More of today's events

Elm Park, Highland Street and Park Avenue, Worcester, MA
Sponsored by: Worcester Cultural Commission. Through Sunday, Oct 5.

College of the Holy Cross: Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery, 1 College Street, Worcester, MA
Open M-F 10:00am-5:00pm, Sat 2-5:00pm, Closed Aug 30 & Sept 1 for Labor Day Changing Identity introduces the work of ten contemporary Vietnamese women artists who challenge the stereotypes and traditional roles of women in Vietnamese society. This exhibition is the first survey of women artists from Vietnam to tour the United States and has been shown at several university galleries. Through the use of various media, subject matters, and aesthetic sensibilities, two generations of artists share views of their country and the changing status of women. Together, their work provides a diverse view of Vietnam itself, reflecting a range of opinions and experiences. A complete listing of events assocaied witht he exhbition canbe found at www.holycross.edu/cantorartgallery/. Cost: No cost, open to the public Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, through Oct 4.

EcoTarium, 222 Harrington Way, Worcester, MA
A spectacular new space show, Cosmic Collisions, blasts into the EcoTarium on Saturday, February 16, 2008. Narrated by award-winning actor, director, and producer Robert Redford, the film will be showing in Massachusetts' only digital planetarium, the new Alden Digital Planetarium. Featuring stunning images from space and breathtaking visualizations based on cutting-edge scientific data--many seen for the first time--the dazzling new Cosmic Collisions reveals the explosive encounters that shaped our solar system. Audiences will feel the ground shake beneath them! Cost: $5 plus museum admission; $4 members Through Friday, Feb 13.

EcoTarium, 222 Harrington Way, Worcester, MA
Take a giant step back in time with this hands-on, family friendly exhibit. Step into the prehistoric footprints of the dinosaurs who once roamed New England and Eastern Canada and try out the methods scientists used to study them. Discover what might have walked in your backyard as you use a magnetic trackway to tell dinosaur stories, run as fast as a dinosaur--even run your hands over a real-life dinosaur footprint. Free with museum admission. EcoTarium, A Museum of Science & Nature, 222 Harrington Way, Worcester, MA www.ecotarium.org. Cost: Free with museum admission. Through Sunday, Nov 2.

Higgins Armory Museum, 100 Barber Avenue, Worcester, MA
Metallurgy has been among the most influential human technologies for over five thousand years. Preindustrial metalsmiths knew nothing of the material science that governs the properties of metals, yet their traditional techniques, handed down from generation to generation, allowed them to manipulate these properties to produce superior steels even without any scientific understanding of what they were doing. This exhibit uses the tools of modern metallography such as optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and electron diffusion analysis to reveal the composition and structure of a selection of artifacts from the Higgins Armory collection, ranging from a Chinese bronze blade of 1000 B.C.E. to a modern decorative sword, tracing the evolution of metals technology across the millennia. Cost: Free with Museum Admission Through Sunday, Sep 7.

Worcester Historical Museum, Booth GAllery, 30 Elm Street, Worcester, MA
Going out in style is an exhibition that celebrates the fashion and creativity of a local business, Davey's Inc., and contemporary fashion designer, Jessie Randall. Davey's: Worcester Originals takes a historical look at Davey's Inc., a major producer of handbags, belts, and other leather accessories in Worcester from 1954 to 1992. Davey's handbags were sold to fine specialty shops and all major department stores across the country. Davey's: Worcester Originals tells the stories not only of the company, but also of the people who worked in the factory for Chester Herwitz, the creative businessman who started it all. Chic & Modern: The Designs of Jessie Randall celebrates the award-winning, Worcester-born, Jessie Randall. Since the establishment of her company Loeffler Randall in 2004, Jessie Randall has had amazing success, including receiving the 2007 Accessories Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America as well as her own shoe and handbag line at Target. Her designs include shoes, handbags, and clothing and are often worn by celebrities including Cameron Diaz and Sarah Michelle Gellar. Cost: Admission is $5; members, children under 17, and Woo Card holders, free. Through Saturday, Nov 8.

Worcester Art Museum, 55 Salisbury Street, Worcester, MA
Folding screens have long offered Japanese artists a challenge to create large-scale painting compositions. These works highlight the differences between subdued Chinese-inspired ink paintings favored by samurai, monks and literati-depicting the spiritually symbolic tiger-and-dragon and idealized landscape scenes - and colorful, decorative Japanese-style paintings, commissioned by wealthy middle-class patrons - depicting pleasurable pursuits, seasonal customs and stylish kimono. Making a dramatic appearance across the expanse of a pair of folding screens, the dragon and tiger both confront and complement each other. Respectively symbolic of heavenly and earthly power, the beasts were often depicted on screens that were used as backdrops for powerful warlords and Buddhist abbots, when receiving guests in castles and temples. Cost: Free with Museum admission. Sundays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, through Oct 26.

Worcester Historical Museum, 30 Elm Street, Worcester, MA
Tells the ongoing story of the innovators, workers, and investors who made industry the story of Worcester. Reflects more than one hundred years of collecting by the Worcester Historical Museum, founded in 1875 as the Worcester Society of Antiquity. Diversity and invention have been the hallmarks of Worcester industry since the beginning of the industrial revolution in the early nineteenth century. Cost: $5 for adults; Children under 18 FREE Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, through Mar 3.

Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, Gallery, 2 Southbridge St., Worcester, MA
Photographs by Lora Brueck and Nancy Engberg from Holga cameras - gallery viewing by appointment - call 508-755-5142 Since becoming involved with photography twenty-five years ago, Lora Brueck and Nancy Engberg have been attracted to alternative methods. When asked about their work, Brueck states, "Plastic cameras - Holgas, Dianas, and other 'toys' - have allowed us to express a quirky vision in a way that complicated high-tech equipment can't. Fuzzy images, light leaks, and double exposures are the norm with these simple cameras. Keeping it Simple: Art from a Plastic Camera expresses a sense of fun in the artistic process and that 'mistakes' often become an important part of the effect." Sponsored by: ARTSworcester. Cost: free Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, through Sep 5.

Worcester Center for Crafts, Krikorian Gallery, 25 Sagamore Road, Worcester, MA
Recent works by Lisa Barthelson Opening Reception: Thursday July 31,2008 Artists Talk: Tuesday August, 19, 5:30-6:30 The WORCESTER CENTER FOR CRAFTS is a warm, accessible artistic community where young people and adults can find a means of expression through craft classes, exhibits and events. Our studios embrace those who are just beginning to discover their voices as artists as well as artists who are experienced in craft. There is something fundamentally human about making an exquisite, functional object from the elements of glass, wood, clay, or natural fiber and this drive has been the heartbeat of the Center for 150 years. We hope you will join us to experience craft. View our classes, exhibits and events at www.worcestercraftcenter.org or call us at 508-753-8183. HEY COLLEGE STUDENTS! Here are the WOO Benefits at the Craft Center! 10% off all craft classes and workshops (which you can take for credit)! 10% discount off purchases over $15 in the Gallery Store! FREE entrance to Annual Festival of Crafts, Thanksgiving weekend! FREE entrance to exhibit openings!* (*some major exhibition may not apply) Through Friday, Aug 29.

Higgins Armory Museum, 100 Barber Avenue, Worcester, MA
Come enjoy at nice cool day out of the sun in our air-conditioned Museum. Throughout the summer vacation months of July and August we will be having all-day Heraldic Shield Workshops on the weekdays. For $5 you can make your own heraldic shield to display your arms for all to see. In addition, at 11:30am and 2:00pm we will be running interactive Arms and Armor shows in our auditorium. Should it rain on the weekdays we will do special programming instead of our usual daily programs! At 11:30am we will have our Hands-on History program, at 1:00pm there will be a story time, and at 2:00pm we will have a special show. This special show could be Arming a Knight, 14th Century Knight, Women and Warfare, Roman Arms and Armor or any other of our specialty shows. To find out if we are running Rainy Day programming, listen to WCRN, WTAG, or check higgins.org. Cost: Shows are free with Admission, Workshops are $5 each Through Friday, Aug 29.

EcoTarium, 222 Harrington Way, Worcester, MA
Enter the wonderful world of Zula! Based on the popular PBS animated children's series, The Zula Patrol, this engaging exhibit explores the strange and wild world of weather. Climb into climate tents featuring temperature extremes from very cold to steaming hot, touch a real cloud and replicate the sounds made by wind and rain using classic movie sound machines. Special opening event Saturday, June 7, 12:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. with free Zula giveaways and fun activities. Come meet the character Professor Multo! Cost: Free with museum admission. Through Sunday, Nov 30.

EcoTarium, 222 Harrington Way, Worcester, MA
The Zula Patrol invades Worcester for the New England premiere of their new space show at the Alden Digital Planetarium. Take a rollercoaster ride across the universe with the lovable, wacky cast of alien characters from the award-winning PBS series, The Zula Patrol, while learning about astronomy and weather. Ride along with the Zula Patrol as they try to save the solar system's weather from interplanetary villain Dark Truder. Encounter the strange and wild weather of planets--including ours. The Zula Patrol award-winning public television series for kids and the related exhibit and dome show were created by Zula USA, LLC. Cost: $5 plus museum admission; $4 members. Through Friday, Apr 17.

Worcester Art Museum, 55 Salisbury Street, Worcester, MA
Two Chinas: Chen Qiulin and Yun-Fei Ji considers the rapidly changing conditions in China through the lens of new acquisitions created by two young Chinese artists, Chen Qiulin (b. 1975) and Yun-Fei Ji (b. 1963). Both artists have responded to the altered landscapes and human displacement caused by flooding, which is a result of China's Three Gorges Dam project. Chen Qiulin uses video in Bie Fu (Farewell Poem), from 2003, to revisit her childhood memories and China's past amidst the rubble of Wanzhou, her hometown and one of the cities flooded by the dam project. In Yun-Fei Ji's monumental scroll-like painting, Below the 143 Meter Mark, from 2006, allusions to classical landscape painting are transformed by grim contemporary details - houses and hillsides crumbling, a ghost town littered with abandoned bundles and bicycles. Sponsored by: This exhibition is supported by the Don and Mary Melville Contemporary Art Fund, The Clayton F. & Ruth L. Hawkridge Foundation, and The Martin Salomon Morton & Gustel Schreiber Morton Foundation. Additional generous support provided by Worcester Magazine.. Cost: Free with Museum admission. Sundays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, through Sep 21.

Worcester Art Museum, 55 Salisbury Street, Worcester, MA
Known for paintings that are uniquely hybrid in nature, Alexander Ross produced a project for the Museum's Wall at WAM series that adapts his imagery and technique for the second-story setting and grand scale of the Renaissance Court. The result is a new kind of hybrid based on clay elements, photography, drawing and inkjet, which creates a frieze-like expanse activating the entire sixty-seven foot wall. For all their obvious differences, Ross' mural shares with the ancient Worcester Hunt mosaic, located below, an action and aesthetic that are notable for disorienting shifts in scale, non-illusionistic space, and moments of improvisation within a system of representation. Although separated by 1500 years, the mosaic and Ross' mural powerfully emulate human emotions, then and now, about the external world. You have to see it to believe it! Cost: Free with Museum admission. Sundays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, through Oct 5.

Worcester Public Library, 3 Salem Square, Worcester, MA
Cost: Free Through Saturday, Aug 30.

Worcester City Hall, 455 Main Street, Worcester, MA
In conjunction with the 10th Annual World Smile Day Celebration to be held on Friday, October 3rd the World Smile Foundation is offering individuals an opportunity to Send a Soldier a Smile - an effort to send smiles and a message of gratitude to those US soldiers overseas who serve in harm's way. Buy a box of ten Smiley Face cookies or just a single Smiley Face cookie. All will be shipped from New York City's famous Eleni's Cookies, packaged with a card of appreciation. Buy your cookies online at www.WorldSmileDay.com today! Order by September 19th to ensure delivery on World Smile Day! Sponsored by: World Smile Day Foundation, the City of Worcester, Worcester Historical Museum, Congressman James McGovern and WCRN Radio. Cost: $50 for box of 10 cookies or $5 for individual cookie Through Friday, Sep 19.

1:00 AM-4:00 PM, ARTSWorcester, Aurora Gallery, 660 Main Street, Worcester, MA
On Pins and Needles is an artistic exploration of being in one's skins-- an extraordinary exploration of touch and sensation, whether person to person, person to environment, or person to object. Cost: free Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, through Sep 5.

9:00 AM-7:00 PM, Quinsigamond Community College: Administration Building, 670 West Boylston Street, Worcester, MA
Exhibtion of photographs by Mike Nyman exploring Worcester and its surrounds over the course of a year. Cost: free Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, through Nov 8.

10:00 AM-5:00 PM, Tower Hill Botanic Garden: Milton Gallery, Stoddard Center, 11 French Drive, Boylston, MA
See the world of gardens through the x-ray lens of artist and photographer Jim Wehtje in this exhibit of stunning photographs. Plants come alive in unexpected and delightful ways with the wizardry of modern science. Proceeds from the sale of artwork supports the ongoing mission of Tower Hill Botanic Garden. Reception with the artist on Thursday, August 7, 6-8pm, free & open to the public. Cost: Included with admission; $10 Adults, $7 Seniors, $5 Youth, Free to children under 6 Through Sunday, Sep 14.