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Welcome to the WOO!
Get your WOO Card to receive discounts and special offers at nearly sixty area arts and culture destinations, along with restaurants, hotels, retailers and more throughout Worcester County! Earn WOO points every time you use your WOO Card and be entered to win fantastic prizes!
WOO & Win
Featured Prizes:
Time to Time Warp! 
Win a pair of tickets to Opening Night of Worcester County Light Opera Company's production of The Rocky Horror Show, running April 25th - May 11th at the Grandview Playhouse! Let's do the time warp again!
Play Ball!
Win tickets to an upcoming Worcester Bravehearts
baseball game and a team baseball cap! The newest member of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League brings baseball back to Worcester with its season home opener on Thursday, June 5th at Hanover Insurance Park at Fitton Field!
WOO Cards now available for sale at the Box Offices of both The Hanover Theatre and DCU Center,
Save! Swipe! Win! WOO! |
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Sparking STEM 
Across the country and around the world, arts-based learning is sparking creativity and innovation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). On Thursday, April 10th from 5:30-7:30 p.m. the Worcester Incubator for Innovation will make its introductory presentation, Art of Science Learning, for the greater Worcester Community at The Hanover Theatre, 2 Southbridge Street, Worcester. Learn first-hand how this dynamic, integrated thinking will be applied to Worcester's transportation challenges and the development of new models for STEM learning. This informational session is open to the general public and is part of a four-year, National Science Foundation funded project. General admission tickets are $10, available online, at the box office or by calling 877 571-SHOW. Admission is free with WOO Card 
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 ACE is the place
Six years ago, the African Community Education (ACE) program set out on a mission to help African refugee and immigrant youth in Worcester achieve their dreams of graduating high school and attending college, while preserving their pride and connection to their roots. Join ACE for its 7th Annual Spring Festival on Saturday, April 12th from 3-7 p.m. at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Recreation Center, 28 Mulberry Street, Worcester to showcase its student achievements both academic and extracurricular. The evening will be filled with wonderful African drumming, dancing and delicious food prepared by the African community, while students share inspriring stories of the challenging journeys they have survived. Admission is free, suggested donation of $10.
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 Happy 150th
to the Hook
Mechanics Hall, 321 Main Street, Worcester, is celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Hook Organ with a series of concerts throughout the year. Today Wednesday, April 9th, at 12 noon, enjoy a program of Bach, Haydn, Gigout, Gershwin, and others played by Peter Stoltzfus Berton - a beautiful demonstration of the organ's voices and magnitude. Berton holds degrees in Organ from the University of Michigan and Yale University. Hallmarks of his career as a church musician have been developing intergenerational choral programs in the modern Anglican tradition and producing multiple-choir festivals. He has been Music Director at All Saints Church in Worcester, Christ Episcopal Church in Los Altos, Clifornia and Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims in Brooklyn Heights, New York. Now the Music Director at St. John's Episcopal Church in West Hartford, he is an active composer, choral clinician, organ recitalist, recording artist and producer, and a member of Mastersingers USA men's touring ensemble.
The Hook Organ, installed in 1864, dominates the Great Hall of Mechanics Hall. American organ builders Elias and George Hook, brothers from Boston, constructed the 52-stop, 3,504-pipe instrument, which is often referred to as the "Worcester Organ." Today, the Hook organ is the oldest unaltered four-keyboard pipe organ in the Western Hemisphere located at its installation site. Admission to the concert is FREE and open to the public. WOO Card holders can swipe for Double WOO points |
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Celebrating National Poetry Month
In honor of National Poetry Month, the Worcester County Poetry Association will introduce a new author and poet at its Street Beat Thursday on Thursday, April 10th 7-9 p.m. at Vasa Hall, 1 Ekman Street, Worcester. Fresh off the release of her chapbook These Hands Still Holding, Jennifer L. Freed will be the featured poet. An open mic preceds the feature reading so guests are encouraged to bring an original work or a favorite poems to read and share, celebrating the one month the world recognizes the essential part poetry plays in our lives. Admission is FREE and open to all. Hat passed for free will offering.
On Tuesday, April 22nd from 7:30-9 p.m. the Worcester Public Library, 3 Salem Square, Worcester, will host several poetry organizations from throughout the area for a winner-take-all poetry slam - a battle of wits! Admission is FREE and open to all. |
 Love Your Mother
Time to show your love for Mother Earth! Join the Regional Environmental Council for its 25th Annual Earth Day Clean-Ups on Saturday, April 12th from 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. Participants welcome to assist at clean up sites throughout the city, culminating in a cookout for all volunteers after the clean ups (1-4 p.m.) at 9 Castle Street, Worcester. Join a variety of community organizations, youth and local agencies coming together to care for and ensure our neighborhoods are clean and safe. Additional information available online or by calling 508 799-9139. |
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Now Showing...
Spring has Sprung
March 14 - May 31
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Coming Up in Culture
April 10th - The Incredible Journey of Franklins Way to Wealth with guest lecturer Kenneth Carpenter at the American Antiquarian Society, FREE April 12th - Historic Scavenger Hunt at Salisbury Mansion April 12th - Worcester's Ethnic Mosaic: Royal Scottish Country Dance Society at Worcester Public Library, FREE April 17th - An Evening with Jonathan Edwards at Mechanics Hall April 19th - Park Spirit Bird Walk & Park Presentation at Elm Park/Newton Hill, meet at Elm Park boat house, FREE April 19th - 27th - Spring Break School Vacation Week at Old Sturbridge Village, hands on activities, games, costumed demonstrations and more April 21st - 25th - School Vacation Week camp (week long or single day options) at MA Audubon Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary April 21st - 25th - Springtime Storytime amid the lush beauty of the gardens, daily at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. April 22nd - 25th - Close Encounters of the Wild Kind, school vacation week at the EcoTarium April 22nd - 27th - Like Sisters on stage at Clark University's Little Theatre April 23rd - Assumption College HumanArts presents Jim Guttmann's Bessarabian Breakdown, FREE April 24th - The Old Neighborhood lecture & discussion with Thomas Doughton at the Worcester Historical Museum, part of ongoing Bondage to Belonging series, FREE April 26th - Choruses of the Worcester Consortium Concert at Mechanics Hall, performance of Durufle Requiem Ongoing thru May 24th - The Tsars Cabinet: Two Hundred Years of Russian Decorative Arts Under the Romanovs on view at Museum of Russian Icons Visit the Worcester Cultural Coalition's online calendar often for more information about these and many, many other cultural happenings!
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Did you hear...
The EcoTarium,
The Hanover Theatre & Worcester Art Museum are now offering a free WOO Card as a membership benefit. Contact visitor/membership services at any of the three to get your free WOO Card.
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This editon of
Your Arts & Culture Connection
brought to you by | |
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Fred Harris Daniels Foundation |
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 Making of murals
New Garden Park, in partnership with the Cultural Development Office, will host an informational meeting about a recently RFP for two new mural installations on the facade of 20 Franklin Street (formerly Worcester Telegram & Gazette building) on Wednesday, April 16th from 5:30-7 p.m. The Arts Alleyway will be a showcase of high-quality temporary murals which feature the creative energy of the region. The goal is to reactivate a deteriorating public space into an exciting work of art that engages students, professionals and residents of the downtown area. Worcester artist Susan Champeny will facilitate the discussion along with members of the Public Art Working Group which share information about other exciting public art initiatives in the City. Admission to the meeting is free and open to the public. Additional details about the Allen Court Art Alley project along with artist qualifications and application are available online.
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Fab at Forty 
The Salisbury Singers will join forces with the Assumption College Chorale on Saturday, April 12th at 7:30 p.m. to culminate their 40th season at Mechanics Hall, 321 Main Street, Worcester, with a dynamic performance of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. Under the direction of conductor Michelle Graveline, along with critically acclaimed solosits and orchestra, this concert is sure to be a memorable musical event. Tickets are available online, at the door or by calling 508 799-3848. WOO Card holders can swipe for Double WOO points |
Pottery Parties
The Worcester Center for Crafts, 25 Sagamore Road, Worcester, invites you to get up close and personal with some of the most impressive ceramic talents in the Northeast at their Pottery Invitational Show & Sale opening Friday, April 11th and running through Sunday, April 13th. The ceramic celebration kicks off with a special Benefit Preview on Friday, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. featuring a special talk with Worcester Art Museum Director Emeritus James Welu. Show and Sale opens to the public 6:30-8:30 p.m. and continues Saturday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. with Pop-up Artist Talks as well as floral and food demonstrations throughout the weekend. Admission is free other than the Benefit Preview which requires a $20 donation. WOO Card holders can swipe for Double WOO points
 ArtsWorcester, 660 Main Street, Worcester, will host an opening reception for its new exhibition, Left of Center: Ceramic Work on Friday, April 11th from 6-8 p.m. featuring the works of Sarah Williams, a 2013 Worcester Arts Council Fellow who has exhibited in both the Bay Area and throughout Massachusetts. Inspired partly by Art Deco traditions and Hungarian folk art, the objects in the exhibit are caught in a unique tension between the purity of the functional form and the deadly sins many of them represent. Reception will also feature the opening for Like It's 1979, an exhibit celebrating artwork inspired by and created in the year ArtsWorcester was founded. Hard-edge abstract, low brow art, portraiture, anhomage to Thiebaud and even a few tributes to the Aurora itself are all part of the exhibit. Both exhibits will be on view through May 17th. Admission is free. WOO Card holders can swipe for Double WOO points
Pottery Party Plus! One Ticket/Two Shows - Celebrate ceramics all over town on Friday, April 11th! Collaboration between the Worcester Center for Crafts and ArtsWorcester invites you to pick up a ticket at ArtsWorcester and bring it to the Craft Center for a raffle ticket, or start at the Craft Center, pickup up a ticket for a free beverage at ArtsWorcester! |
 Making the Connection - Making the LEAP
The Education Committee of the Worcester Cultural Coalition serves to foster relations and programming between the Worcester Public Schools and Worcester Cultural Coalition member organizations. The cultural collaboration promotes the development of grade level immersive programs called Leaps. These programs impact all students in a grade and provide intensive and interdisciplinary learning experiences that use the riches of the cultural organizations and support key elements of the Worcester Public Schools curriculum. Some 8,000 students will receive the gift of cultural engagement during the 2013-14 school year.
"There's no question that the arts make a tremendous impact on young people, incorporating visits to cultural sites greatly enhances and deepens student's understanding of any and all subjects. We in Worcester are fortunate, through the support of the Alden Trust, to ensure that students across all grade levels will have the opportunity to experience some of our many cultural gems and in doing so have their education expanded profoundly ," said James David Moran, Chair of the Worcester Cultural Coalition's Education Working Committee.
Worcester Educational Development Foundation in partnership with the Worcester Cultural Coalition, is committed to engaging all Worcester Public Schools in the arts, culture and interpretive sciences. With generous support from the Alden Family Trust
and other businesses and organizations, students are actively engaged in cultural programming throughout greater Worcester. In coming weeks we will share stories of some of the many LEAPs taking place throughout the City.
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 Walkabout Worcester
Now that the winter weather is finally behind us (we hope!), it's time to get back outside. Preservation Worcester and the Worcester Public Library have teamed up to produce a self-guided walking tour of City Hall, Worcester Common and the area surrounding the Common - highlighting the history and architecture of the heart of downtown. The public is invited to the unveiling of the project, which was supported in part by a grant from the Worcester Arts Council, on Wednesday, April 16th from 11 a.m. - 12 noon at Worcester City Hall, 455 Main Street, Worcester. Admission to the event is FREE and open to the public. |
 Sleeping Beauty
Music Worcester's ballet presentation for spring 2014 will take the stage at The Hanover Theatre, 2 Southbridge Street, Worcester, on Friday, April 18th at 8 p.m. Don't miss the majestic Moscow Festival Ballet performing Tchaikovsky's glorious classic, Sleeping Beauty. Fully staged, featuring stunning sets and costumes - this ballet is perfect for all ages! Tickets available online or by calling 508 754-3231. WOO Card holders can save 10% off two adult tickets and swipe for Double WOO points
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Going for GAN
There have been hundreds of candidates for the Great American Novel in the nearly 150 years since John William DeForest first introduced the idea, but why have these books been contenders for this title? What doe claims of being the GAN really mean? The American Antiquarian Society, 185 Salisbury Street, Worcester, on Tuesday, April 22nd at 7 p.m. as they host Lawrence Buell for a lecture based on his recently published book The Dream of the Great American Novel. Buell charts the history of the quest to write the GAN and then uses history as a platform for exploring some of the characteristic ways GAN candidates have acted as explorations and reference points for imagining a national identity. Buell is Powell M. Cabot Research Professor of American Literature at Harvard and has written and lectured worldwide on American fiction, Transcendentalists and environmental humanities. Admission to the lecture is FREE and open to the public. WOO Card holders can swipe for Double WOO points.
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Save 25% |
Spring into the fun - and savings - with a WOO Card!
Use your WOO Card to visit more than 60 local cultural institutions, restaurants, retailers and more, while enjoying fantastic special deals and winning fabulous prizes!
Use coupon code SPRING to save $5 off the online purchase of a WOO Card today!
| | Offer Expires: April 30, 2014, valid for online WOO Card purchases only |
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