February 11^th AHA! Night
Carnevale
 
Join us for the February AHA! Night as we celebrate Carnevale in Downtown New Bedford. What better way to lose your winter blues than with some merriment, shopping, good food, and local art? Give yourself a pre-Valentine’s Day pick-me-up with AHA!’s great programs, new art exhibitions, or a special treat from one of our many unique boutiques and galleries. There will also be programs to mark February as Black History Month and National Poetry Month.

Dance to the Latin Roots Rock of our February sponsors Santa Mamba at the Ginger Grill (778 Purchase Street), 7-9pm. Plus Photographic Prints by Troy Booker.

Carnevale Cabaret featuring CHIFFORBE!! Kids of all ages will be wowed by the likes of 1920s tap sensation Kristen Minsky; juggler, singer & vaudeville vagabond Howie Laurence; DIVINO the Magician (former Bozo the Clown---how cool is that?) & his lovely assistant Sheila, accordionist extraordinaire Juxo; puppeteer Jeanne DelGiudice & reptile wrangler Bwana Iguana. in the Bristol Builidng hallway (752 Purchase Street), showtimes: 7 & 9pm. Presented by the Pour Farm Tavern, mediumstudio & AHA! After 9.

Ice Skating in Wing's Court! Strap on your skates & show off your moves, 5-9pm. Also enjoy music, hot coco from On a Roll & popcorn from Artificial Marketplace. Ice skates required to be on the ice.

Carnevale Photo Booth! Stop by the Green Bean (740 Purchase Street) for a cup of coffee or a sweet treat. While you're there step into the Carnevale Photo Booth for a fun & funky photo op!

Cummings Building Artist Studios (96 William Street, upstairs) – Come celebrate Carneval with the Cummings Building Artists! Make a carnival mask, 5-6pm & listen to live Steel Drum Music, 7-8pm.  Featured Artist of the Evening: Recent Carnival Paintings by Trinidadian Artist, Alison Wells. Browse the gallery & speak with the artists.

The Toe Jam Puppet Band brings a party with them where ever they go! Check out these local favorite who are loved by kids of ALL ages. 6:30pm in Jacobs Family Gallery, New Bedford Whaling Museum (18 Johnny Cake Hill).

'O CARNAVAL de Brasil' at Cork wine & tapas (90 Front Street) Stop by & enjoy Brazilian music, carnaval inspired 'street food', fresh fruit Caipirinha Bar, complimentary masks & beads. The party starts at 6pm.

New Bedford Art Museum (608 Pleasant Street) Last chance to enjoy “Disparate Dialogue: A Roger Kizik Retrospective”, Kimberly Witham: Transcendence & the 15th Annual ArtMOBILE Children’s Exhibit “marine: of or relating to the sea”on AHA! Night. Tonight: Paint Along with Roger, 6:30-8pm. Each artist gets an original Kizik paint stroke to start them off---the rest is up to you! NBAM will supply all materials. Also enjoy the musical stylings of Clockwise Duo!

Pilgrim United Church (635 Purchase Street) Poetry and music to celebrate National Poetry Month!  Original poetry readings from the Bartleby Scrivener Poetry Group along with musical interludes by Rick Munroe. 6:30-8:30pm in the church home.   
 
Seamen’s Bethel (15 Johnny Cake Hill) – Abby and Ruth, the 19th century ladies from New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, will be discussing the moral conundrum between abolitionism and the Fugitive Slave Law, 6-8pm.

Celebrate Carnevale with music, food (including a cake tasting!), and various weddings vendors who will showcase their work and talent at Sound Xplosion (761 Purchase Street) & Lumina Images.

New Bedford Public Library (613 Pleasant Street)  A meeting of the Friends of the New Bedford Free Public Library, 6:30pm.  Lecture: Whalemen for the Pacific, Cholera and Mr. Congdon with Paul Cyr. 7pm, third floor meeting room.

Visit Calico (173 Union Street) for a pre-Valentine’s Day trunk show with stationary designer, Heather Toupin. Shop Heather’s handprinted cards, delish sweets from Savoy Truffle, and Calico’s fab gift selection for the perfect Valentine surprise! (PSST! Boys, don’t be shy! We’ll help you find something she’ll LOVE!) Complimentary gift-wrapping available.

New Bedford Whaling Museum (18 Johnny Cake Hill) –The Irish Lecture Series continues with Don Cuddy’s Sailing into History. 8pm in the Museum Theater.
Don Cuddy, a native of Dublin, is a staff writer at the Standard-Times. In 2003, combining a strong love of the sea with his interest in Irish history, Don joined the crew of the Irish Tall Ship, Jeanie Johnston, on its return voyage to Ireland departing form St. John's, Newfoundland. The ship was built to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the famine which drove two million people from their homes.

Artist of the Month, Elin Noble will speak about her textile work at UMass Dartmouth CVPA at the Star Store (715 Purchase Street), 7:30pm.

Artworks! (384 Acushnet Avenue) Artist’s Talk: One Artist’s Journey with Sandra Krupp 6:30-7pm in the Main Gallery.

TL6 the Gallery (100 William Street) Mask by Chuck Hauck, beading demonstrations plus discounts on all Tenacious Lilly beaded jewelry---can you say Valentine's gifts?

The Working Waterfront Festival presents a talk about its recently released book, VOICES FROM THE WATERFRONT at the Rotch-Jones- Duff House and Garden Museum (396 County Street). 6:30pm followed by a book signing.

Ocean Explorium  (148 Union Street) Open to the public with new adventures on the Sphere, fish-faced mask-making and other activities to celebrate Carnevale under the sea.

“Two if by Sea” pre-Valentine’s dinner at the Waterfront Grille (36 Homer’s Wharf). Enjoy a 5 course dinner paired with 2 wines, 6:30pm. Accepting reservations through Saturday, February 6th.

The First Unitarian Church in New Bedford (corner of Union and Eighth Streets) continues it’s AHA! Classical Music Series! The February featured artist is pianist Yukiko Sekino. Sekino is 2006 Gold Medalist of the  International Russian Music Piano Competition. Her program for this concert will include Mozart’s Sonata in C major, K. 309, several preludes from Op. 11 by Scriabin and Symphonic Etudes Op. 13 by Robert Schumann.

New Exhibitions

Artworks! (384 Acushnet Avenue) From the Inside Art: Tapping into the Creative Spirit in the Main Gallery. Teen Mural Historical Artists Exhibit in the Community Gallery.

Colo Colo Gallery (25 Centre Street) A one-man show featuring David Baggarly in CRUX.

UMass Dartmouth CVPA @ the Star Store (715 Purchase Street) Intimate Apparel: Twenty-Two Female Artists Responding to the Call for a Merkin Art Piece.

Crowell's Fine Art Gallery (382 Acushnet Avenue) presents Winter Light: Recent Paintings by Stephen Remick  Remick brings the beauty of winter to light in his most recent paintings. Through his strong sense of color Stephen articulates the quite moments of winter with warmth and emotion. The result brings the serenity and joy of a New England Winter to the canvas. Stephen Remick graduated from the Swain School of Design with a BFA in Painting.

Stop by the Gallery for a Winter Warmer. Enjoy cider, tasty treats & talk with the artist who will be on hand to discuss his work & process.

Salon Lola (165 Union Street) InExhaustible Wealth: works by Kat Cope. Plus make an appointment for a $20 shine, resurfacing, or moisturizing treatment OR a $30 temporary Keratin treatment. In fact why not make appointments for all of them? You are SO worth it.

Second Story Studio and Gallery  (98 William Street) An exhibition of digital art photographs, by Ben Suarez, of the Afro-Cuban All Stars concert which took place at the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center last year. Plus recent watercolors related to Latin music. Stop by and meet the artist.

Gallery X (William Street) Sex at the X: an erotic art show. Sex at the X returns to warm up your winter! This erotic art show made quite a splash when it premiered 2 years ago. This show gives artists the opportunity to display work exploring the many ways we experience that connecting pleasure and eternal mystery that is central to being human. Juried by Robert Siegelman and curated by Melanie Ducharme. Adult content, viewer discretion advised.

Judith Klein Art Gallery (752 Purchase Street) Amore: There’s Something About Love. A group show featuring 8 artists.

AHA! DOESN’T END AT 9PM! ENJOY ENTERTAINMENT & FOOD AT AHA! PARTNER RESTAURANTS. Click Here!

GENERAL INFORMATION
All activities are FREE and open to the public. Year-round programming is funded in part by the Mass Cultural Council's John and Abigail Adams Arts Program, The Island Foundation, The City of New Bedford, the AHA! partners, individual supporters and in-kind marketing support from the Standard-Times and WBSM. For more information call 508-996-8253 x205 

First time visitors may want to start AHA! Night at the National Park Visitor Center (33 William Street). Complete program flyers with maps are also available at all AHA! venues starting the Tuesday prior to each event.

Directions: From I-195 E or W. Take Exit 15 (Rte. 18). Follow Rte 18 to 2nd traffic signal; take a right onto Union St. At the first traffic signal take a right onto Second Street and take your first left for parking in Custom House Square or continue on two blocks to the Elm Street garage. On-street parking also available for free after 6 pm.

AHA! At-A-GLANCE
Our 2010 Calendar of dates and themes!