A busy weekend at the Gibbes

This weekend is a busy one at the Gibbes Museum.

From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, the public can enjoy the museum for free on Community Day.

In the morning, families can enjoy the exhibitions, hands-on art activities, as well as face-painting with this "Artistic Expression" event.

From 11-11:30 a.m., the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Woodwind Quintet will present Musical Olympia in the Rotunda Gallery. And noon-1 p.m., the Charleston Argentine Tango Society will perform on the front steps of the museum.

At 4 p.m. Sunday, the CSO Woodwind Quintet will perform a musical response to the exhibit of contemporary realist paintings by Jill Hooper.

"Staged in the stunning Gibbes Rotunda and surrounded by Hooper's exquisite portraits, large-scale landscapes and still-life paintings, the recital will pay tribute to the artist's classical training and mastery of technique," said Marla Loftus, director of museum relations.

"Hooper paints in a very classic style, and so we have selected composers like Haydn and Danzi because they lived in the Classical period. Still life was popular in the Baroque period and that is why we will include a work by Handel in the performance," said CSO concertmaster Yuriy Bekker.

"We also chose a Claude Debussy piece because as a musician, Debussy was inspired by the contemporary artists of his time who were primarily Impressionists," Bekker said. "We want to pay tribute to the artist-musician connection as we are inspired today by Jill Hooper's artistry."

Tickets are $15 for museum members and students, $25 for nonmembers. The ticket includes the performance and admission to the museum. Purchase at the Gibbes Museum Store, online at www.gibbesmuseum.org or by phone at 722-2706, ext. 22.

C of C presents

This weekend, the College of Charleston Opera Program in the School of the Arts will present two comedic performances.

The one-act operas "A Game of Chance" and "Gallantry" combine outlandish antics with the musical integrity of American composers Seymour Barab and Douglas Moore, respectively, said Nandini B. McCauley, media resources coordinator.

"A Game of Chance" is about being careful what you wish for.

"Gallantry" is described as being quite the actual "soap opera."

"It is, in essence, a 'soap opera' opera, complete with the surgeon who is in love with the nurse who is engaged to the patient for whom the surgeon is to perform an emergency appendectomy," Nandini said. "The opera includes bath soap and floor wax commercials in between scenes, staying true to early TV's live, in-studio commercials."

Performances are at the Recital Hall of the Simons Center for the Arts, 54 St. Phillips St., and will take place at 8 p.m. Saturday and Monday and 3 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students age 22 and under with a valid ID. Reservations can be made by calling the department of music at 953-5927.

Go to www.cofc.edu/sota for details.

'Trip to Bountiful'

This endearing play is about an aging widow, Mrs. Watts, who is living in a small apartment in Houston.

Unhappy with her daughter-in-law's overly watchful eye and fearing that she is imposing, Mrs. Watts imagines that if she can get away and return to her old home in the town of Bountiful, everything will be wonderful. She feels it is there that she will regain her strength, dignity and peace of mind.

Performances are taking place at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and March 1-3, 9, 10, 15-17 and at 3 p.m. March 4 and 11.

Tickets are $27 for adults, $25 for seniors and $20 for students. Purchase online at www.villageplayhouse.com or by phone at 856-1579.

The Village Playhouse is at 730 Coleman Blvd. in Mount Pleasant.

Artists sought

The North Charleston Cultural Arts Department is accepting applications from visual artists and fine craft artisans for participation in the Meeting Place Art and Fine Craft Co-Op, a temporary cooperative gallery in the Olde Village area.

It is looking for artists with varied backgrounds who work in different media.

The gallery will be operating Friday and Saturday, April 6-May 26.

Applications are online at bit.ly/culturalarts under the Applications and Registration forms section, or call the cultural arts department office at 740-5854 to request a print copy.

An artist reception will be held 5-8 p.m. May 9 during the North Charleston Arts Festival Art Walk.