ARTIST Raymond Kan is holding traditional Chinese landscapes drawing classes at the Playing Field Studio, 2 Kingsley Street Acton, (corner of Barry Drive) every Saturday morning.

ONE of Kan’s students has written to us enthusiastically in the hope of attracting wider audiences. You can contact him at raykan@tpg.com.au or turn up between 9am and 12 noon on Saturday

SO you want to meet the real Sapphires— Beverly Briggs, Laurel Robinson, and Lois Peeler— and sort out fact from fiction? In a FREE Q&A session at 5:30pm tomorrow 20 February at the National Film and Sound Archive, McCoy Circuit Acton, followed by a screening of the hit 2012 film inspired by their lives, at 7pm.

“INSIDE” the Box is a studio resident exhibitions at CCAS Manuka and is also the second solo show for Aaron Garlick, who recently graduated from the ANU School of Art furniture workshop. Garlick investigates the creativity available within the confines of a defined space, a 3 x 3 x 6 “box” and presents 45 possibilities out of a possible 531,441. Opening 6pm tonight Thursday 19th February, show runs until 29th February at Canberra Contemporary Art Space, 19 Furneaux Street, Manuka, and Wednesday to Sunday 11am to 5pm.

“POPE Head – The Secret Life of Francis Bacon” is a one-man show by actor Garry Roost that has played in Edinburgh and London. The show looks at the life, art, psyche, sexuality, and philosophies of the English artist Francis Bacon, banished from the family home after he was caught wearing his mother’s stockings. “Pope Head” is directed by Paul Garnault, founder of the Wales Actors’ Company and is presented by Theatre Excentrique. At the Courtyard Studio Canberra Theatre Centre, 5pm Sunday Feb 22 only. Bookings to canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.

CORO chamber ensemble kicks off 2015 with a numerical journey through the Renaissance— “worthy of Leonardo da Vinci,” they’re saying and ranging from vaudeville-style drinking songs to the triumph of the Resurrection, with two five-part choirs in 12 parts, under the baton of guest conductor Peter Tregear. The final 12-part work will be sung completely in the round. At the Fitters Workshop, Wentworth Ave Kingston, 5pm this Sunday Feb 22, bookings to corocanberra.com or tickets at the door.

JUDI Crane directs Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest” at Theatre 3 Acton for Canberra REP, with a fresh and lively cast, including some talented newcomers. Preview tonight, February 19, 8pm, season runs February 20 to March 7. Bookings and all details to canberrarep.org.au or 6257 1950.

“BLAZE Nine” is Canberra Contemporary Art Space’s annual emerging artist showcase and opens tomorrow, Friday 20th February, at 6pm in the Gorman House galleries. All welcome

THE Australian War Memorial welcomes the general public to the official launch of the new First World War Galleries this Sunday 22 February from 9:30 am at the front of the Memorial. The official launch will include addresses by the Governor-General, the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, and the Honourable Maggie Barry, representing the Prime Minister of New Zealand. There will also be a keynote address by Mr Les Carlyon. Lee Kernaghan, the Sydney Children’s Choir, and the Band of the Royal Military College of Australia will perform at the launch. Visitors will also be able to see the recently completed installation of large artillery pieces on display in the grounds: a colonial naval gun from the HMQS Gayundah, a 9.2-inch howitzer, and a German 15-centimetre Kanone. The Memorial will be closed for the duration of the launch event and will open after the official proceedings around noon.

THE Australian Graphic Design Association has an international typography exhibition at the Gallery of Australian Design, 47 Jardine Street Kingston, which finishes today, February 19 at 4pm. The exhibition, which has already toured The Hague, The Netherlands; Berlin, Germany; Brisbane; Moscow, Russia; and Sofia, Bulgaria, features 8 posters representing the work of some of the best emerging type artists in the world.

ARTSOUND’s first garden picnic concert runs this Sunday 22 February from 4 to 6pm in the grounds at the Manuka Arts Centre. Music is by local band Back to Basics and the concert will be a live broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 and 90.3 for the first hour. The event is family friendly. $10 for ArtSound members and $15 for non-members. BYO picnic rug or folding chair and picnic. Wine and coffee will be available.

THE Canberra Southern Cross Club has Golden Guitar winner Adam Harvey at the Woden club in the Corinna Ballroom tomorrow Friday, February 20. Ticket options include dinner and the show for $65 from 6.30pm or the show only, from 8.30pm, for $35. The Wiggles show is on at Woden on Wednesday, April 1 at 2.30pm with limited tickets available. Tickets cost $27.90, with children under-12 months of age free. Bookings to Ticketek.com.au or in person at the club.

“AS IT GOES” is an exploration of disenchantment through the lens of artist Luke Chiswell’s first passion, skateboarding. This exhibition uses skateboarding as a metaphor to examine the compromises we make to the tyranny of time in spite of things we love. Opens tomorrow Friday February 20, from 6pm to 10pm. All welcome. Show continues until 8 Mar at Nishi Gallery, 17 Kendall Lane, and New Acton.

THE Song Company’s first concert program for 2015, “Postcards from Prague,” will be performed at 6pm this Saturday 21st February with guest director and composer, Andrea Keller, one of the most original personalities to emerge on the Australian jazz scene in the last decade. At The Street Theatre, bookings to thestreet.org.au or 6247 1223.

“MUDLARKS” is an intimate exhibition by members of Claybodies. The exhibiting artists are Ingrid Adler, Gwenna Green, Stephanie Hunt and Jacqueline Lewis. Runs 19 February – 15 March, 10am-4pm Thursday-Sunday at 90 Stockdill Drive, Holt. Official opening at 4pm 21 February by Richard Thomas, Director, Canberra Potters’ Society, all welcome.

“FREEHAND” is the title of an exhibition at the ANU Drill Hall Gallery surveying the Sydney artist Ann Thomson’s exuberant paintings collages and drawings made over the last 7 years. The exhibition runs between 20 February – 5 April and Australian writer David Malouf will launch the exhibition today, 19 February at 6pm. ANU Drill Hall Gallery, Kingsley Street (off Barry Drive), Wednesday-Sunday, 12-5pm. Friday 20 February at 12 noon, Thomson will be in conversation with curator Terence Maloon.

STRANGE Weather Gospel Choir invites all tenors and basses who would like to sing Gospel, Spirituals and African songs to join them. A non-auditioning community choir with a “vibrant style and a fascinating repertoire”. There will be a Kickstarter Weekend (two day workshop) on the 21st and 22nd February, inquiries to membership@strangeweather.org, or Karen on 0423 411577.

PERTH soul songstress, Shameem has released her new single, ‘Under One Sun’ and new album, ‘The Second City’. She is celebrating the releases with a national tour kick and will be at The Basement in Canberra tomorrow, Fri 20 Feb (18+) 9pm Doors 9:30pm Start. Bookings to trybooking.com/GLNV

BILLY Connolly is now recognised as an artist as well as comedian. He’ll be here tonight, February 19 at the Royal Theatre. Bookings to ticketek.com.au or 132 849.

THE 2015 Carnivalé, which celebrates Queanbeyan’s multicultural communities, will be held this Sunday 22 February from 10am to 4pm at the Queanbeyan Park on Lowe Street – all welcome. Over 25 groups will perform and this year there will be cuisine from Sri Lanka, the Australia Mon Association, Turkey, Indonesia, Croatia, Greece and Macedonia, as well as a farm animal patting paddock, face painting, Indigenous craft, air brush tattooing, festival flower making, the Fire Brigade and information stalls.

FROM the remote East Kimberley region of Western Australia comes the art of three of Australia’s leading painters: Rusty Peters, Peggy Patrick and Phyllis Thomas. All three are senior Gija artists whose lives have been driven by the need to put cross-cultural communication and education into practice through art. The exhibition has been curated by the Nancy Sever Gallery and the Warmun Art Centre in Western Australia where the artists live and work. At the Nancy Sever Gallery, 4/6 Kennedy Street, Kingston until 8 March, 11am-6pm Wed to Sun.