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 Home > Programs, Press, Exhibits & Classes > Calendar Archives > July/August 2005

Calendar of Events

JULY 2005
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday


 




 

1

2

3
Closed

4
Closed for the 4th of July

 

5

8

10
Closed

11

12

13

 

14
15

16
Life Stories Workshop, 10:30am

 

17
Closed

18
Author Talk, 7:30pm

 

19

20
Cambodia Travelog, 7:30pm

 

23
24
Closed

 

25

 

26

27
Waban Book Group, 10:30am

Children's Book Writers Group, 7pm

28 29 30

31
Closed

 

 

           
AUGUST 2005
 

1

 

 

2
Artist's Reception, 5:30 - 7:30pm
3
Artist's Reception, 6 - 8pm
4 5 6
7
Closed

8
Author Talk, 7:30

9

12

14
Closed

15

16
Author Talk, 7:30

17

 

19

20
Life Stories Workshop, 10:30am

 

21
Closed

22


23

24

 

 

25
27
28
Closed

 

29

 

30

31
Waban Book Group, 10:30am

     

For more information on any of the Library events,
please call the Library at (617) 796-1360

Unless noted otherwise, all events take place at the Library's Main Branch.
All events are free and open to the public.

The Library is handicapped accessible. For special assistance when attending programs, call 796-1410 during business hours and 796-1360 evenings and weekends.

To view a previous calendar, click here to view the Archives. (Available from October 2004.)

Art Exhibits

Gallery & Main Hall Hours

Monday to Thursday 9:00 am to 9:00 pm
Friday 9:00 am to 6:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am to 5:00pm
Sunday Noon to 5:00 pm

ART EXHIBITION INFORMATION

Are you interested in exhibiting your artwork at the Library? The Newton Free Library presents monthly exhibits by regional artists in the Gallery and Main Hall of the main library, a state-of-the-art facility which 11,000 people visit weekly. Please click here for more information.

MAIN HALL & GALLERY/ JULY

Newton Art Association Show
LILIES by Gene Faucher


The Newton Art Association’s 2005 Annual Competition Show will fill the Library’s Main Hall and Gallery with paintings, drawings and original prints and three-dimensional work in the display cases from July 5 - 28. This exhibit represents the best work of the more than 140 members: landscapes, portraits, still lifes and abstracts, and in the cases: silk work, pottery, glass boxes, small sculpture and more. An opening reception will take place Thursday, July 7, from 7:00 - 8:30PM to which all are invited.

Among the annual awards to be presented that evening will be a special “Children’s Favorite Award” based on the results of the votes children (under the age of 14) place in a special voting box set up at the exhibit.

Newton Art Association is a vibrant community-based organization with a diverse group of members at all levels of artistic development. From longstanding art professionals and teachers to those new to the artistic process, members find that NAA provides something for everyone. Open meetings are held monthly at the Senior Center where business, artistic support, networking and art demonstrations by New England’s best guest artists take place. The Association actively brings members’ art into the public eye by arranging private and public space exhibitions. Scholarship awards to Newton high school seniors, painting days “en pleine air” at beautiful locations, salon nights exploring issues of artistic interest and critique nights at members’ homes are some of the special programs.

All artists are welcome to join. Please contact Marian Dioguardi, Co-President, with questions at 617-332-9967 or at info@newtonartassociation.com.

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GALLERY / AUGUST
Barbara Bartlett: Circle Dancing
August 2 - 30
Reception: Tuesday, August 2, 5:30 - 7:30PM
Spinning Out

Bartlett explores the deceptively simple circle as a symbol of wholeness, a completed cycle, a body of rolling motion with no beginning or end and as a vehicle of positive and negative space. As a watercolorist who turned to printmaking, then to painting and mixed-media, texture and layers are important to her in a figurative and literal way as she incorporates fragments of journal entries, pine needles and sand into these paintings on wood panels. This technique adds a richness to her simple shapes.

Her titles give clues to her thinking: in “My World, Your World” one black circle on gold is presented next to a gold circle on black – two figures in different environments attempting to communicate with each other. In some works, the shapes drift apart across a black expanse (“Unlinked”), in others a tension keeps them apart as in “Spinning Out” where fragments of three circles separate, propelled by centrifugal force off the edges of the board. She calls their inter-relatedness “a kind of dance,” much as she sees her journey through life.

Bartlett has exhibited in Australia as well as in several juried shows: the Annual International Exhibition at the San Diego Art Institute, the Annual National Art Exhibition at St. John’s University in NYC, in the Northern California Arts Annual International Exhibition, at the Artists Center in Atlanta, the Cambridge Art Association’s Members’ Prize Show, with Concord Art Association and others. She divides her time between Cambridge, Vermont and Australia.

 
MAIN HALL / AUGUST
Judith Ferrara: Works on Paper
August 2 - 30
Reception: Wednesday, August 3, 6 - 8:00PM
Landscape Monolith


Ferrara listens to her muse. A poet as well as a painter of colorful, somewhat fantastical works, she finds that the meaning of her paintings is not apparent until after “several hours of intense work.” Although often inspired by landscapes, cityscapes, interiors, still lifes or portraits, it is the language of emotions that she listens to and that dominates the artistic process of working in acrylic, oil sticks or collage.

Some works have a multi-dimensional aspect, leading the eye in different directions, out a door, through an arch. Others have a fantastical feel, set at twilight when all is not clear. Solid colored planes – sheer rock facades or sky scrapers - abut or collide. Roofs tilt, lights ricochet, villages are all a-jumble. Spectral figures loom. There is a series of “Environment” paintings; this title should remind us that perhaps the tone of the whole is what is most important.

Ferrara taught at Fitchburg State College for many years before retiring in 1997. The recipient of the Emerging Artist Award from the Jacob Knight Memorial Committee, she has exhibited at Fitchburg Art Museum, Assumption College, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, at Gallery Z in Providence and many times with Women’s Caucus for Art and Arts Alliance of which she is a member. As a poet, she has been published in dozens of journals and is co-editor of the anthology Poets in the Galleries, a collaboration of Worcester Art Museum and Worcester County Poetry Association.


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Clubs

Library groups meet at the Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street, Newton Centre, unless otherwise noted. All meetings are free and open to the public.

African Literatures Discussion Group
This group will meet again in September.
Children's Book Writers Group
Meetings are usually held on the first Monday or on the fourth Wednesday of the month at 7PM in Meet-ing Room A. This summer only the 4th Wed. group will meet and only in July. Meeting Date: July 27. Please call Karen Day at 244-4830 for more info.

Contemporary Books Discussion Group

This group will meet again in September.
Contemporary Books Booklist
Great Books Discussion Group
This group will meet again in September.
Life Stories Group
This group is for those seeking support in their writing to capture and preserve life’s important moments and stories - whether for themselves or to share with others. Led by Tom Yee, the group meets on the third Saturday of the month, 10:30 – Noon in Meeting Room A. Pre-registration required: Call 630-0742. Meeting Dates: July 16 and August 20.

Newton Camera Club
Group will resume meeting in September. For further information: www.newtoncameraclub.org.
Sequences: Women Tell Our Stories Group
This group will meet again in September.

Short Fiction Writing Group

This group will meet again in September.

Short Story Discussion Group
This group will meet again in September.
Singing Group
This group is for singers of all levels who enjoy singing classical and popular music. Conducted by Amelia LeClair of the women’s choir Clairvoix, it meets monthly on Saturday afternoons, Noon – 1:30PM in Druker Auditorium. Meeting Dates: July 9 & August 13. Call coordinator Miriam Simen at 617-244-6705 for more info.

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Concerts

All concerts are free and open to the public. For directions to the Library, please click here.

 

Aurora Duo to Offer French/Italian Program

The Aurora Duo, composed of Loren Pearson, viola/violin, and Kevin McGinty, piano, will perform a program of Italian and French music: Carmen’s Fantasy for viola by Bizet and other works by Vitale, Massenet, Debussy and Stravinsky at the Library on Wednesday, July 6, at 7:00PM.

Pearson has performed with many orchestras in Boston and the New England area including the Hartford Symphony and the Rhode Island Philharmonic. She has toured extensively throughout Europe with distinguished orchestras from Germany. She serves on the faculty of Milton Academy and often performs with husband McGinty.

McGinty has performed in numerous concert halls as a recitalist, accompanist and chamber musician including concerti with the Boston Pops, Brookline Symphony Orchestra, Hillsdale (Michigan) Orchestra and Central Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra at Worcester’s Mechanics Hall. He has performed on WGBH and WERS radio stations as well as on WICN and WCUW in Worcester. He teaches piano privately as well as at All Newton Music School and at M.I.T. Department of Music and Theater Arts.

Guitarist Sandy Prager to Play Original Jazz-Based Music

Innovative composer Sandy Prager will return to the Library with a concert of original improvisational music for classical and 12-string guitar on Thursday, August 11, at 7:30PM.

Prager, a seventh generation musician, plays acoustic guitar with a style which spans diverse influences such as jazz and world music. He has made four recordings of his music: “Open Door”, “Figures Of Speech”, “Is As As Is”, and “Seattle Joe’s” and is currently completing a 2-cd set of trio and solo works due out in the fall. In addition to performing at clubs, colleges and festivals throughout New England, Prager has composed for television and scored an NEA documentary. He teaches guitar/composition privately and serves on the faculty for Lexington Public School’s private lesson program.

Guitar Nine magazine called his music “intense and rhythmically exciting as [his] melodies fluidly emanate from his acoustic guitar…a gifted jazz guitarist and all-around top-notch artist.”


Vocal Concert of Weill, Poulenc, Satie and Brel
Soprano Doris Marion and pianist William Merrill will present “The Irony of Weill, Poulenc, Satie and Brel” at the Library on Thursday, August 18, 7:30PM.

Marion has performed in opera and in concert in Belgium, Holland, France, Germany and Italy, following her debut with the San Francisco Opera Company. Locally she has presented concerts at the French Library, the King’s Chapel Concert Series, the Dante Alighieri Society, the Federal Reserve Midday Concerts and previously at the Newton Library. Her CD, “Doris Marion – Affections of My Heart” was recently recorded on AFKA Records.

Merrill has performed at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Jordan Hall, Symphony Hall, the Gardner Museum, the Newport Music Festival, with Community Concerts across the U.S. and internationally in Amsterdam, Rome, Vienna, Beijing and Shanghai.
 
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Lectures
The Bringing of Golf to America - Author Talk

When Charles "Chay" Burgess first set foot in America, the sport and culture of golf were still in their formative stages. As both a player and a mentor, the Scottish-born Burgess helped transform the games from a cloistered pastime of the aristocracy into a national obsession that continues to transcend class boundaries. Golf Links is his story, documenting not only his life and times but those of his famous disciple Francis Ouimet - including the real story behind Ouimet's dramatic 1913 U.S. Open victory and his triumphant comeback of 1931.

Hear Chay's great-grandson Charles D. Burgess speak on his new book on this legendary figure on Monday, July 18, at 7:30PM at the Library, followed by a booksigning.

Born in Newton, the author lived as a boy with his parents and great-grandfather Chay in a small cottage on the links of the Woodland Golf Club.

Golf Links is a stirring and personal tribute to the founding fathers, friendships and rivalries that spawned American golf, centering on New England and Newton in particular with its abundance of courses and renowned professionals.

Burgess is a member of the Golf Writers' Association of America and his writing has appeared in The Little Black Book of Golf, Golf Range Magazine, Pub Links, Through the Green, Montrose Review and other publications.

 

Cambodia Travelog

Veteran traveler Eli Brookner will offer a travelog with slides on “Cambodia: Former Killing Fields, Now a Vibrant Country” on Wednesday, July 20, 7:30PM at the Library.

Brookner will present colorful slides along with a running narrative of the many sides of Cambodian life: the ancient temples of Angkor Wat, friendly people, traditional dances, village life, Killing Fields Memorial, the capitol of Phnom Penh and much more.

Brookner is a Principal Fellow at Raytheon Company who has authored four books and many papers and was given the IEEE 2003 Warren White Award for Excellence in Radar Engineering. He has traveled to more than 40 countries for business and pleasure and enjoys showing highlights of these trips where he always seeks out the unusual.

Delvena Theatre Presents "Mourning Becomes Eugene"

The Delvena Theatre Company will present an original drama, “Mourning Becomes Eugene,” based on the life of playwright Eugene O’Neill, at the Library, Thursday, July 21, at 7:00PM. Part lecture/ part performance, the presentation will be followed by a discussion with the audience. It is sponsored by the Newton Cultural Council.

Using facts from O’Neill’s life, psychological theory about mourning and scenes from O’Neill’s great plays, spiced with a bit of Irish wit, actors Lynne Moulton and Loann West will take the audience on a journey into the life and mourning of Eugene O’Neill. This Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright had an alcoholic father and brother and a morphine addicted mother yet he wrote such masterpieces as “Long Day’s Journey into Night,” “Moon for the Misbegotten,” “Anna Christie” and “Mourning Becomes Electra.” How did such a dysfunctional family produce this brilliant playwright?

This passionate play is directed by Joseph Zamparelli, Jr. and features Moulton and West in multiple roles.

The Delvena Theatre Company was founded in 1992 and has performed at various venues, most often at the Boston Center for the Arts. The Company was nominated for five Independent Reviewers of New England awards. Its production of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”

was on Theatre Mirror’s Best List for acting, directing and production. Presentations of “Anna Weiss” and “Beyond Therapy” were included on Theatre Mirror’s Best Play List and “Blue Heart” was placed on Aisle Say’s Best List.

Commenting on a production of “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” the South End News raved, “It’s an honor to see a local theatre troupe soar with their chosen work…Delvena truly hypnotizes…. theater goers can appreciate five terrific performances.”

 

"Beneath the Streets of Boston" Author Talk by Joe McKendry

Writer and illustrator Joe McKendry will speak on Beneath the Streets of Boston: Building America’s First Subway at the Library on Monday, August 8, 7:30PM. On display that evening will be some of his watercolors based on old photographs, construction drawings and newspaper clippings. The book is geared for adults and young adults. A booksigning will follow the talk.

Beckoning readers to examine the territory beneath Boston’s streets, McKendry explores a century-old world when the city took the initiative to design and create America’s first subway. With stunning artwork and and through a historically accurate narrative of Boston’s first “Big Dig,” he invites the reader to enter the subterranean realm of sandhogs who dug miles of tunnels by hand to create new routes, burrowing below Boston Harbor and working up above the Charles, building the Charlestown Bridge.

The system served as a model for the rest of the country, as a prototype urban transportation system that relieved traffic, mitigated congestion and got people where they wanted to go for only a nickel.

McKendry is a painter and illustrator whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Saturday Evening Post, Time-Life Books and Boston Magazine. He teaches painting at the Rhode Island School of Design and lives in Boston.

 

Making Personal Choices in Medical Care

Linda Markell, author of Little One Laugh, Little One Run, will speak at the Library on Wednesday, August 10, 7:30PM.

This memoir recounts the brief life of the Markell’s 3 year old daughter, Kim, diagnosed with the ultimately fatal, stage four neuroblastoma. It chronicles how these brave and loving parents chose to treat Kim with the best palliative care, refusing any experimental treatments as her chances for healing were no more than one percent.

This first-hand account by Kim’s mother is intended for parents, doctors and medical students dealing with grievously ill children. Markell hopes it will teach the medical community to be more supportive of parents who understand the consequences of experimental procedures and make the wrenching choice of foregoing that treatment.

Markell has taught high school history for 41 years, nominated by colleagues as “Outstanding Teacher of the Year.” She is a recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Council of Learned Studies.

 

"The Gilded Chamber: A Novel of Queen Esther" Author Talk

For centuries her name has been a byword for feminine beauty, guile and wisdom. The Gilded Chamber, a sweeping, meticulously researched novel, restores the Biblical Queen Esther to her full, complex humanity while reanimating the glittering Persian empire in which her story unfolded.

Hear Rebecca Kohn speak on her debut novel at the Library on Tuesday, August 16, 7:30PM.

Likened to Anita Diamant’s The Red Tent in style, this suspenseful tale reexamines a story of one of the most interesting, strong-willed women in the Bible who through her courage and perseverance saved her people. The story of Esther begins when, as a terrified Jewish orphan, she journeys across the River Tigris to join her cousin, a well-connected courtier. There she finds a world of political danger, racked by intrigue and hatreds and realizes that the only way to survive is to win the heart of its king.

Told through the eyes of Esther herself, the book offers food for thought about the roles of women in times of peace and times of war.

 

 
Computer Classes

Are you confused by computer terminology? Would you like to learn to conduct online research or use e-mail? Drop by a Reference Desk or call 796-1380 and register for a class in PC Basics, Search Engines and more.

Travel Information Computer Class

Planning your summer vacation or winter holiday? Do you know how to find the best airfares or hotel rates? Discover information resources available at the Library and on the Internet at a class on Basic Travel Information. You'll get all the information you need to plan your trip. Stop by a Reference desk or call 796-1380 to register for the class.
Other computer classes in PC Basics, Internet and more are also offered all summer.

 

Booklists Available

Looking for a good book to read or conducting research in a particular area? The Reference Department has compiled many booklists in a variety of subjects: African Americans in American Life, College Admissions, Books for Modern Parents, Buddhism, Day Trips, Gardening Guides, Rise and Fall of Saddam Hussein, Retirement and much more. Ask a Reference librarian at the YA Desk on the second floor for help in locating a list, or click here.

Garden City Cafe, Too!


Stop by our cheerful cafe off the art gallery for coffee, muffins, soups, salads, sandwiches and more, open Monday - Saturday.

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Morning Programs at the Library

Waban Book Group

At Waban, the book group will discuss The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri on Wednesday, July 27, at 10:30AM. The next meeting will be held on August 31. Please call the branch at 617-552-7166 to learn which book will be discussed.

Newton Corner Book Group

The Newton Corner branch will discuss Sue Hubbell's A Country Year (508.778 H86L) on Friday, July 22, at 10:30AM and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini on Friday, August 26, at 10:30AM. Meetings are held at Evans Park in Newton Corner.

 

For Your Information

Consider a Gift to the Library


Please help supplement our municipal funding and contribute towards the purchase of books, audio/visual materials or equipment. Send your check, payable to the Trustees, to: Development Office, Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street, Newton, MA 02459. For further information, call 796-1400. Thank you.

To Our Concert Goers:

Please be considerate of the performer today as well as your fellow audience members and refrain from leaving the auditorium during a piece of music. If you have small children with you, please sit in the back rows. If you leave the auditorium between pieces, please close the door quietly behind you and wait to re-enter after a musical piece. Also, if you have a cellphone, please shut if off. Thank you.

PLEASE DON'T SAVE SEATS!

When attending a Sunday afternoon concert, please do not save more than one seat as this deprives others of attending the concert. The rule is first come, first served.

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