Community Events Calendar

Currents, the Colby College Museum of Art's annual emerging artist series, takes place every fall in the Museum. The series presents solo-exhibitions by artists with a connection to the state of Maine in the Museum's Davis Gallery with an accompanying publication and public lecture by the artist. Each exhibition provides a unique opportunity to view cutting-edge art by some of today's most exciting emerging artists. In an effort to broaden the exposure of our audiences to artists pushing the boundaries of traditional art forms, special attention is given, but not limited, to artists working in art forms such as video, installation, performance, and site-specific works. currents1: Julianne Swartz Curated by Sharon Corwin, Carolyn Muzzy Director and Chief Curator Julianne Swartz, a New York-based artist whose work was featured in the 2004 Whitney Biennial, uses light and sound to explore the thresholds of perception. Her installations challenge the viewer to see and hear elements in the environment that previously may have gone unnoticed. Free and Open to the Public Tuesday Saturday 10 am - 5 pm, Sunday 12-5 pm and Closed Mondays. The Museum is closed during the following holidays: Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year s Day.

Currents, the Colby College Museum of Art's annual emerging artist series, takes place every fall in the Museum. The series presents solo-exhibitions by artists with a connection to the state of Maine in the Museum's Davis Gallery with an accompanying publication and public lecture by the artist. Each exhibition provides a unique opportunity to view cutting-edge art by some of today's most exciting emerging artists. In an effort to broaden the exposure of our audiences to artists pushing the boundaries of traditional art forms, special attention is given, but not limited, to artists working in art forms such as video, installation, performance, and site-specific works. Curated by Sharon Corwin, Carolyn Muzzy Director and Chief Curator. The fourth installment of the Museum's annual emerging- artist exhibition, currents, presents work by Maine-based installation artist Amy Stacey Curtis. Curtis, who has been working in abandoned industrial sites throughout the state for the past seven years, creates interactive works that examine our interconnectedness through themes of chaos, order, and repetition. For currents4, Curtis invites viewers to perceive, manipulate, and perpetuate her exploration of light and color. Free and Open to the Public Tuesday Saturday 10 am - 5 pm, Sunday 12-5 pm and Closed Mondays. The Museum is closed during the following holidays: Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year s Day.

Currents, the Colby College Museum of Art's annual emerging artist series, takes place every fall in the Museum. The series presents solo-exhibitions by artists with a connection to the state of Maine in the Museum's Davis Gallery with an accompanying publication and public lecture by the artist. Each exhibition provides a unique opportunity to view cutting-edge art by some of today's most exciting emerging artists. In an effort to broaden the exposure of our audiences to artists pushing the boundaries of traditional art forms, special attention is given, but not limited, to artists working in art forms such as video, installation, performance, and site-specific works. currents2: Sam Van Aken Curated by Sharon Corwin, Carolyn Muzzy Director and Chief Curator. In Colby's second annual emerging artist exhibition, currents2, installation artist and University of Maine Professor of Art Sam Van Aken creates a multimedia installation exploring his personal and artistic engagement with the 1977 Steven Spielberg film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Free and Open to the Public. Tuesday Saturday 10 am - 5 pm, Sunday 12- 5 pm and Closed Mondays. The Museum is closed during the following holidays: Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year s Day.

Do you know any good jokes? CDM is closed Mondays. Children's Discovery Museum Hours of Operation: Tues - Thurs 10-4; Fri-Sat 10-5; Sun 11-4. Daily Admission: $4.50 per adult, $5.50 per child, under 12 months free, $75 per year.

A New Place to Skate this winter! There's a new place for ice skating this winter -- down by the Kennebec River in Waterfront Park! There's benches useful for changing shoes and a great area for a pick up hockey game, figure skating, or a quick break from work. Come on down and try it! Gardiner Main Street's own Jennifer Polley, of The Therapy Zone, helped to bring together the outreach committees at Grace Community Chapel and Church in Life to make this dream a reality. These groups worked with the City of Gardiner to create a wonderful skating area open to the public. Joe Gould with Church in Life was a leading force in construction and organizing, and is helping to keep up maintenance of the ice along with Gardiner Youth Hockey. This weekend the ice conditions will be varied with the warmer weather, but it looks like it will firm up again next week! Get out and enjoy the winter in Downtown Gardiner.

The Vaughan Homestead is partnering with local apple expert, John Bunker, to offer a lecture and two workshops designed to share with others John s vast knowledge of Maine s apple heritage and how to graft and prune your own apple trees. Did you know that, worldwide, there are more than 7,500 apple varieties? Twenty five hundred of those are grown in the United States but only 100 are grown commercially in this country. At the Vaughan Homestead, we are fortunate to be stewarding a very old and regionally famous specimen of a local variety called Black Oxford. This variety is one of 150 different varieties of apples to have originated in Maine. They were once rare but are making a comeback as more and more people become interested in heritage apple trees. The homestead s Black Oxford tree was planted over 200 years ago by either Benjamin Vaughan or someone in his employ, and it is a reminder of all the work Vaughan did in breeding and improving fruit stock when he came to this country. He was very interested in his new home of Hallowell and was eager to find out what fruit trees grew best here. According to Samuel Boardman in his 1867 book, The Agriculture and Industry of the County of Kennebec, Maine, To the Vaughans [Benjamin and his brother, Charles]-those pioneers in the improvement of agriculture in the county- we are indebted for much of the interest and success which has long been noticable [sic] in fruit growing in this section of the State. They imported many choice varieties of fruits from England, had one of the best fruit gardens in the State as early as 1798, and freely disseminated their trees and scions to all parts of the State, but more especially to those who would promise to take good care of them, and report to them the results of their culture. The interest thus excited by them had much to do with the progress and success of fruit culture in this county and the State. Join Maine apple expert, John Bunker, for a discussion of the history of apple growing in Maine, with particular attention given to Hallowell, Gardiner and surrounding communities. Plenty of time will be reserved for questions. Bring your favorite apple dish to share (and your own plate and utensil)! To learn more about heirloom apples in Maine and New England, visit John's blog: http://outonalimbcsa.wordpress.com/ This program will be held at Viles Arboretum, 153 Hospital St., Augusta. There is parking at the Arboretum and overflow parking directly across the street. Free. Date/Time: Saturday, January 26, 2013.

WinterKids will be holding the 1st annual Kennebec Winter Festival at the Bank of Maine Ice Vault! All WinterKids Passport holders ice skate for FREE from 1-3 p.m.! Try snowshoeing with WinterKids! Meet sled dogs from Heywood Kennels! Refreshments, games, door prizes and more! We d love for families from all over Kennebec County to join us. As you may know, WinterKids is all about getting kids outside and active during Maine's longest season, and we have lots planned for the day.

Auditions for 17th Annual Johnson Hall / Riverfront Festival Talent Show.Got talent? Want to compete for a $200 prize? The 17th Annual Johnson Hall / Riverfront Talent Show is looking for you! Hosted this year by Johnson Hall s new Executive Artistic Director Mike Miclon, this tradition of providing an outdoor showcase for area talent continues. Auditions will be held on Thursday, May 2, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm and again on Saturday, May 4, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm at Johnson Hall Performing Arts Center, 280 Water Street in Gardiner. All ages and all talents are welcome to try out. Please arrive by 5:45 pm on Thursday and 1:45 pm on Saturday to get your audition number. Please contact Johnson Hall to advise which day you will be auditioning. A limited number of acts will be chosen to perform at the Talent Show, to be held on June 22 at 6:30 pm on the Gardiner Waterfront (rain date June 23 at 3:00 pm). Four prizes will be awarded at the Talent Show: Best Overall Prize is $200; Adult is $100, Teen (13-17) is $100 and Junior (12 & under) is $100. Audition applicants should bring their accompanying music, if required. Karaoke will not be allowed, so any CDs or MP3s should have the music only. Audition pieces should be presented complete with costumes and/or props, exactly as you would appear at the Talent Show itself. All acts are welcome bands, poets, storytellers, variety acts, dancers, magicians the sky s the limit. No one will be accepted into the talent show without an audition, however. This is an amateur event. We are looking to identify the area s next star. Performance slots will be open to anyone, but prizes are limited to those who do not primarily support themselves as a performer. Audition applications are available at Johnson Hall walk in, email info@johnsonhall.org or download from their website at www.johnsonhall.org. Applications can be brought to the audition or filled out at the audition. Please call 582-7144 for more information, assistance, or to sign up for an audition day.