Dear Friends,

Please check out the recent news below from the Lexington Council for the Arts (LCA).

Let's Laugh

Come join us on Saturday, January 14, 2023 at 7:00 pm for a comedy show featuring nationally famous comedian Mark Scalia. The venue will be the Lexington Depot (13 Depot Square). Admission is FREE. Seating is limited, so it is recommended that you reserve a seat at https://www.lexartscouncil.org/ More details below.

Munroe Center for the Arts Hopes to Get a Lift!

Cristina Burwell, Executive Director at the Munroe Center for the Arts, has joyfully announced that the Community Preservation Committee has approved putting the Munroe elevator project on this coming year's Warrant for Town Meeting. This project aims to bring the Munroe Town-owned building into the 21st century by creating access to all three floors with an elevator, providing wheelchair accessible and gender- neutral restrooms, and updating heating and ventilation (of the existing and very precarious antique boiler).

The CPC oversees Community Preservation Act (CPA) monies, which is a fund collected from Lexington real estate taxes each year. This committee recommends projects to be approved by Town Meeting members at their annual meeting in March.

The mission of the Munroe Center for the Arts is to inspire, engage, and nurture the community in their creative explorations. This project helps to ensure that all of Munroe's residents, neighbors, and visitors have the same opportunity to enjoy the benefits that the community arts center has to offer.

Artist rendition of the Munroe accessibility project

Establishing a Lexington Cultural District

Fortunately, the state believes that culture is essential to the health and vitality of the Commonwealth. As part of this belief, it launched Cultural Districts to drive economic growth, strengthen our distinctive local character, and improve the quality of life of families across Massachusetts. By supporting arts, humanities, and science organizations, Cultural Districts attract tourists and entrepreneurs, which, in turn, help communities foster their cultural sector and expand their tax base. That benefits everyone!

The Town of Lexington wishes to establish a local Cultural District to spur economic, artistic and tourism growth and to provide a focal point. The Town has been pursuing this designation for two years.

Margaret Coppe, Tourism Committee member, and our own Steve Poltorzycki, Lexington Council for the Arts Chair, led the process, along with Town Economic Development Department staff (Sandhya Iyer and Casey Hagerty), and worked with approximately 70 stakeholders. When the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) visited recently, they were provided with an overview of the proposed district, which would run from Hastings Park, down Massachusetts Ave. to the Stone Building and Follen Church at Pleasant Street. It will include nearly 50 cultural assets, ranging from historic buildings and sites, to art centers and galleries, to the Chinese New Year festivities, to Lexington Farmers Market.

The MCC decision on Lexington Cultural District designation is expected this spring. If Lexington receives this designation, it will be eligible for yearly grants from MCC. Such grants would spur collaboration between different entities, spur tourism, and encourage all to enjoy a range of cultural interests.

Proposed Lexington Cultural District map

Have You Seen?

Lexington’s Buckman Tavern has this fascinating exhibition of historical textiles from its collection ranging from mid-18th century to the 1960s. Nine contemporary textile artists are featured: Merill Comeau, Carson Fox, Ania Gilmore, Sandra Golbert, Carolyn Halliday, Gyöngy Laky, Adrienne Sloane, Kathryn Stanko and Darlene Wigton. Part of a new initiative, “Contemporary Meets Colonial,” this exhibit marks the first time the Society integrates contemporary art into the period rooms of Buckman Tavern.

Hair Filigree by Carson Fox

UPCOMING EVENTS

January Events 

38th Almost Miniatures Show at Francesca Anderson Fine Art

January 3- January 28, 2023

Wed-Sat 11 AM – 5 PM, Sunday 12 PM – 5 PM

Portraits North

56 Adams St, Lexington

Crosscurrents Reception & Chinese Cultural Fair

Sunday, January 8, 2023 2-5 PM

Designed for all ages, the event will feature demonstrations, performances and presentations of traditional Chinese art, calligraphy, clothing and music.

Hosted by LexArt

130 Waltham Street, Lexington

Art Reception for Katalin Spang

January 8, 2023 2:00 PM

Cary Memorial Library

Free

Book Chat on The Last Slave Ship: The True Story of How Clotilda Was Found, Her Descendants, and an Extraordinary Reckoning by Ben Raines

Tuesday, January 10, 2023 6:30-8 PM.

The Lexington Depot 

$10 members, $15 nonmembers, $10 Zoom only

Lexington Pops Chorus

January 13 and 14, 2023, at 7:30 pm

Hancock United Church

$5 - $20

Lexington Laughs Comedy Show

Saturday, January 14, 7-8:30 PM.

FREE family-friendly comedy hour for tweens and adults featuring comic Mark Scalia. There is a seat limitation so reserve early.

The Lexington Depot

Free

"Holidays" (Cityscape) Grace Chapel Art Gallery 

Opening Reception January 14, 2023 from 4:00 - 6:00 pm

Exhibit from January 14 - February 25, 2023

Grace Chapel

59 Worthen Rd, Lexington, MA 02421

781-862-6499

artgallery@grace.org

Winter Concert: Lexington Children's Chorus

January 21, 2023 3:00 pm

Follen Church

755 Massachusetts Ave, Lexington, MA 02420

Free

Chinese Lunar New Year Celebration

Sunday January 22, 2023

5-6:30 PM: A cross-cultural New Year fair (including food)

6:30 - 8 PM: Performances (including dance)

Cary Hall

Sunday February 5, 2023

Lantern Festival

The Lexington Depot

Take a Shot Trivia Contest

Thursday, January 26, 2023 6:00 - 8:00 PM

Lexington Historical Society trivia contest.

$30 per person in teams of 2, 4, or 6. Teams of up to 6 people are encouraged, and single players may choose to play alone or be grouped with others. Further information on gameplay will be sent upon registration.

Handel and Haydn Society: Enterprise Bank Concert Series

January 28, 2023 at 8:00 pm

Cary Hall

$29 - $69

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 2022-2023

Jessie Chen

Lisa Hebert

Marie-Aude Hewes

David Hoose

Shalini Kakar

Claudia Lach

Stephen Poltorzycki

Ashley Rooney

Anwell Tsai

Douglas Urban

Elizabeth Xu