Arts & Culture all over Boston, for free!

A sample of the free events & activities in July:
July 6 - 28, Shakespeare on the Common.
Friday July 12, 5:30pm, Salsa @ Boston City Hall, also The Proclamation Project 7pm, The Strand Theatre.
Saturday July 13 - 21, Outside the Box Festival 9 days of free music & performing arts at various venues in Boston.
Saturday July 13 & 20, Summer Movie Nights starts 4pm, The Strand Theatre.
Saturday July 13, Caliente: A Celebration of Latin Music 7-9pm, Boston City Hall Plaza.
Sunday July 14, Open Streets on The Avenue of the Arts, 11am-4pm, Huntington Avenue.
Saturday July 26, Berklee Jazz Fest with a Taste of the Caribbean 7:30pm, The Strand Theatre.
Check here for more fun activities!

2012 Dorchester Open Studios

Starting October 19th through the 21st we will have the opportunity to check out & buy amazing locally produced artwork, and meet some local creative types during the 10th annual Dorchester Arts Collaborative's Open Studios event. One of many highlights for me will be to see the Friday night performances in the brand new Black Box Theater at the Codman Square Health and Education Center. Free maps are available at all participating locations, click this link for the Open Studios map!

help Dorchester Arts Collaborative get a kitchen!

In 2012, the Dorchester Arts Collaborative (DAC) celebrates ten years as  Dorchester’s "umbrella arts organization" actively supporting arts and culture in the community with the annual Dorchester-wide Open Studios weekend, creating local partnerships, connecting artists with galleries and patrons, and shepherding the "Sleeping Moon" project at Ashmont Station. Last year DAC broadened their visual arts focus to include performance arts, filmmaking, music, dance, and spoken word. 
DAC launched a Kickstarter campaign September 6, 2012 to install a kitchen in the new Erick Jean Center for the Arts under construction at 157 Washington Street in Dorchester. The 1200 sq. ft. center will house a gallery, classroom and workshop spaces, a performance space with movable stage, the DAC office, a small gift shop - - and a kitchen to support receptions and openings. The Erick Jean Center for the Arts will be the first space completely dedicated to showcasing, promoting, teaching, and enjoying the arts in Dorchester, and a kitchen will help ensure its functionality. 
To help out with a donation of any size, go to Kickstarter before October 6th. UPDATE: they reached their goal early, and are still welcoming additional donations to the project.

"Inside the piano, outside the box" concert

The second season of Greater Boston House Concerts starts Saturday September 15, 2012 with pianist Barbara Lieurance in an exciting salon of music for solo piano "Inside the piano, outside the box" - with compositional tour-de-force "Rhapsodies" by C. Curtis-Smith (the first piece to ever be written for bowed piano) along with a new commission inspired by the Rhapsodies by Canadian composer John Oliver. Other music includes the jazzy Russian virtuosity of Gubaidulina and the beautiful melodies of Brahms. The salon concert will be held at the home of Aaron and Catherine Larget-Caplan, 21 Virginia Street in Dorchester’s Upham’s Corner neighborhood. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Get tickets here. Greater Boston House Concerts presents high quality intimate performances in a salon setting. Each concert is followed by a meet-the-artist reception. Audience members are welcome to bring their own alcoholic beverages and/or contribute to the reception. For more information contact Aaron Larget-Caplan, 617-947-1330, Info@GBHConcerts.com.