CANBERRA City Band Inc. is turning on an open day at its rehearsal venue in Watson this Saturday.

WITH a newly appointed Artistic Director, Wyana O’Keeffe, two new ensembles, Canberra City Juniors, launched in 2015, and a new youth development band launching, they’re inviting the public and musicians to rediscover the musical opportunities the Band offers as it enters its 91st year. 49 Phillip Avenue Watson, 10am-4pm, Saturday, February 27. FREE ENTRY.

Arts Business:

THE Canberra Men’s Choir helps in the development of a healthy, strong male voice. Registrations to leannemckean@yahoo.com.au or 0478 509 873 by February 28.

F!NK design’s annual seconds sale this Saturday. This is an opportunity to purchase unique items, one-off prototypes, discontinued items and over-runs of corporate gifts. At FINK, 25 Endurance Ave Queanbeyan, February 27 from 9am to 3pm. Visit finkdesign.com

APPLICATIONS are now open for the Wesley Music Scholars program. Music Scholars are outstanding voice and instrumental students at both tertiary and senior secondary level who demonstrate that they can benefit from opportunities to practise, perform and make recordings in the Wesley Music Centre and Wesley Uniting Church. Inquiries & applications to Liz McKenzie, lizm@music.wesleycanberra.org.au, 0417 442 232. Applications must be forwarded by email before 5pm Monday February 29.

A MASTER Class in Watercolour & mixed media with Sandra Hendy is coming up at Aarwun Gallery, Federation Square, Gold Creek, 9.30 am – 4.30 pm, Sat-Sun March 18-19, COST: $350.00 for two days of tuition, includes lunch and refreshments, bookings to 6230 2055.

ART in the Woolshed will be receiving works at Elders, Goulburn, from Monday February 29 to Friday March 4 between 9am and 3pm, Monday to Friday. You must complete a checklist and return to us via email, with a photo of your artwork, inquiries and submissions to artinthewoolshed@boyceca.com

GALLERY@BCS in Belconnen Community Centre is seeking artwork donations from your garage or you studio for its annual gallery fundraiser from May 2-13, with an opening and silent auction on May 4 to support emerging artists, Aboriginal artists and people who use art as therapy. Inquiries to Ben Drysdale at ben.drysdale@bcsact.com.au

CALL for entries: ‘Homage’ exhibition in celebration of Seniors Week Belconnen Community Service’s Homage exhibition, held March 8 – 18 during Seniors Week 2016. Expressions of Interest are due by February 19, 2016 and works must be delivered to Belconnen Community Centre, Canberra, between February 29 and March 4. The Expression of Interest Form is at bcsact.com.au or call Katie Anderson-Kelly on 6264 0200 or email katie.anderson-kelly@bcsact.com.au

CANBERRA Museum and Gallery is calling for proposals from artists based in the ACT region to create site-specific works for its glass-walled project space facing Civic Square. Projects should be self-funded, however CMAG can assist. Installations would remain in place for approximately three months, during dates between mid-April 2017 and February 2019. Applications to Mark.Bayly@act.gov.au by COB Monday, February 29.

Events:

CARNIVALE is coming up at Queanbeyan Park soon, with over 25 groups performing and cuisine from Sri Lanka, the Pacific Islands, Italy, the Australia Mon Association, Turkey, Indonesia, Croatia, Greece and Macedonia. Lowe St

Prizes:

APPLICATIONS are now open for the 2016 MAMA Art Foundation National Photography Prize 2016. The MAMA Art Foundation National Photography Prize 2016 is a biennial acquisitive awards and exhibition, showcasing the best in contemporary Australian photography with a cash prize pool of $50,000. An exhibition of the selected photographs will be held at MAMA Murray Art Museum Albury from May 20 to August 7. Inquiries to 6043 5800 or mama@alburycity.nsw.gov.au for the full application visit mamalbury.com.au

“HOME AND ART” is a new national art prize for artists with an asylum seeker or refugee background. The City of Greater Dandenong in Victoria is calling for submissions, closing on March 14. For more information and entry forms phone Walker Street Gallery on (03) 9706 8441 or greaterdandenong.com

Talks:

TALKS: Public talk by David Horner, Official Historian of Australian Peacekeeping, Humanitarian, and Post-Cold War Operations: ‘The 1991 Gulf War: its place in Australian military history’, at BAE Systems Theatre, Australian War Memorial.

FRIENDS of the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens (FAAIA) lecture by Kathleen Riley, “Athens makes Grecian ground of her Antipodes: Classical Greece in Australian Art and Architecture”, in the Apollo Room, Hellenic Club, Woden, 8pm, Thursday February 25.

ARVIND Gupta – a scientist, day-dreamer, inventor, TED speaker and toymaker from India, will be giving a series of workshops and talks for ‘Fix and Make’ at Hotel Hotel from Friday to Sunday. As an innovator and disruptive teacher, Gupta has revolutionised the way the world looks at waste through his ‘Toys from Trash’ project. Information and tickets – hotel-hotel.com.au

FRIENDS of the Drill Hall Gallery are holding a catch-up session where director Terence Maloon, just back from Paris and Florence, will be sharing his recent encounters with the art and architecture. ANU College of Business & Economics Allan Barton Forum – second floor, 5-7pm Friday February 26. ANU will open the multi-story parking station across the road on the corner of Kinglsey and Hutton Streets (enter via Hutton Street) between 5-8 pm for free parking.

MUSE CAFÉ in the East Hotel, Kingston has writer Subhash Jaireth in conversation with Street Theatre director Caroline Stacey, discussing artistic endeavour and cultural cross-pollination 3.30pm this Sunday Feb 28, details at musecanberra.com.au Unless otherwise noted, all events are $10 which includes a coffee or glass of wine/sparkling water.

Film:

HURRY – RSVPs close today, Thursday, at 5pm. ANU Film Group is raising a glass to 50 years of Australia’s largest film society at its 50th birthday party on Sunday February 28, the exact date of their very first screening in 1966, followed by a commemorative screening of Kubrick’s “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb”. RSVPs are essential to 50years@anufg.org.au

Theatre:

BRECHT’S “The Threepenny Opera” will have humming the tunes in this dark play with music by Kurt Weill, at Theatre 3, Acton, until March 12, bookings to canberrarep.org.au or 6257 1950.

“LA CLIQUE” is the feature show of The Famous Spiegeltent, pitched in Civic Square, London Circuit, Civic, Feb 19 to March 14, bookings to canberratheatrecentre.com.au/show/laclique/ or 6275 2700. A whole program of other cabaret acts are also running in the tent, info at canberratheatrecentre.com.au

Concerts and gigs:

MELBOURNE indie-soul band Saskwatch will be performing ‘genre-jumping songs’ at the UC Refectory 7:30pm Thursday, February 25, bookings to uclive.oztix.com.au

THE Griffyn Ensemble is staging ‘Hanging Rock,’ a special event for the National Gallery of Australia’s Tom Roberts exhibition featuring guest performers Rachel Johnston (cello) and Ashley Hribar (piano), capturing the spirit of how Australians saw their country in the early 20th century through music, poetry, paintings, and film. At the NGA, 7pm Saturday Feb 27 and 2pm Sunday Feb 28, bookings to nga.gov.au and 6240 6701.

TO her friends she was known as ‘Pearl’, to her public she was Janis Joplin, and now in a script written by Chris Keeble, soul singer, Liza Ohlback brings her to life again in “Pearl: The Janis Joplin Show” at The Street Theatre, 8pm March 5 only. Bookings to thestreet.org.au or 6247 1223.

ART Song Canberra’s Season of Song presents “A Traveller’s Tales” with tenor Christopher Lincoln Bogg and Alan Hicks on piano. The traveller is Bogg himself, whose journey with recital song began back in the 1970s here in Canberra, where his mum, Lois Bogg, reigned supreme as singing teacher. Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest, 3pm Sunday Feb. 28. Tickets ONLY at the door.

THE Song Company’s first program with Antony Pitts as the new artistic director will see the ensemble paying tribute to J.S Bach in “Bach & Forward” at Wesley Uniting Church, 6pm, Saturday, 6pm February 27, bookings to songcompany.com.au

SRI Lanka’s No. 1 band, the Marians, will bring their fusion of Sri Lankan ‘Baila’, Bollywood and Latin American styles to the Queanbeyan Bicentennial Hall, 7.30pm, Saturday February 27, tickets at the door.

Dance:

“BURN The Floor” is back with “Fire In The Ballroom”, featuring a cast of 20 that includes champion dancers, musicians and vocalists and Costumes designed by the Rome theatrical company D’inzillo, choreography by Jason Gilkison and Peta Roby and a rock opera thrown in for good measure. Canberra Theatre, Tuesday March 1, bookings to canberrathatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.

THE “Endless Summer” bush dance promises an evening of dancing to the live music of Franklin B Paverty. Come resplendent in Aussie summer fashion, but dancing in thongs is difficult and not advised. Dances are taught and then called. Please bring a plate to share for supper. Canberra Baptist Church – 11 Currie St, Kingston, 8pm, Saturday February 27, tickets at the door.

Exhibitions:

SIDESHOW Alley: Infamy, the macabre and the portrait is entering its last week at the National Portrait Gallery, closing on Sunday February 28.

THE 23rd Bald Archy prize exhibition, satirical portraits at Watson Arts Centre, Aspinall Street, Watson, until March 14, 10am, 4pm daily, entry $5/$4.

ARTIST, writer and illustrator Matt Chun’s exhibition ‘Far South’ opens today at Nishi Gallery, 17 Kendall Lane NewActon and runs to March 13, 9-3 daily. Launch party today, Thurs Feb 25 6pm-8pm. Matt Chun re-imagines the environment of his hometown in an act of personal quietude. For the duration of the exhibition, he will live and work in NewActon, using Nishi Gallery partially as a pop-up studio space.

GALLERY@BCS presents ‘My View,’ a mixed media exhibition by artists of the Belconnen Artists Network for the annual BeAN Summer Challenge, at Belconnen Community Centre, Swanson Crt Belconnen until March 4.

ANCA Gallery has a new solo exhibition by Hayley West, featuring a moving image work, ‘1 Million Years’, and a collection of sculptures titled ‘Holding Space’, ‘Journey to the Centre’, and ‘Altar Sisteby’ running under the title “Remnants of the dead and demands on the living” at 1 Rosevear Place Dickson, 12pm-5pm Wednesday-Sunday until March 13.

CANBERRA Glassworks has been busy playing with marbles, and in their newest show, they’ll be showing off the responses to this humble yet technically demanding glass art form by nine artists from across Australia. “Collecting Nostalgia,” at Canberra Glassworks February 18 to April 24.

IN “Contrasting Visions,” three Canberra artists Steve Tomlin, Kate Hine & Robyn McAdam exhibit works on paper, coming come together with a shared interest in imaginative narratives and a desire to share their distinctive visual stories. At Strathnairn Gallery, 90 Stockdill Dr Holt, Thurs – Sun 10 – 4 until March 20.

“HOME: between here and there,” a group exhibition by artists seeking asylum in Australia. At the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture The Chapel, 15 Blackall Street (cnr King’s Avenue), Barton Monday to Friday 10:30am to 4:00pm until March 4.

“KRAZY KUNST” is an exhibition of collaborative woodcut prints by Michael Bell (Australia) and Menno Fahl (Germany) Megalo print studio + gallery Wentworth Ave Kingston, to March 5, Tuesday – Saturday 9.30am – 5.00pm.

BLAZE TEN, curated by Sara D’Alessandro Manozzo sees includes the work of 9 artists: Joel Arthur, Reid Bedlington, Christopher Burton, Hayley Lander, Dierdre Pearce, Millan Pintos-Lopez, Elliot Schultz, Kael Stasce and Julia Thwaites. Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Gorman Arts Centre 55 Ainslie Avenue, Braddon, Tuesday to Friday 11am to 5pm and Saturdays 10am to 4pm until March 24.

PHOTOACCESS has “The ONE Project,” curated by award-winning portrait photographer Hilary Wardhaugh, showcasing 28 works by 28 photographers using one camera and one roll of film, passed between each photographer over a period of six months. Opening 6pm today, Thursday February 25, 6pm continuing until March 20. Artists in conversation 2pm Sunday March 6. 2pm Click here to download high-resolution images Also showing is ‘Fringe Dwellings’ by Dean Cross, both shows at the Huw Davies Gallery, Manuka Arts Centre, Cnr Manuka Circle and New South Wales Cres, Griffith (next to the Manuka Pool).

BEAVER Galleries have Sophia Szilagyi “Drifting past” prints and Jenny Orchard “Living in the clouds” ceramics & works on paper, Denison St Deakin, Tue to Fri 10am-5pm Sat and Sun 9am-5pm until March 1.

QUEANBEYANITES and other top artists will show their latest artwork at Form Studio and Gallery 1/30 Aurora Avenue, Queanbeyan until March 6, Monday – Friday 9.30am – 2.30pm, Saturday &Sunday 10am to 4pm.

M16 ARTSPACE Blaxland Crescent Griffith, has “Undertoe”, a photographic exhibition by Canberra artist Dörte Conroy, showcasing graphic glimpses of the ground plane around Hobart’s waterfront and in Sydney’s older areas. Afghani-Australian artist from Dandenong, Mehdi Jaghuri, presents his fourth solo exhibition, “Remember that Time”, critically exploring an array of social, political and cultural issues. Corinne Beardsley’s show “Touch” explores themes of humanity and transcendence in unfired full-bodied clay figures and video. Finally, Caitlin Kozman’s “Dry” is a photographic exhibition that aims to challenge the perception of time and experience. 12-5pm Wed-Sun.

FROM the remote East Kimberley region of Western Australia comes the art of five 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 WA. “Women Artists From Warmun”, at Nancy Sever Gallery, 6 Kennedy Street Kingston until March 6, Wednesday–Sunday 11am–6pm.

BELCONNEN Arts Centre now has “Messages from Canberra: Screen Printed Posters from Megalo,” quirky, humorous, at times shocking posters, quirky and humorous. Also at BAC is “Dream Machine”, a life size cardboard bus with radio blaring and headlights flickering, by artist ‘byrd’. At Belconnen Arts Centre, 118 Emu Bank, Belconnen, until February 28, 10am–4pm Tuesday–Sunday.

CRAFT ACT: Craft and Design Centre’s exhibition, “Emerging Contemporaries” showcases the work of 2015’s outstanding graduate students and emerging craft practitioners and designer makers from across Australia. At Craft + Design Centre Gallery, Level 1 North Building, 180 London Circuit. Also showing in the same space are solo exhibitions from local artists Mi-Kyung Myung and Meredith Hughes. Showing in the Crucible showcase are Bula’bula arts early career artists Marley and Linda Malibirr from the Ramingining community. Tuesday to Friday 10am-5pm + Saturday 12pm-4pm, to March 26.

TUGGERANONG Arts Centre presents a joint exhibition of key political works in print media by Alison Alder and Bernie Slater. The 2015 recipient of Tuggeranong Arts Centre’s Emerging Artists Award, Jess Higgins, will also exhibit work from her Honours portfolio in February. Exhibition continues until Saturday February 27.

THE Australian Centre on China in the World has an exhibition entitled “Photographs of 1930s China” by Stanley O. Gregory, a selection of rarely-seen photographs of 1930s, taken by Stanley O. Gregory, from original negatives in the NLA Collection, printed in large-format for the first time. In the China in the World Building, Fellows Lane (Building 188) ANU, until March 20, 9am–5pm, Monday to Friday, weekend viewings: February 27–28 and March 19–20, 10am–4pm.

JAN Matson has a solo exhibition at Ginninderra School House Gallery, her first for 8 years. This exhibition includes oil paintings of local areas such as Yass, Braidwood, Hall and Canberra and a collection of her popular poppy paintings. At 3/11 O’Hanlon Place, Nicholls Thurs. & Fri. 10 am – 4pm & Sat. & Sun. 8.30 – 4.30 pm until Feb 28.