Community Calendar

Do we own our memories? The Onion is a new opera in which family secrets collide with a memory-enhancing AI. Through contact with their younger selves, its characters bring to the surface the experiences that have shaped their lives: a sexist theft of scientific work, the vanishing of a parent, the erasure of a gender identity. Will the intervention of an AI hurt or heal?

The opera unfolds on an island in the Pacific Northwest where a neuroscientist has sequestered herself with her daughter to create the Onion, an AI device that allows anyone using it to re-live a personal memory. Rounding out the human roles are the Onion’s young co-inventor and the neuroscientist’s ex-partner. The Onion itself is a character in the opera: its independence and influence on the human characters seem to grow each time they use it.

The Onion is a creation of composer/librettist Eric Sawyer and director/librettist Ron Bashford . The performance features a cast of five prominent Boston vocalists. The orchestra will be conducted by Ryan Turner, Music Director of Emmanuel Music. The production is co-presented by MassOpera.

Paint Night with Quilninious is a beginner-friendly painting experience held every second Friday of the month from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM, at Club Rumors.

All painting supplies are provided, and each ticket includes a complimentary glass of wine.

Doors open at 7:15 PM, and we pride ourselves on creating a stress-free, welcoming environment for all participants.

Group rates are available—visit our website for more details and to book your spot! Spots are limited (15-20 people max).

William Baczek Fine Arts, in Northampton, Massachusetts is pleased to announce the opening of two solo exhibitions which will run concurrently during the month of September. Charlie Hunter and Jeff Gola are two artists who focus on the American landscape, but in very different styles and mediums. Jeff Gola will be exhibiting a new body of work in egg tempera paintings and Charlie Hunter will be showing oil and acrylic paintings. The two exhibitions will be on display from Wednesday, September 3 through Saturday, October 18, 2025. The public is invited to an opening reception on Saturday, September 6 from 4 to 6 p.m.

Consistently rated the best local scavenger hunt since 2016!

Puzzling Adventures are a cross between a scavenger hunt, an adventure race, and an informative self-guided walking tour. Each adventure consists of a series of locations that you are guided to where you are required to answer a question or solve a puzzle to receive your next instruction. Compete as a group, individually or create multiple teams and race each other. Almost all of our adventures are designed to be wheelchair and stroller friendly and all are carefully crafted to be entertaining and informative with something to appeal to all ages. Complete the adventure as quickly as possible to win first place or take your time and enjoy the journey. Price is per team, not per person. Groups can be any size, but small groups are recommended for the best experience.

Enter the code EVENTPASS on the payment page for a $10 discount!

Most locations are available daylight hours every day.

The Norman Rockwell Museum is honored to present a rare series of early twentieth century lighting advertisements by Norman Rockwell and fellow Golden Age illustrators Maxfield Parrish, N.C. Wyeth, Dean Cornwell, Stanley Arthurs, Worth Brehm, and Charles Chambers created for Edison Mazda Lamps, a division of the General Electric Company. These luminous, richly painted works were widely circulated in published advertisements through the 1920s and are on loan to the Museum for the first time through the generosity of GE Aerospace.

Join us for a sweet kids' cookbook release: CUPCAKE CLASS! We’ll decorate cupcakes with local, best-selling children's baking authors Deanna Cook and Joy Howard.

CUPCAKE CLASS is ideal for bakers ages 8 and up, and offers step-by-step tips and tricks and creative designs that are perfect for birthday parties, holidays, and every day!

Participation is FREE. Books will be available for purchase and signing.

Join us for fun and interactive programming inspired by the art of Norman Rockwell and Walter Wick, creator of the I Spy books for children. Try your hand at making art inspired by these beloved illustrators. You’ll want to return again and again with a variety of fun and engaging experiences for the whole family; it’s the perfect way to spend some quality time together!

For more information, visit https://www.nrm.org/events/list/?tribe_eventcategory%5B0%5D=795&hide_subsequent_recurrences=1

Capture the beauty of the Berkshires in this beginner-friendly “plein air” soft pastel workshop set on the Museum’s picturesque grounds. Surrounded by sweeping views, historic architecture, and vibrant late-summer landscapes, participants will explore pastel application techniques, composition, and color blending in an outdoor setting. All materials provided; no experience necessary.

Instructor: Caren Kinne, Manager of Learning & Engagement, Norman Rockwell Museum and practicing artist. Caren holds a BFA in Painting and a master’s in art education. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally.

Rain Date: Saturday September 20 at 1:00 – 2:30pm.

For more information, visit https://www.nrm.org/events/from-nature-to-paper-beginner-pastel-workshop/

From Emotional Eating to Intuitive Eating: Reimagine a New Relationship with Food at Kripalu with Jenna Hollenstein, MS, RDN, CDN in the Berkshires September 12-14, 2025.

Emotional eating is a complex, multifaceted, and misunderstood issue. Few aspects of our relationship with food are as maligned as emotional eating, and our specific story about it contains hidden information essential to truly understanding our needs and ourselves.

You will:

+Learn how to decode your emotional eating.

+Understand what is happening in your body, heart, and mind in real time.

+Create a personalized menu of options to meet your needs with mindfulness, precision, and compassion.

Return home with a new way of looking at emotional eating, one that imagines it as an important form of communication from your inner teacher.

Jenna Hollenstein, MS, RDN, CDN, is an anti-diet dietitian, author, and meditation teacher who helps people struggling with chronic dieting, disordered eating, and body image.

Artists: Marianne Connolly and Rebecca Muller
Start Date: September 4, 2025
End Date: September 27, 2025
Reception Date: Thursday, September 4, 5–7:00 pm
Art Forum Online: September 18, 7:30 pm
Location name: Gallery A3
Hours: Thursday-Sunday, 2–7:00 pm
Address: 28 Amity St. 1D, Amherst, MA
City/Town: Amherst
Website: www.gallerya3.com
Description/info:
In Counterspells, Marianne Connolly works with intimately-scaled photography and hand-cut, hand-pasted collage, exploring familiar themes of nests, light, and winged beings while experimenting with new materials and methods. In Concatenations, Rebecca Muller exhibits several series of large-format photopolymer etchings and small groupings of mixed media assemblages composed of disparate matter and debris.