Classical Guitar at New Brunswick Library

Aside from being a place for an afternoon of great books, New Brunswick Free Public Library also can be a place for an afternoon of great music.

Classical guitarist Robert Dopira will present a program of classic music from 1-3 p.m. Feb. 23 in the Carl T. Valenti Community Room. The program will include Bach suites, Scarlatti sonatas, variations on Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute, and many other songs.

Mr. Dopira has been performing for 25 years at libraries, schools, churches, community groups and other organizations. He studied at Rutgers University and at Mannes College of Music, with Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music one of the three main conservatories in New York.

The program is free and open to the public of all ages. Refreshments will be served.

For more information or to register for this event, contact Kavita Pandey at kavita@lmxac.org or call the library reference desk at (732) 745-5108, ext. 20.

Motivation

The talk is about what works best to motivate workers in business, but it has some interesting applications for homeschooling as well.

Milk and Cookies

The State Theatre in New Brunswick is offering Milk & Cookies, a free series for children 3 to 8 years old, featuring storytelling, music, puppetry and more.

Milk & Cookies invites young people to discover the joy of watching, listening, and interacting with the arts. Events are offered once a month at 10 a.m. and noon on select Saturdays in the spring.  Free milk and cookies are distributed to children while supplies last.

The following events are scheduled:

• Spook Handy: American Folksongs for the Whole Family, at 10 a.m. and noon Feb. 2. Celebrate America's folk music traditions with singer and guitarist Spook Handy. Sing and clap along as Spook performs treasured songs both old and new.
  
• Robbi Kumalo: Girls Rock! at 10 a.m. and noon March 2. Celebrate Women's History Month with stories featuring smart, brave and powerful girls. Musician and storyteller Robbi Kumalo will have you singing, clapping, and dancing along as she shows that girls do, indeed, know how to rock.
  
• Lisa Garwood: Animal Stories From Around the World at 10 a.m. and noon April 13. What do a whale, a bird, and a spider all have in common? Join storyteller/musician Lisa Garwood and help her tell her tales about some of our animal friends: what we can learn from their wisdom...and their mistakes!

Advance registration is required. To register, contact Jennifer Cunha at (732) 246-7469, ext. 545 or jcunha@statetheatrenj.org. The State Theatre is located on Livingston Avenue in downtown New Brunswick.

Drawing club at the Zimmerli museum

Children can discover the secrets of drawing when they participate in the Zimmerli Art Museum's popular drawing club this spring.

The drawing club takes place 4:15-5:45 p.m. Wednesdays at Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, 71 Hamilton St., New Brunswick. Aspiring artists from 9 to 14 years old will learn the gamut of drawing techniques, including pencil and charcoal, and genres such as still-life and portraiture. Teachers are professional educators who address the needs of both beginners and advanced artists.

Registration is required.

The program begins March 13 and runs for five consecutive weeks. Cost is $50 for members of the museum, and $75 for nonmembers. In the event of inclement weather, call the museum at (732) 932-7237 for a recorded message beginning at noon.

For more information about the program, contact the Education Department at (732) 932-7237, ext. 26766.

Art safari in Africa offered, in August

If a safari is on your bucket list, this could be your chance to go on one and boost your wildlife art skills at the same time.

The Academy of Art of Highland Park is partnering with Hemingway Safaris Inc. of New York to offer an art safari to southern Africa this August. Cost for the safari is about $4,500 per person. The experience is open to adults, and to teens from 14 to 18 years old.

The trip includes a full safari experience led by a long-established operator, including all safari ground transportation, two meals a day, lodging, daily game drives, and visits to cultural, archaeological and conservation sites, plus a 30-hour private field course for artists of all levels. The price includes all field gear and art materials.

Participants will return home with their own original drawings, illustrations and journaling from Africa.

Hemingway Safaris is a family-operated outfitter comprised of African art and archaeology connoisseurs who are also adventurers. The organization also is committed to wildlife and habitat conservation, and to protecting human societies and cultures.

For more information, call the art academy at (732) 777-2085