan Square MBA Station, Boston
Urban Farming Institute and Hike for Life show how to find spring wild edibles growing in the heart of the city, from the MBTA Station to the Neponset River Trail.
Saturday, May 4, 11 a.m.
March for Science at Cambridge Common
“Together we can make a difference, advance scientific research, and raise support for evidence-based policies in New England.”
Saturday, May 4, 2 p.m.
“May the Fourth” lightsaber build at Parts and Crafts, Somerville
Build lightsabers and support the maker space’s scholarship fund!
Saturday, May 4, 2 to 5 p.m.
Kentucky Derby & Fancy Hat Party at Vernon Street Studios, Somerville
Christina Balch writes: “Every Saturday of Somerville Open Studios, Kerri and I have cursed ourselves for not throwing a Kentucky Derby party with fancy hats. Well this year we’re actually doing it! Come by studio 52 at Vernon Street with your best hat game! We’re working on getting a TV in the studio for viewing, but there will be hats!”
Saturday and Sunday, May 4 and May 5, 3 to 9 p.m.
Floor Lords 38th Anniversary Breakin’ Battle At Middle East/Sonia, Cambridge
“2 VS 2 – Concept Breakin’ Battle” at Sonia on Saturday. “3 VS 3” competition at the Middle East Night Club on Sunday.
Saturday, May 4, 6 to 10 p.m.
Points of Light Lantern Festival at Western Canal, Lowell
Third annual spring celebration of unity and renewal in which participants personalize water lanterns that will be released onto the Western Canal, creating hundreds of floating points of light. Plus food and music.
Saturday, May 4, 8 p.m.
“She Died for Our Convenience” by Strange Attractor at Paragon Mill, 25 & 39 Manton Ave., Providence
A one-night-only, roving “choral haunting concerning the women who worked from 1898-1960 in the textile mill at the Earnscliffe Woolen Mill/Paragon Worsted Co.” Note: “We will ask you to move from one place to another throughout the evening, but you will not climb stairs or move in unpaved areas.” Park across the street at the Atlantic Mills parking lot. Free.
Saturday, May 4, 8 p.m.
“The Unicorn, The Gorgon and The Manticore” and “A Medieval Bestiary” Performed by Metropolitan Chorale and Puppet Showplace Theater at First Church, Cambridge
Fantastical creatures come alive in this performance of works by Menotti and Schafer.
Sunday, May 5, 12:30 to 4 p.m.
Lowell Earth Day Parade & Festival at Lowell National Historical Park
Mile-long parade with local schools, puppets, costumes, and eco-conscious groups from the Greater Lowell area. Followed by family-friendly, sustainability festival at the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center, 50 Warren St. Free.
Sunday, May 5, 12:30 to 9:30 p.m.
“Somerlele: Somerville Ukulele Festival” at Arts at the Armory
All-ages, multiple levels workshops in the afternoon, followed by performances by “top local and regional ukulele artists” in the evening.
Sunday, May 5, 2 to 4 p.m.
“Wee Free Black Mamas: A Card-Making Marathon + Bailout Event” at MassArt, Boston
Wee The People host a free, kid-powered creativity marathon featuring card-making, a teach-in, t-shirt station and pop-up book lounge at MassArt’s DMC Atrium to protest “laws that unfairly keep moms in jail while they’re awaiting trial” because “they can’t afford to pay their bail.”
Sunday, May 5, 3 p.m.
“The Handmaid’s Tale” by Boston Lyric Opera at Harvard University’s Ray Lavietes Pavilion, Boston
Margaret Atwood’s celebrated novel—set in fanatically patriarchal religious dystopia in Boston and Cambridge—becomes “one of BLO’s largest-ever productions.” Anne Bogart directs composer Poul Ruders’s score, commissioned by Boston Lyric Opera. The show runs through May 12.
Sunday, May 5, 5 p.m.
Gerrit Lansing’s Moon Birthday at Gloucester Writers Center
Remember and celebrate the late Gloucester poet Gerrit Lansing with poems, song and stories.
Monday, May 6, 5:30 p.m.
“Curating a New Culture: Leaders of Color in the Visual Arts” talk at Boston Center For the Arts Mills Gallery
ArtsBoston’s Network for Arts Administrators of Color hosts leaders of color in Boston’s visual arts community for a discuss of challenges artists and arts administrators face in this heavily white and Eurocentric field. Panelists: Layla Bermeo, curator at Museum of Fine Arts; Cagen Luse, artist LunchTime Comix; Stella Aguirre McGregor, founder and director of URBANO Project Siddhartha V. Shah, curator of Indian and South Asian Art at Peabody Essex Museum. Free, but registration required.
Wednesday, May 8, 6:30 p.m.
Artist Georgie Friedman Speaks About “Fragments of Antarctica” exhibition at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Boston-area artist leads a in-depth 15-minute gallery talk about her videos of icebergs floating out to sea and other artworks from a trip to the Antarctic Peninsula. “I want visitors to be challenged to consider their own relationships with nature and be aware of the current threats to our environment,” Friedman told TuftsNow.
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If this is the kind of coverage of arts, cultures and activisms you appreciate, please support Wonderland by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon. And sign up for our free, weekly newsletter so that you don’t miss any of our reporting.