Music or books? Beer or wine? Gardens or machines? The choice is yours.
Monday, January 22
At 2 p.m. in Sterling Memorial Library (120 High St, New Haven; 203-432-1775), creator/host Eric Marcus and executive producer Sara Burningham discuss the process behind their podcast Making Gay History, in which they create “engaging personal portraits of known and unknown champions, heroes and witnesses to [LGBTQ] history.” The “emotionally powerful and revelatory” source material for those portraits comes from Marcus’s “decades-old audio archive of rare interviews,” which were conducted for some of the numerous books he’s written.
Tuesday, January 23
Aisha Burns’s alt-folk music, featuring acoustic guitar, violins and rich, expressive vocals, can induce both meditative stillness and mental wandering. Meanwhile, the voice of New Havener Leila Crockett “has been compared to torch singers of old and has been referred to as angelic.” $10 (or $8 in advance) gets you a ticket to see them both at Cafe Nine (250 State St, New Haven; 203-789-8281), where the show starts at 9 p.m.
Wednesday, January 24
From 7 to 10 p.m., The Beer Collective (130 Court St, New Haven; 203-507-2602) hosts “an educational evening of single-celled adventure, with beer!” The cells in question are yeast cells, specifically the different ones used for ales and lagers, and the educators are Jim Trainor and Joe Connolly, employees of Massachusetts craft brewer Jack’s Abby. $40.
Thursday, January 25
Flights of Fancy, the semi-annual “shopping, wine and food tasting crawl” in downtown New Haven, flies again from 4:30 to 8 p.m. This time, the evening opens with a “reception and welcome party” at the Shubert Theatre (247 College St, New Haven), where—in addition to “a champagne toast, warm cookies and the chance to pose for photos in the Fancy Wonderland photo booth”—attendees can get their wine glasses, tote bags and maps detailing the locations of 24 businesses offering special shopping deals along with wine and food tastings. $20 in advance.
Friday, January 26
Highlighting its new exhibition, + The Art of Collaboration, Yale’s Beinecke Library (121 Wall St, New Haven; 203-432-2977; pictured above) hosts a free opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. A three-in-one affair, the show “explores the excitement and power of separate elements combining to make things that are new, beautiful, strange and memorable” via “three discrete exhibitions, each installed in a separate section of the library’s exhibition space.” As for the reception, if past Beinecke occasions are a good indication, there’ll be wine and other refreshments along with food that tends to be gobbled up early.
Saturday, January 27
Led by master gardener Rachel Ziesk, Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven’s fourth annual Grow It! series of gardening classes begins today. Featuring six 10 a.m. sessions on select Saturdays through March 24, topics progress in a sensible order, from “Soil and Garden Planning” today to “Native and Invasive Plants” during the finale. Registration costs $20 per class or $100 for the whole series.
Downtown membership-based makerspace MakeHaven is making hay of an opportunity to move around the corner into a bigger space at 770 Chapel Street, where it can fit more tools to go with the sewing machines, soldering irons, 3D printers, laser cutters and other maker infrastructure it already had. A grand opening celebration begins at 6 p.m. with an hour of “tours, snacks and refreshments,” followed by a short presentation at 7 p.m., followed by mixing and mingling from 7:15 to 11. Free.
Sunday, January 28
Local rapper Puma Simone is hosting a show-and-tell for people who’d like to share a book recommendation with others and/or donate books for incarcerated people. Dubbed “People x Books,” it’s happening at 6 p.m. at Middle Eastern restaurant Kasbah Garden Cafe (105 Howe St, New Haven), where you can BYOB with a $5 corking fee and, of course, get dinner. Free to attend.
Written by Dan Mims. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations and prices before attending events.
