“What do you want to do?”
If you need an answer to this age-old question for making plans, we’ve got you covered.
In Things To Do, we take a look at, well, things to do, happening every week in the Greater Fall River area and around the SouthCoast.
From weekdays to weekends, there’s always plenty going on.
And we’re not only taking a look at what’s happening this week, we’re also giving you a heads up for events that are coming soon.
This week, we’ve got a look at the latest art exhibit at Marion Art Center, featuring work inspired by the natural world, and some of Earth’s coldest places. Plus, the annual Harbor Lights Benefit at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, a way for kids to make musical art with the NBSO, the Park Passport Challenge, and more. New Bedford is also celebrating Cape Verdean Heritage Month this July.
So when someone asks you what you want to do, you’ve got your plans ready to go.
Here are Things To Do around Fall River, the SouthCoast, and beyond this week:
‘Duets: Two Artists and Our Blue Planet’ at Marion Art Center
The Marion Art Center, 80 Pleasant St., presents “Duets: Two Artists and Our Blue Planet,” featuring the work of artists Heather Stivison and Lisa Goren.
A press release from the MAC said the artists, who are long-time friends, “bring to life an appreciation of the natural world, and the need to protect our fragile home. The luminous quality of the work reflects a fascination with water, with ice, and with observed patterns on earth.”
There will be an opening reception on Friday, July 11, from 5 to 7 p.m. The MAC will also be hosting a gallery talk with both artists on Saturday, Aug. 2, at 11 a.m.
Stivison’s work is influenced by her art teacher mother and research scientist father, with much of her work standing “at the intersection of the two fields of art and science,” the press release said. “She frequently translates philosophical or scientific concepts into color, line, and form.”
Goren “has dreamed of polar landscapes since she was in her teens,” the press release said. “Her first trip to Antarctica inspired her to capture this world … Her watercolors examine this unfamiliar landscape and create questions about the nature of abstraction and our planet with her representations of unfamiliar, threatened terrains.”
The exhibition will be open through Aug. 15.
Gallery hours through July 25 are Wednesday to Friday from 1 to 5 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Regular gallery hours resume on July 31: Thursday to Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For more information, visit www.marionartcenter.org/on-exhibit.
Harbor Lights Benefit at New Bedford Whaling Museum
The New Bedford Whaling Museum, 18 Johnny Cake Hill, is hosting the annual Harbor Lights Benefit on Saturday, July 12, from 6 to 9 p.m.
This summer celebration supports the museum’s mission.
There will be an elegant cocktail reception in the Bourne Building, followed by a live auction and dinner in the Harbor View Gallery and Bourne Mezzanine.
The live auction will feature a curated selection of packages, with special guest Michael Grogan, founder of Grogan & Company, Fine Arts & Jewelry Auctioneers.
Dress code is summer cocktail attire: dresses, dressy pantsuits/jumpsuits, lightweight suits, or blazers with dress pants. Ties are optional.
For more information, and tickets, visit https://tinyurl.com/35refske.
Spinphony at AHA! New Bedford
Kids can literally be part of the music with Spinphony at AHA! New Bedford, 128 Union St., on Thursday, July 10, from 4:30 to 6 p.m.
New Bedford Symphony Orchestra Education Director Terry Wolkowicz and Education Specialist Adam Jeffreys will lead the experience, where kids listen to classical pieces and use markers and a spin art machine to illustrate the rhythms they’re hearing.
This is a free event.
Heritage State Park part of DCR’s 2025 Park Passport Challenge
The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation has launched the 2025 Park Passport Challenge, inviting visitors to collect stamps at 12 participating DCR parks and watersheds in the state.
Individuals who collect all 12 stamps by Sunday, Nov. 30, will receive a Park Passport water bottle sticker and will be entered to win a grand prize.
Park passports are available at each participating location that has a visitors center and can also be printed out from DCR’s Park Passport webpage.
Passport stamps are held in yellow stamp boxes and are installed so they’re easy to reach for visitors of all abilities. Combinations to each stamp box can be found on each Park Passport stamp sheet. The exact location and code for each stamp box are listed at https://www.mass.gov/info-details/dcr-park-passport-challenge. After stamping your passport, close and lock the stamp box.
All written materials are available in the 10 most common languages spoken in Massachusetts.
Once you collect all 12 stamps, fill out the redemption form on the Park Passport Challenge webpage by Nov. 30 to redeem your free sticker and be entered for the chance to win a grand prize.
Grand prizes will include free Boston Harbor Island ferry tickets, a complimentary DCR ParksPass, and a reservation for DCR’s annual Learn to Camp program, as well as courtesy camping equipment.
Stamps are located at the following participating state parks:
- Blue Hills Reservation, Milton
- Castle Island, South Boston
- Walden Pond State Reservation, Concord
- Halibut Point State Park, Rockport
- Waquoit Bay Natural Estuarine Research Reserve, East Falmouth
- Fall River Heritage State Park, Fall River
- Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park, Uxbridge
- Wachusett Mountain State Reservation, Princeton
- Mount Greylock State Reservation, Lanesboro
- Great Falls Discovery Center, Montague
- Quabbin Reservoir, Belchertown
- Wachusett Reservoir, Clinton
For more information, visit https://www.mass.gov/info-details/dcr-park-passport-challenge.
New Bedford celebrates Cape Verdean Heritage Month
New Bedford is celebrating its first annual Cape Verdean Heritage Month this July, with a host of events including concerts, workshops, parades, outdoor bike rides, cultural festivals, exhibitions, and more.
For a full calendar of events, visit https://explorenewbedford.org/special-events/cabo-verdean-heritage-month/.
Potters Field Cemetery Tour with Old Colony History Museum
The Old Colony History Museum is hosting a Potters Field Cemetery Tour, a guided walk through the Free Ground at Mayflower Hill Cemetery in Taunton.
Dr. William F. Hanna will guide participants exploring the grave markers and select stones that note the burials of local “paupers,” telling their stories.
Tours are about an hour, and are held in light rain or shine.
Wear appropriate footwear for paved and unpaved terrain, and bring a bottle of water.
This tour will be held on Saturday, July 12, at 10 a.m.
Tickets are free for members, and $10 for non-members. Registration is required.
Visit https://www.oldcolonyhistorymuseum.org/events/.
Puzzical Chairs & Pops outside The Drawing Room in New Bedford
Artists, musical chairs, and puzzles will collide with Puzzical Chairs & Pops, held outside The Drawing Room, 22 William St., New Bedford.
This event will be held on Thursday, July 10, from 5 to 7 p.m., during AHA! Night: Kids Rule.
Puzlkind Jigsaw Puzzles artists Rani MacNeal and Sarah Jane Lapp will be leading the event, in which participants will be matched with an initial puzzle partner to assemble a jigsaw puzzle for the duration of a song. When the song changes, partners and puzzles will change too.
This event is free, and for guests of all ages.
The first 100 puzzlers will get free Vegan Sorbae popsicles.
If necessary, the rain date for this event is Aug. 14.
This event is funded in part by a grant from the New Bedford Cultural Council, a local agency supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
No tickets are required, but RSVPs are encouraged at https://tinyurl.com/3f3rh4uc.
Coming soon: ‘An Hour with Eleanor Roosevelt’ at Dartmouth Cultural Center
The Dartmouth Cultural Center, 404 Elm St., presents “An Hour with Eleanor Roosevelt,” featuring Cynthia Krause in a one-woman performance.
This is a fictional portrayal of Roosevelt’s life, based on historical events.
The performance will be held on Thursday, July 17, from 6 to 8 p.m.
Register online at dartmouthculturalcenterinc.org.
Have a community event or activity you’d like to see featured? Send us an email at kfontes@heraldnews.com or news@heraldnews.com.
