Dear Friends,

“Now that fall has come,” Steve Poltorzycki, the chair of the committee, says, “the Lexington Council for the Arts (LCA), a Town of Lexington Committee, is back at work full time. Not only do we have some funds to award to artists and cultural groups, but we also have our own programs to design and develop. It is most exciting.”

Check out the news below.

OCTOBER 17, 2022 DEADLINE FOR LOCAL CULTURAL COUNCIL GRANT APPLICATIONS

The Lexington Council for the Arts (LCA) will be awarding grants for community-based arts & culture projects. The deadline for applications is October 17, 2022. Applications must be submitted online through the Massachusetts Cultural Council website. Late applications will not be accepted. For more information see the grants page on LCA's website.

STOREFRONT POETRY: NEIGHBORHOOD HAIKU CELEBRATION

This summer Lexington celebrated Neighborhood Haiku, a public art project that brought original poetry to Lexington storefront windows. Community members and others created and submitted over 200 haiku poems. A jury expert in haiku poetry selected 35 of these poems to be hand-painted on storefront windows in Lexington Center and East Lexington. The celebration featured live music by Betty's Bounce, a jazz trio performing American and Gypsy Jazz, community members reading their haiku poems.

DISCOVERY DAY

The Lexington Council for the Arts was proud to take part in Discovery Day, Lexington's street fair held on October 8th on Massachusetts Avenue in Town center. It was a family friendly day of music, entertainment, food, and fun. LCA shared some of its public art accomplishments (painted utility boxes, decorated recycled doors along the Bikeway, and the Neighborhood Haiku project), engaged community members in discussions about arts and culture in Town, and provided kids with an opportunity to express their creative sides by decorating greeting cards and crafting tissue paper flowers.

LCA members Lisa Hebert and Steve Poltorzycki at LCA's Discovery Day booth

UPCOMING PROJECTS

Dance Around the World

Dance Around the World (DAW) is a festive exploration of the many cultures represented in and around Lexington. This event will bring different cultural groups together, creating new ties with each other, as they display an impressive range of dance and music styles.  The Lexington Council for the Arts (LCA) will cosponsor this free event with the Town Celebrations Committee (TCC) on Saturday, March 18, 2023 at Lexington High School Gymnasium.

The chairs for Dance Around the World are Elizabeth (Elsie) Xu and Sudha Balasuryan.

Elizabeth points out that “The audience will have a whirlwind tour of some of the most iconic dance styles in the world. Music and dance are languages common to everyone who loves life."

Currently, we have two Chinese, two Indian, one Korean, and one Tap dance group signed up. Several others are looking at their schedules.

For more information contact: Elsie Xu: elizabethw.xu@gmail.com or Sudha Balasuryan: yesb66@gmail.com.

Fairy Homes and Gardens: Lexington

Fairy houses are small, whimsical outdoor dwellings for fairies to live in, ranging from simple houses made from natural materials to elaborate mansions made of metal or resin. Last June, we had fairy houses sprinkled throughout Lexington. This coming year (2023) we hope to have even more, including some artistic creations along our bike path.

The Lexington Council of Arts is proposing that, once again, organizations, groups, and individuals draw on their different talents, using the various outdoor areas in Lexington to hold a spring weekend fairy-themed event called Fairy Homes and Gardens: Lexington.

In addition, in 2023, we plan to contract with approximately 10 artists to build fairy houses that will be installed in trees along the Minuteman Bikeway. Why fairy houses? “Fairy houses,” said resident and fairy house author Ashley Rooney, ”not only represent the enchanting power of nature, but they’re likely to stimulate people’s curiosity about the environment around them. It’s a great way to wean us from our computers and phones.”

Lexington Porchfest

Porchfest music festivals are a means for neighbors and local community members to highlight their music on neighborhood front porches, yards, or decks and to create a sense of community. Bands, singers, and instrumentalists participate in the festival so to showcase their talents and engage the community. The music ranges from jazz to classical to R&R to reggae. Residents volunteer their "porches" as a way to support the local musical and cultural scene develop a sense of community with their neighbors.

Violinist and LCA committee member, Anwell Tsai, says, “This is an exciting opportunity for musicians to make meaningful connections with people thirsty for music.”

LCA is currently in the planning phase for the project. LCA's role will be to facilitate the event by selecting appropriate dates, identifying porches and musicians, and publicizing the event. We will look for amateur or professional bands, student bands, singing groups, indeed performers of all colors and stripes.

We currently on the hunt for a Lexington neighborhood that might have 10 to 15 "porches" that could be available to host a total of about 15 to 20 bands. Each porch would be expected to host one or two bands. Because Porchfests are usually events in which people walk, bicycle or wheelchair from one porch to another, it would be good if the neighborhood were one that is not too spread out. If you would like to "volunteer" your neighborhood, please contact us at lexingtonarts@gmail.com.

UPCOMING EVENTS

October Events 

One Man Show and Retrospective: Francesca Anderson Fine Art Gallery

October 5 - November 12, 2022

56 Adams St, Lexington, MA

781-860-0660

​Familiar / Impossible - Surreal Images of Woman by Cynthia Brody: MCA Gallery

Munroe Center for the Arts

1403 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington MA 02420 

781-862-6040

office@munroecenter.org

Panel Discussion with Horror Writers SA Barnes, Christopher Golden, and Ann Heltzel

October 11 at 7:00 pm Virtually. Hosted by Cary Library

Free. Registration needed

Cronin Lecture: Past the Cemetery Gate with the Gravestone Girls: Lexington Historical Society

October 13 at 7:00 pm in The Depot

Free

Reflecting the Self Through Image and Memories with Sung Ji Lee: Lexington Community Education.

October 13, 2022 at 7:00 pm in the Lexington High School

$15. Register here.

Voices on the Green - Live Music and Storytelling

October 14, 2022 at 7:00 pm at First Parish Church

7 Harrington Rd, Lexington MA 02421

$10-20. 

​Art Walk 2022 Artists Reception

October 14 at 5:30 - 7:30 

13 Depot Square

Lexington, MA 02420 

​Free. Register here.

"By The Water" (Floating) Grace Chapel Art Gallery 

September 17 - October 29, 2022 in Grace Chapel

59 Worthen Rd, Lexington, MA 02421

781-862-6499

artgallery@grace.org

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Youthful Discoveries: Lexington Symphony

October 15, 2022 at 7:30 pm in Cary Hall

$15 - $65

Harvard Fest

October 15, 2022 at 11:00 am in the Lexington Community Center.

$5

​Craft Fair

October 15, 2022 from 9:00 - 2:00 pm at the Lexington High School

251 Waltham St, Lexington, MA 02421

Gallery Party: Francesca Anderson Fine Art

October 15, 2022 3:00 pm

56 Adams St, Lexington, MA

781-860-0660

Croce Plays Croce: American folk singer: Enterprise Bank Concert Series

October 16, 2022 at 7:00 pm in Cary Hall

​$39 - $ 79

Expressive Art: Emotional Landscape with Watercolors

October 17, 2022 at 10:00 am in the Lexington Community Center.

​Free

Paranormal Investigation: Lexington Historical Society

October 20, 2022 at 7:30 pm in the Hancock-Clarke House

October 21, 2022 at 7:30 in the Munroe Tavern

October 22, 2022 at 9:00 am in Buckman Tavern

$30 - $40 per house.$80 - $100 for all three.

Before Coltrane: Great Jazz Tenor Saxophonists by Dr. Lewis Porter:

Lexington Community Education

October 23, 2022 at 3:00 pm on ZOOM (Virtual)

$20. Register here.

40th Anniversary Founders Fund Concert: SNAP's Sing Along Chorus

October 23, 2022 at 3:00 pm in the Scottish Rite Museum

33 Marrett Road, Lexington MA

$30

Nature Photography with Dave Ewing

October 24, 2022 at 7:00 pm Virtually. Hosted by Cary Library

Free. Registration needed. 

Southeast Asian Heritage Author Panel with Piper J. Drake, Mia Manansala, and Sarah Echavarr

October 25, 2022 at 8:00 pm Virtually. Hosted by Cary Library

Free. Registration needed.

The Pen and the Trowel with Marta McDowell: Lexington Community Education.

October 27, 2022 at 7:00 in the Lexington Depot

13 Depot Square, Lexington MA

$15. Register here.

Painting Demonstration by Maris: Francesca Anderson Fine Ar Gallery

October 29, 2022 from 1-4 pm

56 Adams St, Lexington, MA

781-860-0660

Ghosts & Graves: Lexington Historical Society

October 29 and 30, 2022

$6 - $15

Wedding of the Fishes: A demonstration of Midnapur Patachitra with Artists from West Bengal

October 29, 2022 at 11:00 am Virtually. Hosted by Cary Library.

Free. Registration needed. 

November Events 

Frederick Law Olmstead

​November 3, 2022 at 7:00 pm Virtually. Hosted by Cary Library.

Free. Registration needed. 

The 9th Annual Art Exhibit of the Korean Cultural Society of Boston: Lex Art: Rejuvenation

November 5 - 19 at Lex Art.

​Free

English and American Part-songs: The Master Singers of Lexington

November 5, 2022 at 8:00 pm in Pilgrim Church in Lexington

$20 - $25

Fall Concert: Traditions by the MetWinds

November 6, 2022 at 3:00 pm at the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum

$6 - $18 

Rutter's Requiem and Orchestral Works by the First Parish Festival Choir

November 6, 2022 at 7:00 pm in the First Parish in Lexington Church

Free. Donations will be taken. 

Adventures in Sports and Travel Writing with Tom Coyne

​November 9, 2022 at 7:00 pm Virtually. Hosted by Cary Library.

Free. Registration needed. 

Nathan Carter: Irish Singer Songwriter: Enterprise Bank Concert Series

November 10, 2022 at 8:00 pm in Cary Hall

$39 - $79

Fall Jazz Festival Performance: Nadie Noordhuis with the LPS middle and high school Jazz ensembles

November 11, 2022 at 7:00 pm in the Gillespie Auditorium in the Lexington High School

$5 - $10. 

Paola Cole & Sophie B. Hawkins platinum-selling Grammy nominated Singers: Enterprise Bank Concert Series

November 12, 2022 at 8:00 pm in Cary Hall

$39 - $69

"Holidays" (Celebrate) Grace Chapel Art Gallery 

Opening Reception November 12, 2022 from 4:00 - 6:00 pm in Grace Chapel

Exhibit from November 12 - January 2, 2023

59 Worthen Rd, Lexington, MA 02421

781-862-6499

artgallery@grace.org

The Inextinguishable Voice: Lexington Symphony

​November 19, 2022 at 7:30 pm in Cary Hall

$15 - $65

"His dear nightingale..." Piano Trios with Clarinet: ​Sarasa Ensemble

November 20, 2022 at 3:30 pm in Follen Church

755 Massachusetts Ave, Lexington MA 02420

$10 - $25.

Nature Photography with David Ewing

​November 21, 2022 at 7:00 pm Virtually. Hosted by Cary Library.

Free. Registration needed.

About the Lexington Council for the Arts

 The Lexington Council for the Arts administers State Funds by soliciting and evaluating applications for funding from eligible recipients, distributing the funds, and ensuring that they are properly used. Applications may be in the arts, humanities, or interpretive sciences.

The Council also undertakes projects intended to further the appreciation and support of the arts in Lexington.

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Lexington is one of the Commonwealth’s 329 Local Cultural Councils partnered with the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC), a state agency with annual appropriations from the legislature.

For more information visit us at www.lexartscouncil.org.

Lexington Council for the Arts Committee Members 2021-2022

Jessie Chen

Lisa Hebert

Marie-Aude Hewes

David Hoose

Shalini Kakar

Stephen Poltorzycki

Ashley Rooney

Melissa Talal

Anwell Tsai

Jillian Tung

Douglas Urban