VALENTINE'S DAY WEEKEND

• Handmade valentines will be available for sale from noon to 3 pm on Saturday, February 6 at the Artist's Valentine Sale in the Western Avenue Studios, 122 Western Avenue, in Lowell.

• Consider a Singing Valentine delivered by the Sounds of Concord, one of the area's top barbershop harmony choruses. Click to learn more.
• Tickets to the 2011 Boston Flower Show (March 16-20 at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston) make a great Valentine's Day gifts,. Purchasing regularly-priced adult tickets locally will benefit the 58th Annual First Parish Plant & Craft Fair and prevent standing in line to buy tickets at the show. Click to order.
• Bedford's lovers and others are invited to celebrate Valentine's Day (and Franz Liszt's Bicentenary) at First Parish on the Common when the Music Committee presents Dream of Love, a candlelight concert of romantic music with elegant hors d'oeuvres at the interval and a post-concert dessert buffet. The concert begins   at 4 pm on Sunday, February 13. Click for details and ticket information.
• Music from the Concord Library will present composer and pianist Yehudi Wyner and Grammy Award winning clarinetist Richard Stoltzman on Saturday, February 12 at 7:30 pm in the main library. Although there is no charge for the concert, reservations are required. Click here to register online or phone 978-318-3301.
• Hot chocolate and s'mores will warm the ice skaters taking advantage of the free Sunday Skate on February 13 at Middlesex Community College (MCC) with members of MCC's hockey team on hand to share skating tips. Sunday Skate will take place on the shallow pond near the entrance to the Fitness Trail on MCC's Bedford campus. The event is free and open to ice skaters of all ages. The skate is sponsored by the Middlesex Community College Foundation as part of a continuing series of special events held this year in honor of MCC's 40th anniversary and every participant will receive a special souvenir. For more information click to e-mail Jonathan Crockett. (In the event of stormy weather, call 781-280-3785 for last-minute details.)
• Guided snowshoe tours of the de Cordova Sculpture Park will take place at 10 am and at 12:30 pm on Saturday, February 12 (storm date: February 19). Each tour is approximately 1-1/2 hours in length and will be co-led by deCordova staff and an Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS) instructor. A second tour will take place on February 26 (storm date March 5). Reservations are required and fees include snowshoe rental, instructions and admission to the Sculpture Park and Museum. Click to e-mail Liz Herring, head of Membership and Community Outreach, or call 781-259-3631.

CALL FOR ARTISTS

• Emerson Umbrella invites submissions by emerging and established artists in our annual juried outdoor large-scale sculpture exhibition. Exhibition dates: May 5-Nov 1, 2011. Submission deadline is February 15. Click for submission details.

• Massachusetts artists are invited to submit 2- or 3-dimensional work including: paintings, drawings, photographs, monoprints, mixed-media and sculpture for consideration in the Brush Gallery in Lowell's upcoming show Massachusetts Artists 2011. Applications are due at 4 pm on February 4; click to submit your work on line. The show will open on March 20 and run through April 29. A color catalogue of the work accepted for this exhibition will be published.
• The registration deadline for all Lexington or Lexington-affiliated artists wishing to participate in the Lexington Arts and Crafts Society's Third Annual Open Studios (May 20 and 21, 2011) is March 1. Click for registration forms and information.

IN THE GALLERIES

• Abstract paintings by Rita Overhulser will be on display at the Chelmsford Public Library during February with an opening reception with music and refreshments on Saturday, February 5 from 2 to 4 pm. Click for more information. 
• Photographer Alice Shafer will discuss her exhibit Reflected Relationships, a collection of candid street images of ordinary daily living, at the Griffin Museum's Senior/Family Sunday program on February 6 from 3 to 4:15 pm in Winchester. Admission is FREE and open to all. Click for more information.
• Sheila Hicks: 50 Years is on view at the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy in Andover through February 27. This show marks the first museum retrospective devoted to the exceptional American fiber artist. Click for details and directions.
• The Splendor of Nature celebrates color and beauty in the work of Jean Curley and Paula Mingolelli in the Loading Dock Gallery at Western Avenue Studios in Lowell from February 2 through February 27 with an opening reception on Friday, February 4 from 6 to 9 pm. Click for more information or call Maxine Farkas at 978-349-8069.
• Organized by the American Tapestry Alliance and Lowell's American Textile History Museum (ATHM), Biennial 8 features works by 54 artists from around the world on display at ATHM through May 1. Click for directions and details. 
• Wenham's Gallery Della-Piana reopens for its 2011 season on February 13 with Points of Departure a show including work by Masako Kamiya, Niho Kozuru, Michael Pasquale, Pamela Shaw, Robert Cipriani, and Rose Olson. Click for directions and details.

MUSIC

• The Orchestra of Indian Hill will take listeners on a journey to warmer climes in its February 19 concert, Off To the South of France, featuring counter-tenor Matthew Truss working his vocal magic in Berlioz's charming song cycle Summer Nights. The 7:30 pm concert at Littleton High School will be preceded by a 5 pm catered dinner in Blackman Hall at the Indian Hill Music Center. There will also be a pre-concert lecture at 6:45 pm in the high school, and a post-concert opportunity to enjoy complimentary coffee and desserts in conversation with Maestro Bruce Hangen and his guests in the Encore Cafe. Click for details, directions and tickets. 

AT THE BEDFORD LIBRARY

For Kids and Teens

• The Lego Challenge returns on Wednesday, February 23, from 3 to 4 in the Bedford Library Meeting Room. Kids entering Kindergarten through 5th grade are invited to explore the wonderful world of Lego during February vacation. The library has loads of Legos to fuel the challenge, and all completed models will be displayed outside the Children's Room. The Lego Challenge is free and no sign-up needed - just bring your imagination. Contact Nancy Tegeler, Children's Librarian, 781-275-9440 for additional information.
• The Friends of the Library will offer a large selection of high-quality, gently-read children's books to gladden the hearts of young readers and their grown-ups during the I  (heart) To Read !!! mini-book sale in the library lobby from 10 am to 3 pm on Saturday, February 12. For grown-ups accompanying young book sale patrons, the mezzanine book cart and the main floor sale alcove also will be full of fresh selections during the mini-sale.
• Families with kids up to second grade are especially invited to celebrate Chinese New Year and the year of the rabbit at the Bedford Library on Saturday, February 12, from 2 to 4 pm in the meeting room at the Bedford Library. There will be Chinese crafts, calligraphy, origami and hands-on fun for all. The fun will be  led by a team of Bedford teenagers and sponsored by the Friends of the Bedford Library. The program is free and no sign-up needed.  Contact Sharon McDonald, Children's Librarian, 781-275-9440 for information. 
   

Adult Programming

• The Civil War (Part 2) , a 6-part video lecture series with Professor Dan Breen, continues in the Bedford Library meeting room at 2 pm on February 6, February 13, and February 27. Sponsored by the Friends of the Bedford Free Public Library, this program is free and open to the public. Please contact the Library at 781-275-9440 or click for more information.

AT EMERSON UMBRELLA

• Expressions of Shadow and Light, an exhibit of paintings by Andy Newman, is hanging in the Emerson Umbrella Gallery through February 14.

AT THE CONCORD ART ASSOCIATION (CAA)

• Concord Art Association's annual members' show Juried I: Painting and Sculpture is on display in their gallery through February 6 and Juried II: Photography, Drawing, Mixed Media, Crafts and Graphics will go up from February 15 to March 13, with an opening reception on Thursday, February 17 from 6 to 8 pm.
• The film Chuck Close: A Portrait in Progress will be screened at the CAA on February 16 at 7 pm. Films are free of charge and open to all. Click to reserve your space.
• Painter and author Shaun McNiff will give a thought provoking talk and ask the question, "Why does one of the most constructive aspects of human experience (making art) arouse so much angst?" McNiff will speak at 7 pm on Thursday, February 24. Click to reserve your ticket.

LEXINGTON ARTS & CRAFTS SOCIETY (LACS)

• LACS presents Pathways in Clay: Students and Members, a show that includes ceramics students in Cora Pucci's and Bet Lee's adult classes and Lynne Fisher's class for teens along with members and prospective members  of the Ceramics Guild . The show will be run from January 22 to February 6 in the Parson Gallery.
• LACS's Decorative Arts Guild hosts an exhibit and sale, The Many Faces of Decorative Arts, from February 15 to February 27, with an opening reception on February 13 from 3 to 5 pm.  Vivian Bisbee of MB Historic Décor will demonstrate the decorative art of stenciling on Sunday, February 20 from 1:30 to 3:30 pm.  
• The Needle Arts Guild at LACS will host a free afternoon knitting workshop from 1 to 3 pm on Sunday, February 13. Participants will make hats that will be donated to cancer patients at Mass General Hospital. Participants may bring their own pattern and materials or bring one pair of size 10 needles and 2 oz. of worsted weight yarn and use the Guild's simple pattern. The public is welcome and the afternoon will include a Yarn Swap & Give Away.
• Unless otherwise noted, all LACS programs take place in their building on Waltham Street in Lexington. For information click to visit the LACS website or call 781-862-9696.
   

THEATER

Breaking Legs, a comedy presented by the Concord Players, opens on February 11 at 51 Walden in Concord. It's a romp involving an aspiring playwright who gets involved with some shady characters in order to finance his new play. Click for details, performance dates, tickets and directions.
 

POETRY

The Weekend Poetry series at Concord Free Public Library continues on Sunday, February 13 at 3 pm with a free reading by Betsy Sholl, Poet Laureate of New Hampshire. A musical interlude will be provided by painter and saxophonist David Sholl with a book signing and reception at the end of the afternoon. For more information www.concordlibrary.org.

WINTER FARMERS' MARKETS

The Saturday morning Carlisle Winter Farmers' Market will be held in the Union Hall, 27 School Street in Carlisle, from 9 am to noon February 19, March 19 and April 16. Click here for additional information.  

Russell's Garden Center in Wayland will again host the Saturday Wayland Farmers' Market in its greenhouses beginning from 10 am to 2 pm through March 12. Click here for additional information, including a vendor list.

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