Exhibits, galleries, theater and more: Seacoast arts and culture news
The Southern New Hampshire Ukulele Group’s Luau is back
BRENTWOOD — On Saturday April 22, The Southern NH Ukulele Group will host its Ninth Annual Fundraising Luau on the main stage at Austin17 in Brentwood, NH. Starting at 4 p.m., festivities will feature wildly talented ukulele groups from near and far, including Steve Roy, The Ukulidiots, The Unlikely Strummers, Desperate Strings Trio, A&W Ukulele Players, Uke Pitt, and a special appearance by renowned hula dancer Atsuko Nemoto. A performance by the Austin17 ensemble is also in the works.
The ukulele is a simple, four-stringed instrument. Easy to learn, easy to play, it produces sweet, resonant tones, and gives everyone an opportunity to let their souls sing. Along with the performances there'll be food, cash bar, raffles, sing-alongs and play-alongs.
Tickets are at Brown Paper Tickets: https://snhugluau9.brownpapertickets.com/.
3S Artspace awards grant to area non-profit organizations
PORTSMOUTH — 3S Artspace announces the non-profit organizations selected as recipients of their 2023 Community Space Use Grant: Cross Roads House (Portsmouth), HAVEN (Portsmouth), The Waysmeet Center (Durham), Rain for the Sahel and Sahara (Portsmouth), Reproductive Freedom Fund of New Hampshire (Dover), and 603 Forward (Concord).
Now in its 3rd annual grant cycle, 3S Artspace developed the Community Use Grant program at the end of 2020 in direct response to persisting challenges nonprofits face in reaching their constituents and meeting fundraising goals for operations during the pandemic.
3S Artspace will host the grant recipient events in the Performance Space throughout 2023, waiving the room rental fee, and allowing the organizations to focus on reaching their audience and mission goals. The nature of the event is selected by the recipient organization and includes fundraisers, trainings, and outreach events.
Cross Roads House plans to hold a donor engagement event with a panel discussion on homelessness in the Seacoast and throughout New Hampshire. The discussion will center on potential solutions for mitigation through the creation of more affordable housing. Donors, municipal, state, and legislative officials, as well as business leaders in the community are expected to attend.
Rain for the Sahel and Sahara plans to hold a viewing of the documentary film African Apocalypse, complemented by a facilitated panel and community discussion tackling questions around racial equity, the lasting impacts of colonialism, and the impacts of these dynamics on communities in New Hampshire. Through this collaboration, they seek to bring a megaphone to organizational and individual voices not always heard.
Portsmouth Historical Society joins National Initiatives to lower cost of admission
PORTSMOUTH — The Portsmouth Historical Society is now a proud member of the Museums For All Community, providing free admission to its historic John Paul Jones House and its Welcome Center and Galleries to qualified individuals.
Museums for All is a signature access program of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), administered by the Association of Children’s Museums (ACM), to encourage people of all backgrounds to visit museums regularly and build lifelong museum-going habits. The program supports those receiving food assistance (SNAP) by offering free admission with the presentation of a SNAP Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card. Discounted admission on all walking tours will also be offered. Similar free and reduced admission is available to eligible members of the public at more than 850 museums across the country.
In addition to Museums for All, the Portsmouth Historical Society has long been a part of Blue Star Museums, a program offering free admission to active duty military personnel and their families between Armed Forces Day, May 30, through Labor Day, Sept. 4.
Portsmouth residents will now receive discounted admission to the Society’s historic sites and all walking tours. As Portsmouth celebrates its 400th anniversary the Society invites all residents to discover more about their city’s past, make connections to its present, and contribute their personal experiences to the 2023 exhibitions and events.
The 2023 season at Portsmouth Historical Society celebrates the 400th anniversary of European settlement in Portsmouth with the exhibition “A Sense of Place” featuring objects that have made Portsmouth home to so many over the past 400-plus years and the exhibition Reinventing Portsmouth” which examines the urban development of downtown Portsmouth in the 1970s that shaped much of modern Portsmouth.
To learn more about the Portsmouth Historical Society’s 2023 exhibitions and admission rates, please call 603-436-8433 or visit www.portsmouthhistory.org.
Garrison Players Arts Center presents ‘The Humans’
ROLLINSFORD — Erik Blake gathers three generations of his Pennsylvania family to celebrate Thanksgiving at his daughter's pre-war apartment in lower Manhattan. The Humans tells the story of the classic family reunion: a group of people who love each other but still wrestle with basic human fears. As darkness falls outside the crumbling building, mysterious things start to go bump in the night and family tensions reach a boiling point and the group's deepest fears become apparent.
In 2016, “The Humans” deservedly earned the Tony Award for Best Play, and Garrison Players' version is a terrific production featuring a slate of talented actors. Playwright Stephen Karam's brilliantly-crafted dialogue could be lifted from any family dinner at any time...and through it, each audience member will recognize all that is good and true and beautiful about family life -- even when challenges arise. Above all, “The Humans” is a sometimes dark yet ultimately joyful celebration of what "family" truly means.
Performance dates are April 14, 15, 21, 22 at 7:30 p.m.; April 15, 16, 22, 23 at 2 p.m. at Garrison Players Arts Center, Corner of Roberts Road and Portland Ave (Route 4), Rollinsford. Tickets are $20. www.garrisonplayers.org. Some mature themes and language.
Handel and Haydn Society coming to Portsmouth
PORTSMOUTH — Boston's acclaimed Handel and Haydn Society is coming April 27 to Portsmouth to celebrate the city's 400th.
This program of music by Bach, Vivaldi and others will feature concertmaster Aisslinn Nosky, principal flute Emi Ferguson and principal keyboardist Ian Watson.
Handel and Haydn has been captivating audiences for 208 consecutive seasons, the most of any performing arts organization in the United States, speaking to its singular success at converting new audiences to this extraordinary music, generation after generation.
The concert at Portsmouth's St. John's Episcopal Church is at 7 p.m. It is cosponsored by the Portsmouth Athenaeum and free to all. A donation at the door of $30 per person, or $10 per student, would be greatly appreciated.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Exhibits, galleries, theater and more: Seacoast arts and culture news
