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Calendar of Events |
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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
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| 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.
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| GALLERY / AUGUST |
Barbara Bartlett: Circle Dancing
August 2 - 30
Reception:
Tuesday, August 2, 5:30 - 7:30PM |
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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. |
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| MAIN HALL / AUGUST |
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Judith Ferrara: Works on Paper
August 2 - 30
Reception: Wednesday, August 3, 6 - 8:00PM |
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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.
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African
Literatures Discussion Group |
This group will meet again in September. |
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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. |
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Contemporary
Books Discussion Group |
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Great
Books Discussion Group |
This group will meet again in September.
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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.
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Newton
Camera Club |
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Sequences:
Women Tell Our Stories Group |
This group will meet again in September.
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Short
Fiction Writing Group |
This group will meet again in September.
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Short
Story Discussion Group |
This group will meet again in September.
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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.
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| Guitarist Sandy Prager to Play Original
Jazz-Based Music |
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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.
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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.”
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| 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 |
"Beneath the Streets of Boston" Author Talk by Joe McKendry |
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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.
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Making Personal Choices in Medical Care |
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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.
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"The Gilded Chamber:
A Novel of Queen Esther" Author Talk |
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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.
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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.
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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 |
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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.
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| 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.
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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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