Intrepid Museum After Hours: Journey to the Moon and Mars

On March 1 from 5:30 to 8 p.m., take a tour through space and time, from the early days of space travel during the space race to present-day explorations of Mars. This unique program at Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum is open to current and former service members only. Guest speakers will include present-day astronauts who will regal the audience with tales of their past and future space explorations and what it means for the future development of human understanding. Audience members will be able to get up-close and personal with model replicas of the Perseverance Mars rover and Ingenuity drone on temporary loan from NASA. The scientific conversations will continue over a catered dinner held at the space museum. more

Virtual Rose Workshop with Renowned Rosarian Michael Marriott

Upper Rose Terrace at Bodnant. Credit: David Austin Roses and Howard Rice.

On February 22 at 2 p.m., Morven Museum presents a virtual event entitled “Return of the Rosarian” with Michael Marriott, live from the U.K. Marriott will discuss the British roots of Mount Vernon’s historic roses on Washington’s birthday and will share other rose-related tips and tricks for cultivating your own special rose-hued oasis. Personal Zoom links will be emailed to registered participants on the day of the event. A recording of the lecture will also be sent to all registrants following the event. Attendance is $10-15. more

Maple Sugaring Season at Howell Farm

It’s that time of year again!

With freezing nights and thawing days, the smell of maple syrup is in the air at Howell Living History Farm in Hopewell Township. Guests will have the opportunity to observe and participate in harvesting maple syrup from the farm’s trees on Saturday, February 19 and Saturday, February 26 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. more

Rutgers-New Brunswick’s Zimmerli Art Museum Names New Director

Photo Credit: Rochelle S. Paris

Maura Reilly — a curator, writer, art consultant, and nonprofit leader who has organized dozens of exhibitions internationally that focus on marginalized artists — has been named the new director of the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University-New Brunswick.

Reilly is the founding curator of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum, where she developed and launched the first exhibition and public programming space in the United States devoted entirely to feminist art. While there, she organized several landmark exhibitions, including the permanent installation of Judy Chicago’s “The Dinner Party” and the blockbuster “Global Feminisms” (co-curated with Linda Nochlin), among others. more

Congratulations to PDS Girls’ Varsity Ice Hockey Prep Champs

The Princeton Day School (PDS) girls’ ice hockey team reigns supreme, having bested Oak Knoll in a 5-0 performance to earn the Prep Championship. Their impressive run to the February 8 Prep final included playing each round as the visiting team, defeating Pingry in the quarter finals and, two days later, beating the No. 1 seed, four-time defending champions Morristown-Beard School with a score of 3-2 to get to the final. more

Q&A with Bucks County Landscape Photographer Josh Friedman

Gettysburg Cannon at Sunset (Sept. 2021) by Josh Friedman

Interview by Taylor Smith

Natural beauty is all around us, but how often do we press “pause” to find a change of pace, a new frame of mind, or inner peace?

Bucks County-based photographer Josh Friedman has developed a following for his painterly photographic portrayals of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Here, Friedman offers some insight into his own creative process and encourages everyone to find an activity in which they achieve a “flow” state — something that is immersive, yet effortless. An opportunity to lose oneself in an activity while enjoying a fulfilling creative experience. more

Orchid House Opening Weekend at Longwood Gardens

February 26 and 27 

Join the celebration at Longwood Gardens for the annual Orchid House Opening Weekend on February 26 and 27. Meet the brains behind the beauty of Longwood’s orchid collection including facts about orchid restoration, research, and conservation. Orchid Collection Curator Greg Griffis will be on hand to answer attendee questions about everything orchid-related. Admission is free with the purchase of Gardens admission. Buy tickets in advance here: https://longwoodgardens.org/events-performances/events/orchid-house-opening-weekend. more

PU Public Lectures Series Welcomes Marc M. Howard, March 16

Princeton University’s Public Lecture Series will continue March 16 from 5 to 6:15 p.m. at McCosh 50 with Marc M. Howard of Georgetown University, one of the country’s leading voices and advocates for criminal justice and prison reform. He is a professor of government and law, and the founding director of the Prisons and Justice Initiative at Georgetown University. He is also the founder and president of the Frederick Douglass Project for Justice, a nonprofit organization that launched in 2020.  more

“Fiddler on the Roof” at Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank

June 14 and 15 at 7:30 p.m. 

Tony-winning director Bartlett Sher and the team behind South Pacific, The King and I, and 2017 Tony-winning Best Play Oslo bring a fresh and authentic vision to this beloved theatrical masterpiece from Tony-winner Joseph Stein and Pulitzer Prize-winners Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick. more

Valentine’s Day Date Ideas for 2022

Heated rooftop igloos at Asbury Biergarten

By the time February rolls around in the Northeast, many residents may be experiencing a little bit of cabin fever. Thankfully, Valentine’s Day shines a bright spot on an otherwise wintery month with dating, dining, and travel options for you and your significant other. more

Rutgers 46th Annual Home Gardeners School: Gardening for Everyone

Saturday, February 26 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Whether you are a flower fanatic or a vegetable virtuoso, the 2022 Home Gardeners School @Home has something for you. This half-day online conference allows gardeners of any level to choose from 15 different workshops taught by horticultural experts, on various gardening topics including vegetables, fruits, and ornamentals. The cost to virtually attend is $80 general admission and $75 for Master Gardeners members. more

Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie Presents “Painting The Moon & Beyond”

Now through April 29, 2022

The Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie in Cadwalader Park is now presenting an exhibition of paintings by New Jersey native and revered American landscape painter Lois Dodd and artists who have long been a part of her life. Dodd, 94, a co-founder of the legendary artist-run Tanager Gallery, has, for more than 70 years, painted her surroundings including New York’s Lower East Side, rural Mid-Coast Maine, and the Delaware Water Gap. Among her favorite subjects — and the central theme of the exhibition -— is the night sky. more

The Bunbury Fund Awards Over $1.4M in Grants

The Bunbury Fund of the Princeton Area Community Foundation awarded more than $1.4 million in grants in 2021 to local nonprofits to help build their internal capacity.

“The Bunbury Fund’s mission is to strengthen the ability of nonprofit organizations to do their best work,” said Jamie Kyte Sapoch, a Community Foundation trustee and adviser to the Bunbury Fund. “We also believe it’s important to develop meaningful relationships with the nonprofit partners that we support. There are so many organizations in our region doing incredible work. With these grants, we hope to help some of them achieve their next level of organizational maturity and capability.” more

Opera Philadelphia Presents Stravinsky’s “Oedipus Rex”

January 21 and 23 at the Kimmel Center

Leonard Bernstein famously called this opera-oratorio based on Sophocles’ tragedy the “most awesome” work of composer Igor Stravinsky’s neoclassical period. The drama tells of an entire family’s attempts to evade their inescapable, tragic fate. Music Director Corrado Rovaris leads the Opera Philadelphia Orchestra and Chorus with soloists William Burden, Rihanna Thelwell, and Mark S. Doss. more

Miss America 2020 Camille Schrier ’13 Visits Hun School

Image Source: Hun School of Princeton 

Camille Schrier (Hun School ’13) became a viral sensation when she was crowned Miss America 2020. Schrier was the first person in the organization’s 100 year history to win the famous competition based on a STEM platform. Her talent was in fact a demonstration of a chemical reaction using hydrogen peroxide, sodium iodide, and dish soap. The result was a large foamy concoction which she dubbed “elephant toothpaste.”

Schrier is currently pursuing a doctorate of pharmacology at Virginia Commonwealth University and visited the Hun School in early January to speak with current students. Schrier made for an engaging guest and discussed everything from her path to Miss America, women’s leadership, drug education, the opioid crisis,  how substance abuse effects cognitive behavior, and her experiences so far in the STEM field. more

Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve Seeking Summer Interns

Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve in New Hope, Pa., is offering paid summer internships to qualified applicants who are interested in native plant education, horticulture, and public gardens. The internship will begin in either May or June 2022. Applicants must have already completed two years of college. The application deadline is March 1, 2022.  more

PU’s Fund for Irish Studies Presents James Logenbach on W.B. Yeats

Poet James Longenbach. Photo Credit: Adam Fenster.

Princeton University’s Fund for Irish Studies (FIS) presents a lecture by James Logenbach on W.B. Yeats and his poem, “Nineteen Hundred and Nineteen” on Friday, January 28, the 83rd anniversary of Yeats’ death, at 4:30 p.m. via Zoom webinar. 

Princeton University professor and Co-Chair of the Fund for Irish Studies Paul Muldoon will provide a welcome and introduction. The lecture is free and open to the public. Register online at https://arts.princeton.edu/events/fund-for-irish-studies-poet-james-longenbach/. 

Logenbach will give an account of William Butler Yeats’ (1865-1939) poem, discussing how it assumed its shape, and, more importantly, the influence of that shape on subsequent long poems written throughout the 20th century. Yeats won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.  more

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at State Theatre NJ, Jan. 30

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) will perform at the State Theatre New Jersey (STNJ) in New Brunswick on Sunday, January 30 at 3 p.m. Celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, RPO performs 200 concerts each season to a worldwide audience of more than half a million people.  more

Maker’s Mark Pairing Dinner at Scarborough Fair in Sea Girt

Scarborough Fair Restaurant, located at 1414 Meetinghouse Road in Sea Girt, invites the community to a unique Maker’s Mark pairing dinner on Sunday, January 23 from 4 to 7 p.m. Door open at 3:30 p.m. The event will begin with a welcome cocktail and hors d’oeuvres followed by a four-course pairing dinner, and raffle prizes. Tickets are $110 per person and can be purchased at https://bit.ly/3ncKDpd.  more

Stuart Student Named Regeneron Science Talent Scholar

Congratulations to Stuart Country Day School’s Sonya Jin ‘22 who was recognized as a Regeneron Science Talent Search Scholar. The #RegeneronSTS provides students a national stage to present original research and celebrates the hard work and novel discoveries of young scientists who are bringing a fresh perspective to significant global challenges. The 300 scholars and their schools will be awarded $2,000 each. more

Frick to Present Works in Porcelain by Giuseppe Penone

Giuseppe Penone

March 17 through August 28, 2022

In the spring and summer, The Frick Collection in Manhattan will present a one-room installation by Italian artist Giuseppe Penone at the museum’s temporary home, Frick Madison. Displayed in the broader context of the museum’s decorative arts and Old Master paintings and sculpture, this unprecedented exhibition by the recognized Arte Povera artists is the first to feature his work in the medium of porcelain. more

Book of the Month: Each Month’s Best Books, All in One Place

Treat your bookshelf and home library to a book subscription box from Book of the Month (www.bookofthemonth.com), the original book subscription service.

This convenient subscription is perfect for bibliophiles who would like to support the publishing industry and rely less on ordering from Amazon and other big-box retailers. The other great thing about Book of the Month (BOTM), is that it provides a curated list of wave-making titles in a variety of genres and sub-genres. From new fiction to thrillers, romance, “quick reads,” history, family sagas, mysteries, and more, readers are sure to find a monthly title that appeals to them and will be shipped in the form of a hardcover, directly to their front door. more

Artworks Trenton Appoints M’kina Tapscott as Executive Director

Artworks Trenton, a leading visual arts center in central New Jersey, has announced the appointment of M’kina Tapscott as executive director, beginning January 18. The selection of Tapscott followed an intensive search and selection process. Tapscott succeeds Lauren Otis, executive director since February 2016, who in 2021 announced his intention to step down. more

Princeton Health’s New Center for Thyroid and Parathyroid Care

An estimated 20 million Americans have some form of thyroid disease, according to the American Thyroid Association, ranging from function issues such as underactive or overactive conditions to cancer. These conditions, once diagnosed, can usually be successfully treated with either monitoring; medication; or surgically, usually through a minimally invasive procedure that may or may not require an overnight stay. more

Russian Ballet Theatre Announces 2022 U.S. National Tour

The Russian Ballet Theatre will present their new production of Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake at the Patriots Theater at the War Memorial in Trenton.

Expect all of the splendor of time-honored Russian traditions, costumes, and dance technique. There will also be elaborate hand-painted sets and added choreography to accent the unique production. more

Special PPL Event on the Anniversary of the Capitol Insurrection

Join Princeton Public Library (PPL) for a virtual Crowdcast event on Thursday, January 6 from 8 to 9 p.m. with writers Karen J. Greenberg and Julian E. Zelizer. On the anniversary of the Capitol insurrection, Greenberg and Zelizer will discuss the “subtle tools” that were forged under George W. Bush in the name of security and their impact on how the Trump administration was able to weaponize disinformation, xenophobia, and distrust of law. more

Fiesta del Dia de Los Reyes Magos: A Three Kings Day Flamenco Celebration

John Singer Sargent's "Spanish Dancer"

Join the Arts Council of Princeton for a special dance performance in honor of Three Kings Day on Sunday, January 9 from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Paul Robeson Center for the Arts at 102 Witherspoon Street.

Three Kings Day (or Fiesta del Dia de Los Reyes Magos) is celebrated throughout the world by several different cultures, marking the culmination of the 12 days of Christmas and commemorating the story of the three wise men who traveled from afar, bearing gifts for the infant baby Jesus.  more

Stuart School and NCGLS Host Women in Business for Virtual Alumnae Career Lunch

On the Monday before winter break, the National Center for Girls’ Leadership (NCGLS) at Stuart hosted a virtual Women in Leadership career lunch featuring four Stuart alums and a current parent with careers in business. Students cycled through Google Meet breakout rooms that were hosted by leadership endorsement candidates and guests shared their career journeys, lessons learned from mistakes, and reflections on their Stuart experience. Virtual panels like these have allowed Stuart Country Day to give current students access to more experts within the alumnae community who would not normally be able to attend in person.  more

Rubin Museum’s New AWAKEN Podcast with Laurie Anderson

The Rubin Museum in New York City presents AWAKEN, a podcast hosted by acclaimed musician and performance artist Laurie Anderson about the dynamic path to enlightenment and what it means to “wake up.” In 10 episodes, the audience is led into a “deep dive” through the personal stories of guests who share how they’ve experienced a shift in their awareness, and as a result, their perspectives on life. From deep introspection to curious, yet life-changing subtle inquiries, awakening can take on many forms, from the mundane to the sacred. more

Frank Sinatra Statue Unveiled in Hoboken on Singer’s 106th Birthday

Frank Sinatra circa 1955 at Capitol Studios

One of the most famous Hoboken natives, Frank Sinatra, received his own six-foot-tall bronze statue on December 12, on what would have been the singer’s 106th birthday. The legendary personality and entertainer is depicted in a three-piece suit leaning against a flickering lamp post with his hat tilted to one side. The confident and charismatic look was a trademark of Sinatra’s and the singer’s own daughter, Tina, stated that the statue is of a strong likeness to her father. The statue was designed by Carolyn D. Palmer. more