Newton Cultural Alliance

New Art Center presents: Pastel Landscapes
2021-10-25 13:00 - 16:00, 2021-11-01 13:00 - 16:00, 2021-11-08 13:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom
Capture the beauty of the seasons with the immediacy of dry pastel in this Zoom class. Working from photos, explore how to build a landscape using many layers of colors. After taking this class, you will be ready to draw landscapes from life using a medium that is easy to carry! All levels welcome, but students must have at least taken one drawing class. See website for materials list.
Dates: 9/13 – 11/29
Details: Mondays, 11 Sessions
Times: 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Notes: no class 10/11

Newton Theatre Kids presents: Fall Classes - Charlotte's Web
2021-10-25 16:00 - 17:30, 2021-10-27 16:00 - 17:30, 2021-10-28 16:00 - 17:30, 2021-11-01 16:00 - 17:30, 2021-11-03 16:00 - 17:30, 2021-11-04 16:00 - 17:30, 2021-11-08 16:00 - 17:30, 2021-11-10 16:00 - 17:30 and 1 more date | First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton, 1326 Washington St, Newton, MA, 02465, United States
Join lovable pig Wilbur and his best friend, Charlotte the spider, in this fun, heartwarming re-telling of E.B. White’s classic story, Charlotte’s Web. We’ve got dancing, acting, scenery-making, and parts for everybody! ​Tuition: $385. Open to Students in Grades K-5
Location for all classes: FUUSN – First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton
1326 Washington St, Newton, MA 02465
We follow closings for all Newton Public school holidays and snow days.
We want theatre to be accessible to everyone.
If you are interested in learning more about Newton Theatre Kids scholarships, please email Melissa.

New Art Center presents: Let’s Put On A Play! – GR 3-5
2021-10-26 15:30 - 16:30, 2021-11-02 15:30 - 16:30, 2021-11-09 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Children will explore theater games, stories and shorter character pieces, using imagination and creative skills, in this exciting class. Have fun as you develop self confidence and showmanship while working with award winning actor and sought-after Boston drama teacher Danny Bolton. Many of you know Danny as New Art Center’s summer performance instructor since 2004. Click here to register.

New Art Center presents: Creativity Lab - Adult Improv and Art-Making Workshop
2021-10-26 18:00 - 21:00, 2021-11-02 18:00 - 21:00, 2021-11-09 18:00 - 21:00 | New Art Center, 61 Washington Park, Newton, MA, 02460, United States
Energize your artist! Begin with a fresh canvas, a fresh mind, a fresh approach. All artists are welcome, and, all artistic genres are welcome. During our first hour of class, we collaborate on works of art, and, improvise inspired by a theme. The second hour, we work individually on our own creations (sculpt, paint, collage, move, build, write, etc.) in the spacious, beautiful Main Gallery in silence. The third hour we share what we have just created. It is a delightful surprise to see what artists can invent in one hour! This process generates new inspiration in your current favorite medium, or, will introduce you to new forms of expression.
Click here to register.

New Art Center presents: Paris Impressionists and Cocktail Obsessionists
2021-10-27 18:00 - 19:00 | ONLINE, United Kingdom, E16 2DQ
Travel back to 1860s France while sipping a cocktail from the comfort of your own home. This art history course will explain the origins of Modern Art starting with Manet to Gauguin. Each course is paired with a signature cocktail recipe that participants can enjoy while learning about some of the world’s most famous artists such as Monet, Cezanne, Morisot, Degas and van Gogh. Register here.

Newton Theatre Kids presents: Fall Classes - Devising Ensemble
2021-10-28 18:30 - 20:00, 2021-11-04 18:30 - 20:00, 2021-11-11 18:30 - 20:00 | First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton, 1326 Washington St, Newton, MA, 02465, United States
Join NTK’s all new Devising Ensemble! Our first program for middle schoolers gives participants the opportunity to explore new forms of performance and hone their artistic skills, all while creating an original piece of theatre as an ensemble. Specifically tailored to the interests of the students, this class is an excellent opportunity for young performers to expand their artistic horizons and learn more about their craft. ​Open to Students in Grades 6-8. ​Tuition: $385
Thursdays from 6:30-8 pm
September 9th through December 16th
​Taught by Abby Lass
Location for all classes: FUUSN – First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton
1326 Washington St, Newton, MA 02465
We follow closings for all Newton Public school holidays and snow days.
We want theatre to be accessible to everyone.
If you are interested in learning more about Newton Theatre Kids scholarships, please email Melissa.

Newton Art Association presents: Demystifying the Business of Art
2021-10-28 19:00 - 20:30 | ONLINE, United Kingdom, E16 2DQ
Demystifying the Business of Art is the subject of the NAA’s first professional workshop of the year led by Susan Kurtzman, owner of JOBI POTTERY & Truro Fine Art Gallery in Truro. A former museum curator, Kurtzman is both a ceramics designer and a business owner, with a 20-year background in direct marketing advertising in New York and Boston.
Kurtzman will provide practical steps on how to approach and work with regional galleries including the responsibilities of the artist and the gallery in building a relationship.
Register now on EventBrite for the presentation

New Art Center presents: Altares de Dia de los Muertos
2021-10-31 10:00 - 16:00 | New Art Center, 61 Washington Park, Newton, MA, 02460, United States
New Art Center proudly introduces Zaira Meneses & Friends as they present: Altares de Dia de los Muertos. This event will include: Altar & Paper Cut Making.
View all the work October 31, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM with a special Son Jarocho Music & Day of Dead Celebration starting at 3:00 PM.
New Art Center in collaboration with Zaira Meneses, a Mexican musician and recipient of the 2018 Boston Foundation Award, will be presenting a three day opportunity to create an authentic Day of the Dead experience. Students of all ages are encouraged to participate in the art of making traditional Mexican altar pieces expressing gratitude to loved ones no longer with us. From paper cutting to piñata making, everyone is encouraged to take part in this three-day celebration being supervised by Zaira Meneses & Friends. Contact New Art Center if you’re interested in participating.
The exhibition date to view the altars will be open to the public on October 31st. Welcoming everyone will be the sounds of Son Jarocho, an authentic music that originated in Mexico’s coastal Veracruz. Traditional customary dress is optional, but we encourage everyone to be creative and participate!

Newton Free Library presents: Historical Fiction Panel
2021-11-01 19:00 - 20:00 | ONLINE, United Kingdom, E16 2DQ
Join Marjan Kamali, William Martin and Jane Healey for a panel discussion of their books, writing historical fiction and their behind-the-scenes research. This program is presented in partnership with the Ashland Public Library.
Marjan Kamali was born in Turkey to Iranian parents. She is the author of two novels: The Stationery Shop, a Boston Globe best-seller, and Together Tea which was a Massachusetts Book Award Finalist and an NPR WBUR Good Read, among other things. Her work has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and published in two anthologies.
William Martin is the New York Times bestselling author of twelve novels, among other things. His first Peter Fallon novel, Back Bay, established him as “a master storyteller.” He has been following the lives of the great and anonymous in American history ever since. In 2018, he won the Robert B. Parker from the Mystery Writers of America (New England Chapter).
Jane Healey is the author of three historical fiction novels. The Beantown Girls was a Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestseller. Her latest, The Secret Stealers, was an Amazon First Reads Editor’s Pick and one of the New York Post’s Best New Books. She is he host of Historical Happy Hour, a monthly webinar and podcast featuring premiere historical fiction authors and their latest novels.
Please register here. The link zoom will come from ashlandprograms@minlib.net. Be sure to check your spam folder in case it lands there.
This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library.

Historic Newton presents: The Origins of 'Our Bodies Ourselves'
2021-11-04 19:00 - 20:00 | ONLINE, United Kingdom, E16 2DQ
For 50 years, the book Our Bodies Ourselves has set the standard for frank, informative facts about women’s health care. Hear from Newton-based founding members of the Boston Women’s Health Collective about how they created the first stapled booklet and how their then-revolutionary approach to health care grew into an international bestseller. Why did the book catch on and what made it appealing to generations of readers? Audience Q&A follows. Suggested donation, $10 per person. Register in advance for this Zoom session.

New Art Center presents: Artist Talk with Anthony Romero and Çaca Yvaire
2021-11-05 18:00 - 19:00 | New Art Center, 61 Washington Park, Newton, MA, 02460, United States
Anthony Romero is a Boston-based artist, writer, and organizer committed to documenting and supporting artists and communities of color. His collaborative practice engages intercultural contact and historical narratives in order to generate reparative counter-images and social transformation. Recent projects and performances have been featured at The Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts (Omaha), the Blue Star Contemporary (San Antonio), The Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston) and the Mountain Standard Time Performative Art Biennial (Calgary, Canada).
Çaca Yvaire is an Afro-Indigenous territorial scholar-practitioner and student of planetary science, political geoecology, and the arts. He brings a unique lens to conservation work. He is primarily invested in stimulating and uplifting an infrastructure that supports a rich and imaginative solidarity between lifeways, and honoring the varied traditions of relating sustainably to the world around us through non-industrial agroecology, agriculture, silviculture, aquaculture, etc. that have been historically side-lined by imperialist design.
Register here.

An Scandinavian Cultural Center presents: An Afternoon of Swedish History
2021-11-07 13:00 | Scandinavian Cultural Center, 206 Waltham St, Newton, MA, 02465, United States
Join the Scandinavian Cultural Center for Carolus Rex – An Afternoon of Swedish History Concerning King Charles XII and the Great Northern War.
“Were Socrates and Charles the Twelfth of Sweden both present in any company, and Socrates to say, ‘Follow me and hear a lecture on philosophy’ and Charles, laying his hand on his sword, to say, ‘Follow me and dethrone the Czar’, a man would be ashamed to follow Socrates.” -Samuel Johnson
Charles XII (1682-1718) was the last of Sweden’s warrior kings. He remains the only Swedish monarch born to absolutism and the last European monarch to die on the field of battle. He claimed the throne at age 15, was called off to war at 18, and spent the rest of his life in uniform trying to defeat a coalition of states that at one point or another included Denmark, Poland-Saxony, Russia, Prussia, and Great Britain. Charles’s armies stormed across Europe and under his direct leadership achieved miraculous victories often in the face of overwhelming odds. On a remote Ukrainian field in 1709, Sweden lost the initiative. Years of desperate rearguard actions yielded further losses of territory and lives before culminating in the mysterious death of Charles himself at a lowly fortress in Norway.
Public opinion and literary history are quick to place Charles in one of two extreme categories- a noble warrior fated to defend a doomed empire – or – a tyrant driven by glory and bloodlust who sacrificed his kingdom on the altar of war. As always, history is a bit more nuanced.
Carolus Rex will place Charles XII in his appropriate historical context. The talk of the king’s life and times will be accompanied by music and a display of contemporary artifacts including newspapers, coins, musketballs, and prints. A full replica uniform of a Carolean infantryman circa 1706 will be worn for demonstration and guests are welcome to handle various pieces of kit. Copies of By Defeating My Enemies- Charles XII of Sweden and the Great Northern War 1682-1721 will be available for purchase and signing.
Saturday, November 6th | 1pm | $7; FREE for SCC Members | register here

Commonwealth Chorale presents: American Sounds
2021-11-13 08:00 - 17:00 | United Kingdom
Live performances are returning and Commonwealth Chorale has a great year planned! Maestro David Carrier has programmed a superb concert season to celebrate his retirement. Be ready to go for a ride with Paul Revere, pick up a bluegrass banjo, and then sit back and enjoy Bach and Haydn.
Our first concert presents nostalgic Americana through the works of Randall Thompson, Gwyneth Walker and Stephen Paulus. In March, we present a unique and uplifting concert with music by Copland and Barnett. The nationally renowned bluegrass band, Monroe Crossing, will join us in performing Barnett’s The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass. For our final concert in May, we return to our classical roots with a performance of Haydn’s Missa in Angustiis (Lord Nelson Mass) and Bach’s Cantata 140 (Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme). This is a season not to be missed.
Purchase tickets here.

Scandinavian Cultural Center presents: Jazz on Tap
2021-11-13 13:00 | Scandinavian Cultural Center, 206 Waltham St, Newton, MA, 02465, United States
Tap dance and jazz have a long and intertwined history. From the prohibition on musical instruments during the era of slavery, which prompted the enslaved African-Americans to find ingenious ways to use their bodies as percussion instruments, to the early 20th century New York City where Irish and African-American styles of dancing met and enriched each other while innovative popular musical styles were created through the fusion of cultures, to the film era and the groundbreaking work of Fred Astaire – these two art forms developed side-by-side, even if at some point their paths have grown somewhat apart.
Tap dancer Alex MacDonald – the original tap soloist and choreographer for the wildly popular vintage jazz band, Scott Bradlee & Postmodern Jukebox – and pianist and improviser Alex Pryrodny present a fun and educational program that pays tribute to the historical roots of each discipline while fusing them in new ways, with creativity and lightning speed communication of both virtuoso performers of full display. Get your hands clapping and your feet moving to the rhythms and sounds of “Jazz on Tap!”
**please note that advanced registration, masks, and proof of vaccination are required for this event**
Saturday, November 13th | 1pm | register here
Presented in partnership with Newton at Home.
