May 18 to 15, 2019:

Pictured above: Revere Beach Kite Festival, May 17, 2015. (Greg Cook)


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Saturday, May 18, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Kite & Bike Festival at Franklin Park, Boston
50th annual festival of picnicking, kite flying, bicycles and music.


Saturday, May 18, 3 p.m.
“Brand New Books by Fascinating Ladies” at Arts at the Armory, Somerville
Local authors Toni Bee, Jen Deaderick, Grace Talusan, and Gilmore Tamny read.


Saturday, May 18, 4 to 6 p.m.
Reception: “Call of the Wild” at 13 Forest gallery, Arlington
Exhibition of animal-themed artworks by numerous local artists.


Craig Bailey's "Faces of the AIDS Crisis" photos 1991-1997.
Craig Bailey’s “Faces of the AIDS Crisis” photos 1991-1997.

Saturday, May 18, 7 to 10 p.m.
Reception: “Faces of AIDS” by Craig Bailey at Medicine Wheel, Boston
Reception for an exhibition of the Boston photographer’s set of 1990s portraits of friends who died of AIDS. “We will have music, read the texts accompanying the photos aloud, share memories of family, friends or acquaintances in the photos.”


Stephanie Benenson's "Im|Migration" at Salem's Punto Urban Art Museum, May 11, 2019. (Greg Cook)
Stephanie Benenson’s “Im|Migration” at Salem’s Punto Urban Art Museum, May 11, 2019. (Greg Cook)

Saturday, May 18, 8 to 10 p.m.
“Im|Migration” by Stephanie Benenson at 34 Peabody St., Salem
The Hamilton artist’s laser and sound installation honors and celebrates local immigrants. Note: This is one of the Creative County Initiative projects I’ve been commissioned by the Essex County Community Foundation to help document/promote.


Revere Beach Kite Festival, May 17, 2015. (Greg Cook)
Revere Beach Kite Festival, May 17, 2015. (Greg Cook)

Sunday, May 19, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Kite Festival at Revere Beach
Kite-flying, live music, professional kite flyers, and free kite decorating for kids. “The first 300 kids (12 and under) will receive a free kite.”
Kids can fly kites high into the sky, while enjoying live music, professional kite flyers, and FREE kite decorating for the kids. The first 300 kids (12 and under) will receive a free kite.


Boston Arm Wrestling Dames Fight Night.
Boston Arm Wrestling Dames Fight Night.

Sunday, May 19, 7:30 p.m.
Boston Arm Wrestling Dames Fight Night at Oberon, Cambridge
“Eight wrestlers with big personas and money hungry entourages will throw down in an all-out arm wrestling brawl. Will TinkerHell be able to defend her title as Grand Champ?”


Monday, May 20, noon
Malcolm X Day RBG Flag Raising at Boston City Hall Plaza
Raising the RBG flag in honor of Malcolm X (el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz).


Monday, May 20, 6 p.m.
“Solidarity Gathering for Center for Jewish Life of Arlington/Belmont” at Arlington Town Hall
In response to recent suspicious fires at Chabad rabbi’s home in Arlington and a rabbi’s home in Needham. “We gather in support and solidarity for the Jewish community and to empower us to take action against all acts of hate, bias and discrimination that so often lead to acts of violence.”


Monday, May 20, 7 p.m.
John Waters at First Parish Church, Cambridge
Filmmaker John Waters speaks about his new book “Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder” in this Harvard Book Store event.


Tuesday, May 21, noon
Stop The Abortion Ban rallies in Boston, Somerville
Rallies are planned across the nation “to speak out and fight back against this unconstitutional attempt to gut Roe and punish women. Together we say: Stop the bans.” Boston’s will be at the Massachusetts State House. Somerville’s will be at the Davis Square Plaza.


Wednesday, May 22, 7:15 p.m.
Shay Alexi Features at the Boston Poetry Slam, Cantab Lounge, Cambridge
The writing of the Atlanta poet, performance artist, and author of “Diary of a Ghost Girl,” explores “the intersections of tenderness and aggression, navigating queerness, girlhood and various forms of softness.”


Wednesday, May 22, 7:30 p.m.
JoeAnn Hart and Greg Gibson read at Gloucester Writers Center
Hart reads from “Stamford ’76: A True Story of Murder, Corruption, Race, and Feminism in the 1970s,” her book about the unsolved murder of a young white woman followed by police killing her black boyfriend. She’s joined by Gibson, author of “Gone Boy,” about the murder of his son in a 1992 school shooting, and an advocate for gun laws.


Thursday, May 23, 6 to 8 p.m.
Reception: “Making is Taking: Consent in Photography” at Harvard Ed Portal, Allston
Curator and photographer Anna Rae presents four Boston-area photographers—Atma, Kat Waterman, Lucas Hall, and Jaypix Belmer—who explore the role of consent in their portraits.


Thursday, May 23, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
“Ericka Beckman: Double Reverse” at MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge
The MassArt’s teacher’s films and videos offer curious games and fairy tales, construction sites and football stadiums. They can feel like “Sesame Street” shorts directed by the surrealist Luis Bunuel. Exhibition continues through July 28, 2019.


Olga de Amaral “Muro teijido 1 (Wall Hanging 1),” probably 1969, double-woven slit tapestry of hand-spun wool. (Museum of Arts and Design, New York, Photo: Eva Heyd. © Olga de Amaral)
Olga de Amaral “Muro teijido 1 (Wall Hanging 1),” probably 1969, double-woven slit tapestry of hand-spun wool. (Museum of Arts and Design, New York, Photo: Eva Heyd. © Olga de Amaral)

Friday, May 24
“In the Vanguard: Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, 1950-1969” at Portland Museum of Art, Maine
In 1950, an experimental art school opened in Montville, Maine, named for nearby Haystack Mountain. This “first major museum exhibition focused solely on this school” showcases artists it attracted in its early years—Anni Albers, Dale Chihuly, Robert Ebendorf, Jack Lenor Larsen, M.C. Richards, and Toshiko Takaezu. As evidenced by 90 textiles, ceramics, glass, metalwork, paintings and prints, as well as correspondence, photographs, brochures, posters and magazine articles. Exhibition continues through Sept. 8, 2019.


Friday, May 24, 2:30 p.m.
Boston Calling Music Festival at Harvard Athletic Complex, Allston
Twenty One Pilots, Tame Impalia and Travis Scott headline this three day shindig, which continues on May 25 and 26.


Friday, May 24, 6 to 8:30 p.m.
Reception: Eric Bornstein’s “Masks & Spirit” exhibit at First Church in Boston Unitarian Universalist
Bornstein, an artist in residence at the church, exhibits his masks.


Lani Asuncion’s “Human Garden | Handmade” at Boston Children’s Museum.
Lani Asuncion’s “Human Garden | Handmade” at Boston Children’s Museum.

Friday, May 24, 6 to 8 p.m.
Lani Asuncion’s “Human Garden | Handmade” at Boston Children’s Museum
Interactive performance and meet the artist event for Asuncion’s immersive multimedia project “that combines technology and nature, the work asks for a closer look at how both are connected.” The exhibition continues through Sept. 30.


Cauleen Smith “Give It or Leave It” at ICA Philadelphia, 2018. (Courtesy Mass MoCA)
Cauleen Smith “Give It or Leave It” at ICA Philadelphia, 2018. (Courtesy Mass MoCA)

Saturday, May 25
Cauleen Smith “We Already Have What We Need” at Mass Moca, North Adams
The LA artist—who creates what she’s called “a cornucopia of future histories”—fills the museum’s first floor galleries with a new immersive video installation dubbed “Every Sunrise and Every Sunset All at Once” about ecology and our basic needs. Plus tables displaying African figurines, plants, a model sailboat, musical instruments. The show also offers a survey of videos from the past decade, new textiles, banners from her “In the Wake” series, a manifesto, and drawings.


“Octopus and Shell,” Japanese, Edo period, c. 1820s, woodblock print (surimono); ink, color, and metallic pigment on paper. (Courtesy Harvard Art Museums)
“Octopus and Shell,” Japanese, Edo period, c. 1820s, woodblock print (surimono); ink, color, and metallic pigment on paper. (Courtesy Harvard Art Museums)

Saturday, May 25
“Japan on Paper” at Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge
Nearly 50 Japanese woodblock prints from the 17th to 20th centuries, including works by Suzuki Harunobu (1725–1770), Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), Sharaku (active 1794–95), Itō Jakuchū (1716–1800) and Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849). Exhibition continues through Aug. 11, 2019.


Saturday, May 25
Annie Lennox “Now I Let You Go…” at Mass MoCA, North Adams
An exhibition that is “part material diary, part art installation” by the celebrated pop singer. “Juxtaposed against her public face, as we examine this excavation of remarkably personal objects, we will come to better understand some of the underlying and more private forces that motivate her work in song, and her passionately argued campaigns for justice, global health, and social equity across gender and race,” Mass MoCA Director Joseph Thompson writes.


Saturday, May 25, 11 a.m.
Spring Planting Moon Pow-Wow at Marsfield Fairgrounds
Massachusetts Center for Natival American Awareness hosts this pow-wow on May 25 and 26.
Dancing, storytelling, food, demonstrations of basket weaving.


Saturday, May 25, 6 to 9 p.m.
“Inner City Circle: An Intergenerational Show of Boston Artists” at Strand Theatre, Boston
Organizers write: “The seasoned artists of Inner City Circle have created their own opportunities for decades, but with a lack of steady recognition and support for artists in Dorchester and Roxbury the resources and accolades generated have not made the impact they could have on the emerging artists of today. The curators behind Inner City Circle propose that if these artists had a place to gather and share their work side by side, they could experience and build the kind of tradition and infrastructure that more affluent communities enjoy.”


Saturday, May 25, 8:30 p.m.
“HipStory Presents: Boston Answering” at Strand Theatre, Boston
A response to the “Boston Calling Music Festival” in Cambridge from May 24 to 26. Organizers write, “This is our chance to show the city what incredible talent and power Boston born and bred artists can produce.”


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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.


Categories: Art