T here are hellos and goodbyes to spare in the coming days. One year arrives; another exits. An experimental exhibition in a young gallery reveals itself; long-standing exhibits in hallowed institutions disappear. A prominent local artist whose work you probably know—but whose legal name you definitely don’t—greets us on his way out the door.
Our advice? Be sure to enjoy both the new and the now this week in New Haven.
Monday, December 30
If you’re looking for a reason to get the kids out of the house today, look to the library. The New Haven Free Public Library’s Mitchell Branch (37 Harrison St, New Haven; 203-946-8117) gets the games out of the closet for a “Bored-to-Board Games” event meant to give kids on winter break something to do, and maybe to give parents a short break of their own. 2 to 3 p.m.
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Tuesday, December 31
You’ve got plenty of choices for ringing in 2014 tonight. Here are two of ’em:
Starting at 8 p.m. at Cafe Nine (250 State St, New Haven; 203-789-8281), six-pointed star Dot Mitzvah hosts a “New Year’s Eve Burlesque Extravaganza,” a “chic black tie-optional” affair with shots of “music, comedy, nudity and drinking.” So if you like your sass with a side of class, this is the place for you. A $15 ticket includes hors d’oeuvres plus a glass of champagne at midnight.
A couple blocks away in the elevated co-working space The Bourse (839 Chapel St, 2nd Fl, New Haven; 203-980-8202), the New Haven Theater Company hosts a New Year’s party from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. featuring a strong trio of local bands: high-gloss “trip hop indie-pop duo” Mission Zero (pictured above), melody-driven prog rock act 1974 and sultry-singing indie alt-rock pair Violent Mae. A $20 ticket includes “light refreshments” and bubbly when the clock strikes 12.
All together now: Haaaappy new year!
Wednesday, January 1
It’s a new day and a new work of art at the new-named Gallery Howe (52 Howe St, New Haven), formerly and briefly known as the New Haven Art Connection. Since December 21, the gallery’s been unwrapping one of 12 paintings each day by different, mostly local artists, culminating in tonight’s finale at 7:30 p.m. The exhibit’s titled An Art Advent—A Progressive Unwrapping and is on view through January 31. Free.
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Thursday, January 2
The University of New Haven NCAA Division II men’s basketball team has had one of the best-performing defenses in the whole division. Tonight at 7 p.m., the Chargers defend against the Southern New Hampshire University Penmen at Charger Gymnasium in West Haven (directions here). Don’t let SNHU’s innocuous-sounding name fool you: the Penmen won the Northeast-10 conference title last year.
Friday, January 3
This is the last weekend to catch Yale University Art Gallery’s exhibit Francesco Vanni: Art in Late Renaissance Siena, which shows off more than “60 paintings and drawings” by a “key figure in Italian Counter-Reformation painting.” (The Counter-Reformation was an institutional, traditionalist Catholic reaction against the Protestant Reformation in the 16th and 17th centuries.) The YUAG’s open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Free.
This is also the last weekend to catch the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History’s artifact-filled Echoes of Egypt exhibition. The Peabody’s open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and tomorrow, after which the installation is history. $9 for adults, $8 for seniors, $3 for kids, free for museum members and Yale I.D. holders. 170 Whitney Ave, New Haven; (203) 432-8987.
Saturday, January 4
The über-provocative and -secretive graffiti artist Believe in People, a.k.a. BiP—responsible for the Anne Frank mural at Crown and Park, among a number of other images that have popped up around New Haven (and as far away as Taiwan) over the past few years—seems to be gearing up to leave us for a while, and tonight he wants to say something to the city that’s been his favorite canvas. The Mixtape—mostly audio tracks of the artist’s reflections, with “documentary-type music videos,” perhaps depicting some of his exploits, spliced between—will be publicly shown just once, according to his intermediary. The tape, which we’re told isn’t suitable for children, starts rolling sometime after 8 p.m. at Channel 1 Gallery in Trolley Square (1175 State St, New Haven; due to construction, take I-91 to exit 5 if driving from downtown).
Sunday, January 5
The Jewish Community Center of Greater New Haven (360 Amity Rd, Woodbridge; 203-387-2522) is helping keep New Year’s resolutions alive past the weekend with a free family-friendly “Fun ’n’ Fit Day” today. Stretching from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. is a long itinerary of fitness demonstrations, classes and workshops—like Zumba, Pilates and swim sessions, and a “Family Diet Clean-Up”—as well as youth-specific events, including sing-alongs, a “Character Brunch” with comic book and cartoon characters and a teen boot camp. Members and non-members alike are invited.
Written by Dan Mims. Image of Mission Zero photographed by Dawn Kubie.
