F rom conscientiousness to creativity, New Haven this week cycles through many of its finest impulses—including a love of cycling.
Monday, September 12
“Pakistan’s leading human rights lawyer, well-known for her courageous legal advocacy on behalf of women, children, religious minorities and poor and disenfranchised communities,” gives a free public lecture today at America’s leading law school. Starting at 4:30 p.m., Asma Jangir speaks about “Empowering the Disadvantaged: Bonded Women, Labor and the Role of Human Rights” today at Yale Law (127 Wall St, New Haven).
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Tuesday, September 13
New Haven artist Tracie Cheng, whose ethereal abstractions—one of which is pictured second, above—range in tone from dark and stormy to opalescent, gets an opening reception tonight from 5 to 7 at the New Haven Lawn Club, where Paint and Fiber, a joint show with the Hartford Artisans Weaving Center, opened last week. As the Lawn Club puts it, it’s a chance “to meet the artist, mingle and enjoy cocktails with family and friends.” Free to attend. 193 Whitney Avenue, New Haven. (203) 777-3494.
Wednesday, September 14
“Playing Images: An Exploration of Music and Art,” a dual talk/performance by Yale University Art Gallery associate curator Jessica Sack and the Haven String Quartet, draws connections between listening to music and viewing art. The audio/visual examination begins around lunchtime, at 12:30 p.m., inside the YUAG. Free. 1111 Chapel Street, New Haven. (203) 432-0600.
Thursday, September 15
Yale Cabaret, the black-box dinner theater where Yale’s graduate drama students get to both take control and let loose, opens a new season with Styx Songs. An original production directed by its creator, Lucie Dawkins, who was inspired by “poetry spanning 2,000 years and four continents”—and involving collaborators from Yale’s architecture, art and music programs—it’s a “multimedia requiem” set upon the River Styx, a.k.a. “the mythic threshold between life and death, where the ferryman Charon presides over vignettes voiced by migratory souls as they cross from one world to the next.” Tickets for tonight’s show, which starts at 8 p.m. (with dinner and drinks service starting at 6:30), cost $20, or $15 for Yale faculty/staff and $12 for college students. 217 Park Street, New Haven. (203) 432-1566.
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Friday, September 16
From 4 to 10 p.m., the New Haven Grand Prix and concurrent Apizza & Eats Feast overtake the middle of downtown. As brightly colored cyclists race a loop from Chapel to High to Elm to Temple Streets, the north side of Chapel has “activities, vendors and music;” the south side of the bisector, College Street, has the Powder Ridge Skills Park, where two pro riders compete in a “freestyle trick show” before New Haveners with mountain bikes get turns in the obstacle-filled setup; and the block of College south of Chapel hosts the heart of the Feast, in which some 25 local vendors sell food and drink. Free to attend.
Saturday, September 17
The Arts Council of Greater New Haven’s annual Somewhat Off the Wall fundraiser—which gathers 150 works of fine art from 50 local artists and lets attendees take a piece home after the party—happens today from 5 to 9 p.m. inside The Gallery at Elemar (2 Gibbs St, New Haven). Tickets include a $45 option, which gets you in the door; a $120 option, which guarantees you the right to choose something; and a limited $250 “1st Choice” option, which lets you select your art before the rest.
During “Laugh in the Barn,” the first in a series of events celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Eli Whitney Barn (920 Whitney Ave, Hamden), the improv troupe The Regicides—sprung from local performance company A Broken Umbrella Theatre—fills the historic building with mirth and merriment from 8 p.m. on. Each $15 ticket includes two tickets redeemable for beer or wine, though you can also BYO.
Sunday, September 18
Edgerton Park’s annual Sunday in the Park is Shangri-La for kids and the otherwise young-at-heart. This year’s attractions include a “big slide,” a bungee bounce, games, jugglers, live music, pony rides, a petting zoo, stilt walkers and a bugs, amphibians and reptiles station. There’s also a “white elephant” tag sale and book sale—selling donated, good-condition kitchen items, toys, antiques, collectibles and, of course, books—plus a bake sale, a plant/veggie/flower sale and even bird-of-prey demonstrations. Free to attend. 75 Cliff Street, New Haven.
Written by Dan Mims. Photo 1 by Dan Mims; photo 2 courtesy of Tracie Cheng. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations and prices before attending events.
