What’s Happening In Amherst?

You can help us make our events calendar more useful by sending us your listings and including contact information and/or a link for more information. Send events listings to amherstindy@gmail.com.

IN PERSON ONGOING OR MULTI-DAY EVENTS

EVERY THURSDAY AND FRIDAY: FREE COVID VACCINE CLINICS. The Health Department has resumed its vaccine clinics at the Bangs Community Center, 70 Boltwood Walk from 12-2 p.m. on Thursdays. All residents, ages 12 and up who have not had a vaccine or booster in the past two months are eligible for and urged to get the new bivalent vaccines, which offer protection against the omicron variant of Covid-19. Registration for appointments is at https://www.amherstcovid19.org/vaccine . Walk-ins are also welcome.

UMass is offering bivalent Covid vaccines for ages 12 and older in Room 101 at the Campus Center on Thursdays from 12-4 p.m. and Fridays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and for those 12 and younger on Thursdays from 4-5:30 p.m. Appointments https://umass.my.site.com/covidtesting/s/vaccination  are recommended but not essential. To find other sites offering the bivalent vaccine, go to https://vaxfinder.mass.gov/ .

EVERY WEDNESDAY BEGINNING NOVEMBER 30: CAN’T REMEMBER CAFE. Bangs Community Center, 70 Boltwood Walk. 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Are you or a loved one experiencing memory loss? At the Amherst Senior Center, we understand memory changes and have developed a new program based on the popular Memory Café format. The Can’t Remember (CR) Café offers fun, relaxation, and of course, snacks. This program is perfect for caregivers, people with mild memory loss, or anyone in the community who enjoys good conversation and strong coffee. Each Can’t Remember Café opens with a coffee and conversation hour, followed by a group activity. Join us on Wednesday, November 30th for a performance by our special musical guests, “Healing Hearts with Harmony” at 11:00am. Come for the coffee, stay for the connections! Email seniorcenter@amherstma.gov or call 413-259-3060 with questions. 

SECOND TUESDAY OF EVERY MONTH: OPEN MIC NIGHT AT THE DRAKE. 44 North Pleasant Street. Free event. Performers arrive by 5:30 p.m. Stage time: 6 p.m – 10 p.m. All ages. Younger performers will be slotted earler. All performers and styles of performances welcome, including but not limited to: music (of all kinds) – acoustic, folk, rock, hip hop, jazz, classical, etc…comedy, spoken word / readings, poetry,
dance, performance art. House rules and more information.

LAST FRIDAY OF EVERY MONTH : LAST FRIDAYS AT THE DRAKE POETRY SERIES HOSTED BY LYRICAL FAITH. 44 North Pleasant Street. Join us every last Friday of the month* for Last Fridays at The Drake hosted by Lyrical Faith for an unforgettable open mic and poetry night experience featuring award-winning spoken word artists from across the country. Come through for music, drinks, and artistic expression where poets take center stage to share new work, old work, or any work that helps them get free. Doors and bar open at 5PM. Early arrival is encouraged to get a slot on the sign-up sheet. The cover charge is $5 with a college ID or $10 general admission. More Information. Full Events Calendar at the Drake.

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 19- WEDNESDAY APRIL 3: FEINBERG LECTURE SERIES ON US IMPERIALISM – CONFRONTING EMPIRE. Events are online or hybrid. This free public lecture series brings together scholars, journalists, educators, writers, community organizers, and survivors of state violence to examine global histories of U.S. imperialism and anti-imperialist resistance.The series traces the history of U.S. imperialism from the conquest of North America to the creation of an overseas empire in the late 19th century and to the present day. It also offers a critical historical analysis of the various traditions and movements that have opposed U.S. empire, including Black radicalism, Marxism, revolutionary feminism, armed struggle, international solidarity, pacifism, and liberal, electoral, and diplomatic activism.  The series kicks off Monday, September 19 for the Keynote Address, US Policy In the Global South by Nobel Peace Laureate Dr. Rigoberta Menchú Tum, joined by journalists Vincent Bevins anAmy Goodman. 7 p.m. on Zoom.
Register here.
Full listing of series events and more information

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 30 -SUNDAY MAY 14: 60 YEARS OF COLLECTING -AN ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION CELEBRATING THE UNIVERSITY MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART PERMANENT COLLECTION. Bottom Floor of the UMass Fine Arts Center. Look here for gallery hours and additional information. Free. The exhibit can be viewed on line here.

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 3 -WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30: A LOOK THROUGH TWO LENSES AT GALLERY A3. Two artists toggle between representation and abstraction in photographs from Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod on exhibit at Gallery A3 in November. Gallery A3 is located at 28 Amity Steet 1D. Hours are 2:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. Thursday-Sunday. Masking and social distancing are required. There will be a free online art forum (see below) on Thursday November 17 at 7:30 p.m. More information

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21 THROUGH MONDAY DECEMBER 19: AMHERST POLICE DEPARTMENT HOLIDAY GIFT DRIVE. The APD will be collecting unwrapped toys, books, clothing, gift cards, and wrapping supplies to be distributed to the Amherst Survival Center, Jessie’s House, and the Bridge Family Resources Center for the holidays. Donations should be brought to the police station at 111 Main Street. For more information, contact Detective Marcus Humber at 413-259-3355 or humberm@amherstma.gov.

FRIDAY DECEMBER 2 THROUGH FRIDAY DECEMBER 30: ANNUAL HOLIDAY SHOW AND SALE AT GALLERY A3. Gallery A3 at 28 Amity Street, will hold its annual holiday group show and sale from December 2 through December 30. Intimate, enticing, in-person, affordable, and fun, the show and sale “Small Wonders” features small works of art created by current members of the cooperative gallery, plus several guest artists.  Most of the original artwork is created on 6” x 6” or 5” x 7” wood panels and includes paintings, prints, photographs, collages, and assemblages. In an effort to make pieces affordable, prices range $50 to $150.  Hours are 2 p.m.-7 p.m. Thursday-Sunday. Masking and social distancing are required. More information

IN PERSON SINGLE DAY EVENTS

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 29: TENOR SAXOPHONIST HOUSTON PERSON. 7 p.m.at the Drake, 44 North Pleasant Street. Tix $10. Students $5. A special presentation of the Northampton Jazz Workshop featuring two sets of Person with the Green Street Trio. With his robust sound and swinging style, tenor saxophonist Houston Person has kept the hard bop and organ-soaked soul-jazz traditions alive. Emerging from organist Johnny “Hammond” Smith‘s group, Person established his reputation as one of the Big Boss tenors in the Gene Ammons style with albums like 1968’s Blue Odyssey, 1969’s Goodness!, and 1970’s Person to Person! More Information and the full November calendar at the Drake.

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30: AMHERST MEDIA’S JEAN HAGGERTY AWARD PRESENTATION AND RECEPTION AND 47TH ANNUAL MEETING. August Savage Gallery New Africa House, 180 Infirmary Way, UMass Campus. 6:30-8:30 p.m. Members of Amherst’s Community Safety Working Group will be honored for spearheading Amherst’s creation of departments focused on promoting diversity and equity, and establishing an unarmed alternative to police. The gallery is currently exhibiting the Social Justice Collaboration Quilts Project, a creative expression for incarcerated and formally incarcerated artists.

FRIDAY DECEMBER 2: TECH TIME FOR SENIORS. Amherst Senior Center at the Bangs Community Center, 70 Boltwood Walk. 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Help with your electronic devices provided by UMass computer science students. Bring your devices (phones, tablets, laptops) and questions. Call the Senior Center at 413-549-3060 to reserve a time.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2: LIGHTING OF THE NEW MERRY MAPLE. 3-7 p.m. on the North Common. The Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce and the Business Improvement District are sponsoring the lighting of the Merry Maple on December 2. Because the large tree that was used for the ceremony most years from 1966 until last year will be cut down this month because of disease , a smaller tree will be lit this year. This “mini Merry Maple” was used for the annual festivities from 1995 to 2015 because the original tree was deemed to be too large. Cider and doughnuts will be served at the tree lighting. The UMass Minutemen Marching Band will be escorted down North Pleasant Street by Santa Claus, and the Middle School chorus will also perform. In addition, the fire station will hold an open house and the Amherst History Museum will host Santa Claus.

SATURDAY DECEMBER 3: EVENT COMMEMORATING ANTI-CASTE LEADER DR. B.R. AMBEDKAR. New Africa House, 180 Infirmary Way, UMass. 4-6 p.m. Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was a leader of the Dalits (outcastes or Scheduled Castes, formerly called untouchables) and law minister of the government of India (1947–51). He  challenged Mahatma Gandhi’s claim to speak for Dalits (or Harijans—“Children of God”—as Gandhi called them). After Independence from British rule in 1947, Dr. Ambedkar became the law minister of the government of India. He took a leading part in the framing of the Indian constitution, outlawing discrimination against untouchables. In October 1956, in frustration at the perpetuation of untouchability in Hindu doctrine, he renounced Hinduism and became a Buddhist, together with about 200,000 fellow Dalits. Hosted by the Boston Study Group
For more information: contactus@bostonstudygroup.org

SATURDAY DECEMBER 3: AUTHOR KEN SAMONDS AT THE ST. NICHOLAS BAZAAR: Grace
Episcopal Church, 14 Boltwood Avenue. 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Samonds will be selling and signing his new book about the historic of stained glass windows at Grace Church. More information about the bazaar.

SUNDAY DECEMBER 4: AUTHOR KEN SAMONDS WILL GIVE A TALK ON THE HISTORIC STAINED GLASS WINDOWS AT GRACE CHURCH. Grace Episcopal Church, 14 Boltwood Walk. 12:15 p.m. in the sanctuary. The public is invited.

SUNDAY DECEMBER 4: RECEPTION INTRODUCING BACK FROM THE BRINK AND HONORING LEADERSHIP IN THE ANTI-NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION MOVEMENT. The Drake, 44 North Pleasant Street. 5-7 p.m. Please join us as we celebrate the successes of the campaign and look ahead to our plans to scale up and hire a team of professional organizers. More information.

MONDAY DECEMBER 5:SPECIAL COVID VACCINE CLINIC WITH $75 GIFT CARD. The Massachusetts Vaccine Equity Initiative, in collaboration with the Amherst Health Department, is sponsoring a COVID-19 vaccine clinic on Monday December 5, from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Bangs Center, 70 Boltwood Avenue. The clinic is open to everyone from age 6 months and up who needs a first vaccine or booster dose. Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines will be available, including the new Pfizer and Moderna bivalent boosters which offer protection from some of the Omicron variants.The timing of the vaccine clinic will provide protection in time for the end-of-the-year holidays, because it takes about two weeks to develop a full immune response. As a special incentive, the Department of Public Health will award a $75 gift card to everyone who is vaccinated at the clinic. More information

MONDAY DECEMBER 5: UMASS CONCERT BAND. 7:30 P.M. The program, which will be conducted by interim conductor James Minnix, will feature works including Frank Ticheli’s Shenandoah, Vaughan Williams’English Folk Song Suite, Kevin Day’s Song for Tomorrow, Erica Svanoe’s Steampunk Suite and alumnus Jose Blésa-Lull’s Thought for Do.

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 7: UMASS WIND ENSEMBLE AND SYMPHONY BAND. 7:30 p.m. Tillis Performance Hall, Bromery Center for the Performing Arts, 151 Presidents Drive.An ambitious end of year concert. Guest performers will include the Longmeadow (Mass.) High School Wind Ensemble, as part of a day-long visit and clinic led by Matthew Westgate, and Luis Alberto Castro, conductor of the Banda Sinfónica Metropolitana de Quito (BSMQ), a professional wind band in Quito, Ecuador. Free parking for Bromery Center events is available in nearby University lot 71 off Massachusetts Avenue and lot 62 via Thatcher Way or Stockbridge Road.  Visit the Fine Arts Center website for more information or refer to the UMass interactive parking map. All visitors must follow established safety protocols set forth by UMass and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Tix: $10 general public. $5 UMass students, seniors and UMass employees.

THURSDAY DECEMBER 8: TECH TIME FOR SENIORS. Amherst Senior Center at the Bangs Community Center, 70 Boltwood Walk. 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Help with your electronic devices provided by UMass computer science students. Bring your devices (phones, tablets, laptops) and questions. Call the Senior Center at 413-549-3060 to reserve a time.

FRIDAY DECEMBER 9: FROM THE CLEMENTE CLASSROOM: 100-WORD STORIES ON STITCHING TIME. Augusta Savage Gallery. 180 Infirmary Way, UMass. 6 p.m. Free and open to the public. Members of the Clemente Seminar at UMass will read their short stories, written in response to the exhibit Stitching Time and exhibit of quilts made by incarcerated men and addressing racial injustice in American history and celebrating Black creativity, thought and political activism. More information

ONLINE EVENTS – ONGOING OR MULTI-DAY

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 19- WEDNESDAY APRIL 3: Feinberg Lecture Series On US Imperialism: Confronting Empire Events are online or hybrid. This free public lecture series brings together scholars, journalists, educators, writers, community organizers, and survivors of state violence to examine global histories of U.S. imperialism and anti-imperialist resistance.The series traces the history of U.S. imperialism from the conquest of North America to the creation of an overseas empire in the late 19th century and to the present day. It also offers a critical historical analysis of the various traditions and movements that have opposed U.S. empire, including Black radicalism, Marxism, revolutionary feminism, armed struggle, international solidarity, pacifism, and liberal, electoral, and diplomatic activism.  The series kicks off Monday, September 19 for the Keynote Address, US Policy In the Global South by Nobel Peace Laureate Dr. Rigoberta Menchú Tum, joined by journalists Vincent Bevins and Amy Goodman. 7 p.m. on Zoom.
Register here.
Full listing of series events and more information

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 30 -SUNDAY MAY 14. 60 YEARS OF COLLECTING -AN ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION CELEBRATING THE UNIVERSITY MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART PERMANENT COLLECTION. Bottom Floor of the UMass Fine Arts Center. Look here for gallery hours and additional information. Free. The exhibit can be viewed on line here.

ONLINE SINGLE DAY EVENTS

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30: LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS FORUM ON REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS. The League of Women Voters continues its Judy Brooks Conversation Series with a presentation titled  “Framing Reproductive Justice for Today”.  The speakers will be Kate Glynn and Marisa Pizii from the Abortion Rights Fund of Massachusetts.  The forum will be held on Zoom on Wednesday, November 30, from 7-8:00 p.m. .  Go to lwvamherst.org for the Zoom link.  This is a free, community event and everyone is welcome.

THURSDAY DECEMBER 1: PANEL THE LEGACIES OF THE VIETNAM ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT. 7 p.m. on Zoom. This panel discussion will consider the most vibrant, diverse, and sustained antiwar movement in U.S. history. What impact did it have on the conduct and conclusion of the Vietnam War? Does it offer lessons for our own time? Part of the Feinberg Lecture Series. Register for Zoom link / more information.

TUESDAY DECEMBER 6: LEV BENEZRA, UNDERSTANDING AND ADDRESSING FOOD INSECURITY. 7-8 p.m. on Zoom. The League of Women Voters Amherst presents their next presentation in the Judy Brooks Conversation series. Amherst Survival Center Executive Director Lev BenEzra will. discuss food insecurity. Get more information and the Zoom link here.