SPECIAL EVENTS
Saturday, March 10
Slow Art Experiences. Avondale Bricks Gallery, 130 41st Street South, Suite 103| Birmingham Museum of Art, 2000 Rev. Abraham Woods, Jr. Blvd. Slow food, slow living, slow… art? Unlock the secrets of works in the Museum’s collection by cultivating the art of looking slowly. Docents ask and answer questions to help guide your slow art experience and foster conversation. Start at the home of the Birmingham Weekly looking at one painting and head over to the museum to finish up! Leave the Museum feeling inspired – not tired. 12:30 p.m. @ Avondale Bricks Gallery | 2 p.m. @ BMA | FREE
Friday, March 16
“YETI AND FIREBRUSH” beta pictoris gallery, 2411 Second Ave N. With the opening reception of New York based artist Justin Cooper’s first solo show with the gallery, Thin Lines, an exhibition which explores lines from multiple perspectives such as drawings, performance, and structural objects, comes this one night only special performance! New York based artist, magician, and comedian Ross Moreno will be joining Justin Cooper for this opening night performance, together bringing “their unique brand of comedic destruction” to the gallery. Elements of stand-up, parlor magic, and slapstick comedy are juxtaposed with highly choreographed monologues and wildly unhinged improv creating an experience that is funny, strange, and ultimately thought provoking. Thin Lines itself will run through April 14. | 6-9 p.m.
March Open House and Duty Free Night. Naked Art Gallery, 3831 Clairmont Ave. Join Naked Art for cocktails and their annual tax free art shopping experience, in coordination with Third Friday in Forest Park. There will be deeper discounts on select artwork, Irish dancers (from Katie Cox School of Irish Dance), and Irish coffee. | 5-8 p.m. | FREE | nakedartusa.com
Saturday, March 17
St. Patrick’s Day at Sips n Strokes. Sips n Strokes, Highway 280 location, Time Square Shopping Center, 522 Cahaba Park Circle. Food, fun, and prizes! Choose your own painting, led by Wendy LoVoy and staff. One lucky person will win a trip for two to the all-inclusive SuperClubs Breezes Bahamas for 7 nights. Must register online! | 7-10:30 p.m. | $60 | www.sipsnstrokes.com
Monday, March 19
“Last Train Home” Free Showing. Sojourns, a Fair Trade Store, 2017 Third Ave N. Part of “Reel Justice” Movie Nights, Sojourns presents a free showing of “Last Train Home,” a documentary tracking the real-life struggles of rural, poor working families torn apart by a growing cultural issue in China. Bring your own chair and a snack, if desired. | 6 p.m. | More information at www.adventureartpeace.com
PERFORMANCES
The Pablo Cruise Incident. Mar 9-Mar 11. Get dragged away by a local musical that has been workshopped by literally tens of people and now thinks it’s ready for Virginia Samford Theatre! Don’t miss this laugh-a-minute musical, direct from Broadway (near Edgewood School), that asks the 1977 question, “Whatcha gonna do?” | 7:30pm Fri & Sat; 2:30pm Sunday matinee | $20 adults, $15 seniors and students | Virginia Samford Theatre, 1116 26th St S.
HAMLET. Mar 9-Mar 11. Theatre Downtown presents William Shakespeare’s most produced work and the tragic tale of Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, as he works to unravel the mystery behind the death of his father. Presented in the intimate space of Fifth Avenue Antiques. | 7:30pm Fri & Sat; 2:30pm Sunday | $17 adults ($16 online), $12 students | 2410 5th Ave S.
HOLY GHOSTS, by Romulus Linney. Mar 1-Mar 17. Presented by Birmingham Festival Theatre, this moving and funny account of unsophisticated people in moral and emotional crisis in the Deep South is a must-see. This play blends humor and poignancy as it probes into the circumstances and stories… of various cult members. For reservations, call (205)988-BFT3 | Thurs, Fri, Sat 8:00pm, Sun 2:00pm | $20 adults, $15 students w/ ID | 1901 ˝ 11th Ave S.
Theatre UAB’s Annual Festival of Ten-Minute Plays. Mar 12-Mar 16. Theatre UAB’s edgy, tremendously popular festival features eight super-short original plays. The 2012 theme is “Get Me Out of Here!” Plays are written, directed, and performed by UAB students, staff and faculty. | 7:30pm | $5 | Alys Stephens Center, 1200 10th Ave S.
Carmen. Mar 16-Mar 18. The world’s favorite opera returns to the Opera Birmingham stage for the first time in a decade! Absence does make the heart grow fonder – and more lethal! A magnificent cast appears in a new production directed by exciting young American stage director Ted Huffman and conducted by acclaimed French maestro Emmanuel Plasson. This Carmen is a not-to-be-missed treat for all the senses! Call (205)322-6737 for tickets or go online to www.operabirmingham.org | 7:30pm Friday, 2:30pm Sunday | $35-$90; students $12 at Hill Opera Center box office | Leslie S. Wright Fine Arts Center – Samford University, 800 Lakeshore Dr.
ONGOING EXHIBITIONS
“Silent Majority.” Mar 2-Mar 31. Art Folk Gallery, 1731 First Ave N. Paul Cordes Wilm is a local Birmingham artist, who describes his works in Silent Majority as “a portrait of the voiceless public attempting to speak against the deafening roar of the consumer age.”
What Makes the Magic City so Magical? Feb 27-March 23, Vulcan Park and Museum. Ever wondered what it is exactly that helps Birmingham live up to its nickname? Where is the magic in the Magic City? Head over to Vulcan Park and see what some local high school artists have to say about it. Students from Ramsay High School demonstrate through their art an aspect of the community that really means something to them. They answer the question, and beg you to ask yourself the same!
Dragons and Lotus Blossoms: Vietnamese Ceramics from the Birmingham Museum of Art. Jan 22-April 8. Through meticulously collecting fine pieces and receiving a recent, generous donation by Mr. William M. Spencer III, the Birmingham Museum of Art has become home to the largest exhibition devoted solely to Vietnamese ceramics in the world. Boasting over 200 gorgeous pieces, many incredibly preserved, unique, and undamaged, the Birmingham exhibit is one of the three finest Vietnamese ceramic collections in North America.
UAB School of Medicine Art Show. Feb 13–May 11, Alabama Museum of Health Sciences, 1700 University Blvd. Where better to witness the evolution of medicine than right here in Birmingham? This unique art exhibit represents 700 years worth of instruments, specimens, and models used throughout the world by healthcare professionals, and outlines the struggles, radical challenges, and breakthroughs made globally in the health profession.
The Look of Love. Feb 7-Jun 10, Birmingham Museum of Art. This stunning exhibition explores the little known subject of “lover’s eyes,” hand-painted miniatures of single human eyes set in jewelry and given as tokens of affection or remembrance. With 98 examples, the collection of Dr. and Mrs. David A. Skier of Birmingham is the largest in the world. This exhibition offers an unprecedented look at these unusual and intriguing works of art.
