Is it too soon to think about the weekend? Arts Council Marketing Director Jennifer Gelband offers her top five arts picks for this week, going into next. These come from our member organizations and are also featured in The Arts Council's weekly newsletter. To subscribe to that, click here.
A photo from last year's Arts Awards. Allan Appel for the New Haven Independent.
37th Annual Arts Awards, Dec. 1, 11 a.m., The New Haven Lawn Club.
This is literally the creative event of the year. Get your tickets now!
The 2017 Arts Awards theme is Creative Ecosystem. The Arts Council of Greater New Haven’s 37th Annual Arts Awards luncheon will honor those who exemplify the complexity of our Creative Ecosystem.
Winners:
The C. Newton Schenck III Award for Lifetime Achievement in and Contribution to the Arts: Jock Reynolds, artist and director of the Yale University Art Gallery, for his lifelong contributions to the arts in Greater New Haven
The Architecture Resource Center
Diane Brown, Branch Manager at the Stetson branch of the New Haven Free Public Library
Reverend Kevin Ewing
Musical Intervention
The Nasty Women New Haven
Tickets: $95 for members; $110 for nonmembers; limited number of $40 artist tickets.
Purchase: http://events.eventzilla.net/e/37th-annual-arts-awards-lunc…; (203) 772-2788, or info@newhavenarts.org
14th Annual JCC Craft and Gift Fair, Dec. 3, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., JCC, Woodbridge.
There are a lot of craft and gift fairs this time of year, all of which are stellar. But this annual event is the first back at the JCC after a devastating fire last year. Shop more than 50 vendors, featuring artisans crafters from all over New England showcasing pottery, art, accessories, home décor, jewelry, glass works, skin care, clothing, and much more. Free crafts for kids and face painting. New this year is a free movie with babysitting, 1-4 p.m. for kids 5 and older so parents can “drop and shop.” Free admission and plenty of free parking.
Also, Crest Lincoln of Woodbridge is bringing Lincoln’s Driven to Give program to the greater New Haven community in an effort to raise money for the JCC. For every person who takes the wheel and test drives a new 2018 Lincoln at the JCC on Sunday, Dec. 3, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Lincoln will donate $20 to the JCC.
More info: jccnh.org or (203) 387-2424.
Behind-the-Scenes Collections Tours, Dec. 5, Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.
The 13 million objects in the Peabody's collections – in 10 curatorial divisions from Anthropology to Zoology – represent a world-class record of the history of Earth and its cultures. A mere fraction are on display in the public galleries! In continuing celebration of the Peabody's 150th anniversary, the museum offers free behind-the-scenes tours, a chance to see specimens and artifacts rarely seen by the public and the state-of-the art facilities in which they're stored and organized.
Tours leave the Museum lobby promptly at 4 p.m. and last one hour. Led by Yale students, each tour takes in two collections areas and is limited to 12 people. Because many of the collections rooms are active labs or work spaces, tours are not open to children under 12. Advance registration is required. Register: http://peabody.yale.edu/events/behind-scenes-collections-tours
Sister’s Christmas Catechism: The Mystery of the Magi’s Gold, Dec. 5-17, Long Wharf Theatre, Stage II.
Entertainment Events’ production of Sister’s Christmas Catechism: The Mystery of the Magi’s Gold, by Maripat Donovan with Jane Morris and Marc Silvia returns. In this holiday mystery extravaganza, by the author of Late Nite Catechism, Sister takes on the mystery that has intrigued historians throughout the ages – whatever happened to the Magi’s gold? Employing her own scientific tools and assisted by local choirs as well as a gaggle of audience members, Sister creates a living nativity unlike any ever seen. With gifts galore and bundles of laughs, Sister’s Christmas Catechism is sure to become a new holiday tradition.
Tickets start at $29.
More info: www.longwharf.org or (203)787-4282.
Yale Concert Band and the Yale Jazz Ensemble Present Side by Side: The Nutcracker Swings, Dec. 2, 2 p.m., Woolsey Hall.
The Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Nutcracker Suite, as arranged for concert band by Mayhew L. Lake, will be performed alongside the Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn setting for jazz band. Celebrate the holiday season with this study in interpretation, in two classic arrangements of The Nutcracker Suite. Leroy Anderson’s traditional favorite, Sleigh Ride, also will be performed. Admission is free and no tickets are required, but donations will be collected to support IRIS (Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services).
More info: (203)432-4111 or www.yale.edu/yaleband