Community Calendar

Title: Everyday Sublime
Deadline: Submit work online May 10–June 7, 2026
Deliver work: Aug 1, 7-9 pm; Aug 2, 10 am-12 pm
Submission Fees: $38 for 3 entries; $7 for one additional entry, maximum 4 entries per artist Size limit: 2-D work, no wider than 26” and no taller than 72”; 3-D work, must not exceed 18 lbs. and 26 “ any direction
Juror: Andrew S. Yang
City/Town: Amherst
Website: www.gallerya3.com
Description: Traditionally, the sublime describes awe, wonder, and sometimes fear in the face of nature’s immensity. It holds a special place in art history in its challenge to artists to portray personal experiences in an impersonal universe. When the world can feel unnervingly tamed or overwhelmingly all-consuming, where and how does the Everyday Sublime present itself? Juror Andrew S. Yang lives in the Pioneer Valley and is a professor at the School of the Art Institute Chicago. Exhibit runs Aug 6-29.
Info: Full info on submissions: www.gallerya3.com

This exhibition will explore movement as an integral throughline in Kwame Brathwaite’s work—one that spans his deep engagement with social and political movements and his keen attention to the body in motion. Brathwaite’s images intimate the powerful and transformative ways that action can convey joy, beauty, strength, and hope, even in charged moments.

Brathwaite (1938-2023) is perhaps most recognized for photographs celebrating Black beauty and excellence in fashion, music, and athletics. His studio portraits and concert photography like his documentation of historic marches, the everyday life of residents in Harlem and The Bronx, and of athletes such as Muhammad Ali convey the power of the body as a symbol of cultural strength, resilience, and pan-African solidarity. Through a selection of original and new prints from archival negatives, the exhibition will offer an opportunity to experience the breadth of his work and its resonance today.

Curated in close partnership with Brathwaite’s son and daughter-in-law, Kwame and Robynn Brathwaite (Amherst College Class of 1996 and 1998, respectively), Revolutionary Movements will expand stories about the artist's work and its international circulation.

Kwame Brathwaite: Revolutionary Movements is made possible by Teiger Foundation.

JooYoung Choi is an astro-futurist artist whose expansive practice blends autobiography and invention. For over a decade, Choi's work has centered on developing narratives within a highly structured imaginary realm known as the Cosmic Womb.

Adventures of the Quantum Soup Surfer brings together early and recent paintings, a sculptural installation, and video works that chronicle one character's journey of self-discovery. Long known as Nina Blue, the Quantum Soup Surfer first appeared in the Cosmic Womb as a professional imaginary friend, contributing to the journeys of several legendary heroes of the Cosmic Womb.

The exhibition follows Nina Blue's passage from supporting character to protagonist. She emerges as the Quantum Soup Surfer--a celestial superhero and thoughtful navigator who channels the spiritual energy of water to brave uncharted territories and share her story of resilience.

Inspired by the Cosmic Womb's motto--"Have Faith for You have Always Been Loved"--this exhibition foregrounds imagination, curiosity, and art as tools for resilience that have been significant for Nina Blue's transformation into the Quantum Soup Surfer and the hero of this story.

Adventures of the Quantum Soup Surfer is made possible by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation.

The Springfield Garden Club will hold its Annual Plant Sale Saturday, May 30, 2026 from 9 am to noon at the Monkey House in Forest Park. Free entry to the plant sale is available at the Trafton Road entrance to Forest Park, 200 Trafton Road, Springfield, MA.
A spring tradition and the Club’s major scholarship fundraiser, this is not the kind of plant sale that focuses on re-selling plants from wholesale growers. Except for a few donations from generous area garden centers, these plants are from members’ gardens or have been grown from seed specifically for the sale.
This is a major fund raiser for our scholarship program and a lot of fun for club members and our customers alike. We LOVE to talk about the plants we are offering and, with many experienced gardeners and Master Gardeners among us, can offer useful suggestions on which plants to buy or answers to some of your gardening questions.
The Springfield Garden Club awards an annual scholarship of at least $2,000 to a graduating high school senior, undergraduate or graduate college student majoring in a full-time plant science or environmental studies program, such as horticulture, floriculture, landscape design, conservation, forestry, botany, agronomy, plant pathology, environmental control, land management or other allied fields. Using proceeds from past plant sales, the club has given out over $80,000 in scholarships to students in the last 30 plus years and we look forward to adding to that this year!
For more information on the Springfield Garden Club events go to www.springfieldgardenclubma.org or visit them on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/SpringfieldMAGardenClub/

The Agawam Garden Club returns to the grounds of the historic Thomas Smith House for their annual Plant Sale!

The sale will include many annuals, perennials, herbs, vegetable starts, and shrubs, all from members’ gardens, and all priced to sell. Because the plants are grown locally, they are well acclimated to the area’s growing conditions.

Proceeds from the sale help fund the Garden Club’s annual scholarship and other educational programs throughout the year.

The c. 1757 Thomas Smith House and 1920 Delmore Hawthorne Garage will also be open for tours.

Portland Bach Experience is a 10-day festival from May 28 - June 7, 2026. We tear down barriers and challenge preconceived notions about classical music by offering immersive events, interactive educational programs, and intimate concerts at our annual festival. Committed to creating programs that are distinct, deep, and connective experiences, we bring award-winning artists to Maine to share musical productions that cultivate resilience, nurture individual growth, and feed our collective hunger for connection.

Schedule:
May 28: OLLI Lecture, Penelope Performance (Portland)
May 29: Move to the Music and Bach & Beer (TBD)
May 30: Penelope Performance (Yarmouth)
June 1: Cantata Sing Along
June 2: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 - Open Rehearsal
June 5: Move to the Music and Bach & Beer (Rising Tide Brewing, Portland)
June 6: Brandenburg No 5 (Brunswick)
June 7: Brandenburg No 5 (Falmouth)

William Baczek Fine Arts, in Northampton, Massachusetts will celebrate thirty years of operation this May with a group show of both established gallery artists and introducing new artists who have recently joined the gallery. The exhibition will be on display from Wednesday, April 29 through Saturday, June 6, 2026. The public is invited to an opening reception with the artists on Saturday, May 2 from 4 – 6 pm.

The Friends of the Westfield Athenaeum is seeking donations of gently used adult and children’s books, DVDs, and jigsaw puzzles for their upcoming book sale. Donations will only be accepted by curbside drop-off at the back door of the First United Methodist Church, 16 Court St., Westfield, during the weeks of April 6-11 and April 13-18 as follows: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10-1; Tuesday and Thursday from 4-7, and Saturday from 9-12.
Please note that we cannot accept musty or damaged books, encyclopedias, dictionaries, textbooks, Reader’s Digest books, or outdated manuals, travel books, or self-help books.
The book sale will be held at the Church on Thursday, April 23, 10-7; Friday, April 24, 10-5; and Saturday, April 25, 10-2. On Thursday only, we are offering a $5.00 discount for educators (bring your ID!) and new Friends members joining at the door.
The Friends of the Westfield Athenaeum is an all-volunteer 501(C)3 not-for-profit organization that supports the programs and services of the Westfield Athenaeum.

An Asparagus-themed Celebration and Culinary Extravaganza!
Event Hours: Saturday 5/30 from 10am-6pm / Sunday 5/31 from 10am-4pm
Crafter Vendors ▪ Farmers ▪ Music ▪ Food Trucks ▪ Beer & Wine ▪ Farm Animals ▪ Face Painting & More!
Event takes place on the farm grounds of the North Hadley Sugar Shack in North Hadley.
ALL PUBLIC PARKING is at 300 Venture Way in Hadley, with continuous shuttle service to/from event.
More details and parking map is at https://www.northhadleysugarshack.com/asparagus-days.html

Hear 14 different bands in 5 different spaces around the Montague Center Common. Also join us for contradancing and Balkan dancing (with Orkestar Banitsa)! Too many styles of music to list: Jazz, Latin, classical, avant-garde, traditional string band, funk, Arabic . . . Venues include the Montague Common Hall, Congregational Church, and porches and patios of local residents. There is no fee, but donations are warmly accepted.