I f you live in New Haven, you’ve heard pops, booms and sizzles all weekend. Enjoy one more day of them, then advance to artsier kinds of pops, more deliberative kinds of booms and a couple of mild brain-sizzlers.
Monday, July 4 – Independence Day
Among the significant historical figures who’ve found permanent rest at Grove Street Cemetery is David Humphreys, aide-de-camp to George Washington during America’s war for independence. At 9 a.m. today in the cemetery, the Second Company of the Governor’s Foot Guard, formed in 1775 in New Haven, honors both the occasion and Humphreys with a free hourlong celebration. 227 Grove Street, New Haven.
The city’s annual Fourth of July fireworks show begins blasting from the summit of East Rock at 9:15 p.m. Watch it from the official viewing grounds at Wilbur Cross High (181 Mitchell Dr, New Haven) or, as the city’s website notes, “from anywhere you can see the Angel of Peace atop East Rock Park.”
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Tuesday, July 5
Unlikely hitmakers the Avett Brothers bring their alluring music—urbane and astute, in a rootsy, folksy package—to College Street Music Hall (238 College St, New Haven; 203-867-2000) tonight for “a very intimate evening” starting at 8 p.m. Tickets cost either $52 for a seat in the balcony or $62 for a standing-only spot closer to the stage.
Wednesday, July 6
Status and belonging are topics of interest today at the Yale University Art Gallery (1111 Chapel St, New Haven; 203-432-0600), where fellow Caryne Eskridge discusses “Members of the Club: Decorative Arts and Group Identity in America” at 12:30 p.m. Not just talking the talk, Eskridge will walk her listeners through some of YUAG’s extensive American decorative arts collection, picking out specific objects to discuss in depth. Free.
Thursday, July 7
City Gallery (994 State St, New Haven; 203-782-2489) has been a bit saucy since June 30, when its latest exhibit, Fourplay—a joint show by abstract artist Roberta Friedman, printmaker Jane Harris, sculptor Sheila Kaczmarek and painter Mary Lesser, featuring “multimedia works on paper and canvas” plus “whimsical ‘froot’ sculptures”—opened to the public. The opening party, however, happens today, from 5 to 7 p.m. Free to attend.
Friday, July 8
Getting an early start on the weekend, New Haven Museum’s latest exhibit, Stories from Far and Near: Refugee Artists in New Haven, gets a reception of its own from 4 to 7 p.m. Curated by local sculptor Susan Clinard, the show’s six featured artists, who’ve fled from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Iraq and Mauritania, “share evocative work and stirring personal stories.” 114 Whitney Avenue, New Haven. (203) 562-4183.
Great Scott! The iconic movie Back to the Future (1985) screens tonight at 8:30 as part of the city’s summertime “Friday Flicks” series. Jumping through space and time like a heavily modded DeLorean, the series pops up at a different part of New Haven each week, with tonight’s event happening on Goffe Street Park’s DeGale Field (near Goffe and County Streets).
Saturday, July 9
“Accomplished artists”—19 of them—“working in a variety of media including assemblage, mixed media, painting, photography, print making and woodworking” provide the whirlwind stuff of Kehler Liddell Gallery’s new exhibition, Artist as Curator 3. Displaying work by outside artists invited to show by KLG’s members, today’s opening reception, from 4 to 7 p.m., offers a festive moment to check it out. Free to attend. 873 Whalley Avenue, New Haven. (203) 389-9555.
Sunday, July 10
It’s easy to imagine what one of the components will be on the Jewish Community Center’s “Brunch at Bagel Beach” menu today. It’s harder to imagine what’s in the 358-page novel, As Close to Us as Breathing (2016), that’s set to be discussed by its author, Elizabeth Poliner, during the meal, though the mostly positive review the book scored in the Times certainly helps. One thing we know is that the fictional story is set in the same area as the real brunch—Bagel Beach, a historically Jewish enclave of coastal Milford—specifically, at the Tri-Beach Recreation Center (170 Hillside Ave, Milford). 10 a.m. $10.
Written and photographed by Dan Mims. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations and prices before attending events.
