Life should be as free as a summer’s breeze in New England. Take some time this season to get out and try something utterly new: discover the joys of cooking fresh vegtables from the farmer’s market, take the train to Maine for the weekend and learn about Frank Lloyd Wright, or, on an especially sweltering night, take shelter during a double-feature at the Harvard Film Archive and then treat yourself to a late-night ice-cream cone in the Square.
Listings by category:
SEASONAL
The Farmers’ Market at Harvard
www.dining.harvard.edu/flp/ag_market.html
- Tuesdays, 12:30-6 p.m. This outdoor market, which runs through October, features freshly harvested produce, baked goods, cooking demonstrations, and guest presentations by chefs and regional makers of artisanal food. The market takes place outside the Science Center, at the corner of Oxford and Kirkland streets, and is organized by the Harvard University Dining Services.
Hillsborough Balloon Fest and Fair
www.balloonfestival.org; 603-464-0377
- July 12-15 The annual New Hampshire fte features everything from live music and skyward flights to lawn-tractor pulls and fireworks.
Moonlight Paddle in the Berkshires
http://www.thetrustees.org/pages/29763_moonlight_paddle.cfm; 978-537-5835
- August 28, 7-9 p.m. The Trustees of Reservations offers a myriad of summer events and outings across Massachusetts, including this nighttime adventure through Bartholomew's Cobble in Sheffield, and Thursday evening picnic concerts (starting July 19) at Castle Hill in Ipswich. Visit www.thetrustees.org/pages/30281_summer_picnic_concerts.cfm
MUSIC
Harvard Summer Pops Band
http://hcs.harvard.edu/~hub
- August 1 at 4 p.m. in Harvard Yard
- August 5 at 3 p.m. at the Hatch Shell on the Charles River.
"Tribute to Leroy Anderson" (class of 1929) celebrates the popular American composer's hundredth birthday.
Free admission.
Sanders Theatre
www.boxoffice.harvard.edu
617-496-2222
- August 3 at 8 p.m. Harvard Summer School Chorus performs Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and Mozart’s Veni Sancte Spiritus with professional orchestra and soloists.
THEATER
The American Repertory Theatre
www.amrep.org; 617-547-8300
- July 13-29 Enjoy ravishing lyrics and razor-sharp repartee in A Marvelous Party, a celebration of the music and lyrics of Nol Coward, directed by Scott Edmiston.
FILM
The Harvard Film Archive
http://hcl.harvard.edu/hfa; 617-495-4700
Visit the website for complete listings.
- June 30-July 9 New American Independent Cinema offers films by up-and-coming directors, and such festival favorites as Between Days, Hannah Takes the Stairs, and Chalk. Also on tap is the premiere of Rob Nilsson’s complete nine-part series, 9@Night, filmed in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District.
- July 10-13 The Films of Lin Cheng-Sheng includes a rare appearance by the Taiwanese director and the premiere of his most recent film, The Moon Also Rises.
- July 14-August 19 Summer Double Features. The series, taken from the archive’s 10,000-film collection, includes couplings of genre classics—such as musicals, mysteries, historical epics, and westerns—and a healthy dose of realism.
LIBRARIES
Pusey Library
617-384-7938
- Continuing: Family Album: The Roosevelts at Home features images from Sagamore Hill on Long Island.
Houghton Library
617-495-2444
- Through August 18: Proclamations of Immortality celebrates the 800th birthday of the mystical Persian poet Jalal al-Din Rumi with an exhibition of his works in the form of modern artists' books with illustrations and accompanying Persian calligraphy and English translations.
EXHIBITIONS
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
www.peabody.harvard.edu; 617-495-1027
- Continuing: Feeding the Ancestors: Tlingit Carved Horn Spoons
Made by the people of the American Northwest coast, these unique works of art depict supernatural and ancestral beings, as well as animals and aspects of the natural world (see "The Family Silver," in this issue"). The exhibit was mounted in partnership with the Tozzer Library, where some artifacts are also on display. - Continuing: Vanished Kingdoms: The Wulsin Photographs of Tibet, China, and Mongolia, 19211925.
- Continuing: Imazighen! Beauty and Artisanship in Berber Life, which features artifacts from this North African population that have never before been displayed.
- Continuing: The Ethnography of Lewis and Clark. Visitors can see items collected by the explorers, or that date from the same period, such as bear-claw ornaments, a painted buffalo robe, womens’ dresses, an elk-antler bow, a whaling chief’s hat, and varieties of corn.
Semitic Museum
www.fas.harvard.edu/~semitic; 617-495-4631
- Continuing: In Ancient Egypt: Magic and the Afterlife, coffins, amulets, and funerary inscriptions show visitors some ancient views of life after death.
- Continuing: The Houses of Ancient Israel: Domestic, Royal, Divine features a full-scale, furnished replica of a two-story Iron Age (ca. 1200-586 b.c.e.) village house.
Harvard Museum of Natural History
www.hmnh.harvard.edu; 617-495-1027
- Continuing: Nests and Eggs explores the evolution, production, and diversity of birds' eggs. Specimens range from the basketball-sized egg of the extinct Malagasy elephant bird to those from a hummingbird, akin in size to a coffee bean.
- Continuing: Echoes in the Ice: Collages of Polar Explorers. Artist Rik van Glintenkamp depicts Arctic and Antarctic explorations during four centuries.
Fogg Art Museum
617-495-9400/9422
- Through July 8: The Last Ruskinians: Charles Eliot Norton, Charles Herbert Moore, and Their Circle explores John Ruskin’s influence on a select group of American watercolorists.
Sackler Museum
617-495-9400/9422
Note: Please contact the museum for schedule changes as well as updates on any gallery closings during pending renovations.
- Continuing: Overlapping Realms: Arts of the Islamic World and India, 900-1900 presents a sampling of visual arts throughout the year. This third installment features Indian Rajput miniature paintings.
Busch-Reisinger Museum
617-495-2317
- Making Myth Modern: Primordial Themes in German 20th-Century Sculpture. Eight dramatic pieces by artists such as Max Beckmann, Joseph Beuys, and Gerhard Marcks.
- Continuing: Paintings by Max Beckmann from the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich features three major works: Dance in Baden-Baden (1923), Landscape with Tempest (1932), and Woman with Mandolin in Yellow and Red (1950).
NATURE AND SCIENCE
The Arnold Arboretum
www.arboretum.harvard.edu; 617-524-1718
- Free tours of this botanical wonderland in Boston are held on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays and, new this year, on Friday evenings. Families can also go on self-guided explorations with a plant treasure map in celebration of the hundredth anniversary of Ernest Henry Wilson's first arboretum trip to Asia. Classes and workshops for adults and children are also available throughout the year. This summer, learn about vines, invasive plants, and Native American survival skills.
DESTINATIONS
Portland Museum of Art
www.portlandmuseum.org; 207-775-6148
Portland, Maine
- June 28-October 8: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Beautiful House centers on the architect’s talent for creating harmony between external structure and interior design. More than 100 original objects are on display, including furniture, metalworks, textiles, and drawings from public and private collections.
Wadsworth Atheneum
www.wadsworthatheneum.org; 860-278-2670
Hartford, Connecticut
- Through August 12: Connecticut Contemporary showcases the work of more than 20 established and emerging contemporary artists. Also on display this summer (through October 21) is For the Love of the Game: Race and Sport in America, which examines sport as medium and metaphor and includes the work of former Radcliffe Institute fellow Senam Okudzeto.
Peabody Essex Museum
www.pem.org; 978-745-9500
Salem, Massachusetts
- Through August 19: Joseph Cornell: Navigating the Imagination displays 180 works, 30 of which have never been publicly shown before. This exhibit is the first major retrospective of the artist’s work in more than 25 years.
Events listings also appear in the University Gazette.
