Craftsmen's Holiday Craft Show -- Portland
November 7, 2009 to November 8, 2009
Location: McAuley High School, 631 Stevens Avenue Portland, Maine Information: www.societyofsouthernmainecraftsmen.org. Time: November 7, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; November 8, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Bangor Arts & Crafts Show -- Bangor
November 7, 2009 to November 8, 2009
Location: Bangor Civic Center & Auditorium, 100 Dutton Street. Information: 207-947-5555 or visit www.societyofsouthernmainecraftsmen.org.

Augusta Arts & Crafts Show -- Augusta
November 14, 2009 to November 15, 2009
Location: Augusta Civic Center, 76 Community Drive. Information: 207-626-2405 or visit www.augustaciviccenter.org Information: www.societyofsouthernmainecraftsmen.org.

Artfull Gifts Gift Show – Camden-Belfast
November 20, 2009 to November 22, 2009
Maine’s premier invitational show for fine Maine-made holiday gifts. Gala opening on Friday, November 20, 5-8 p.m. with cash bar and live jazz. The show continues Saturday and Sunday, November 21 and 22, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Location: Artfull Gifts, Route 1 between Camden and Belfast. Cost: Admission for gala and entire weekend, $10; admission for gift show, $3 (guests under age 16 admitted free). Information: 207-763-3433 or visit www.artfullgifts.com.

Fine Art and Craft Show by Designing Women -- Freeport
November 21, 2009
Two dozen professional fine craftswomen will exhibit their fine hand-crafted pottery, jewelry, handweaving, painting, quilting, hand-bound books, hand-bags, and more. Refreshments, luncheon and baked goods will be available. Location: Merriconeag Waldorf School, 57 Desert Road. Time: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Information: 207-833-5556 or visit www.designingwomen.org

Local Craft & Wares Fair – Bethel
November 27, 2009
Lots of local crafters including handmade baskets, paintings, photography, knit items, handmade jewelry, jams, jellies pickles, soaps, lotions, quilted items, wooden ware products, and lots more. Free horse-drawn carriage rides. Location: Bethel Inn Resort Conference Center, Bethel Common, Broad Street. Time: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Information: 207-824-2282 or visit www.bethelmaine.com

Maine Indian Basketmakers Sale and Demonstration -- Orono
December 5, 2009
This event features Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot basketmakers selling hand-made, ash splint and sweet grass basketry. Work baskets, fancy baskets, strawberry- and blueberry-shaped baskets, curly bowls, quill jewelry, wood carvings, and birch bark work. Traditional foods served up by the Penobscot Nation Boys and Girls Club (hull corn soup, fry bread, blueberry desserts), music, demonstrations of brown ash pounding and basket making as well as traditional drumming and dancing will also be presented. Location: Hudson Museum, Collins Center for the Arts, the University of Maine. Time: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Information: 207-581-1904 or visit www.umaine.edu/hudsonmuseum.

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FOOD, WINE, BEER

Wine tasting dinners at the Robinhood Free Meetinghouse -- Georgetown
Now through November 19, 2009
Wine tasting dinners have a theme for each dinner. They include four courses for $32 per person and each course can be paired with wine for $42 per person. Location: Robinhood Free Meetinghouse, 210 Robinhood Road. Time: 5:30-8 p.m. Information: 207- 371-2188 or visit www.robinhood-meetinghouse.com
New Orleans, November 5: Italian Classics, November 12; and 10 Little Courses, November 19.

Tray Chic! -- Bangor
November 7, 2009
Gala dinner and auction, featuring more than 60 one-of-a-kind tray tables painted by Maine artists from all across the state. From the elegant to the wild, the stately to the whimsical, there are tables for every taste, every age, and every room of your house or cottage. Location: Discovery Museum, 395 Griffin Road. Time: The evening starts at 5 p.m. with a preview, cash bar, and silent auction, followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. and a live auction at 8 p.m. Cost is $45 per person. Information: 207-262-7200 or visit www.mainediscoverymuseum.org

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MUSEUMS

Northward Over the Great Ice: Robert E. Peary and the Quest for the North Pole
Bowdoin College -- Brunswick
Now through December 31, 2010
Robert Peary, of the Bowdoin College Class of 1877, gave his alma mater many of the artifacts used during his historic expedition. Those items and others on loan from the likes of the National Geographic Society are part of a celebratory expedition, Northward Over the Great Ice: Robert E. Peary and the Quest for the North Pole. Location: Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum, Bowdoin College, 3900 College Station. Time: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 2 to 5 p.m.; closed Mondays. Information: 207-725-3964.

A Treasured Ten: A Decade of Collecting
Saco Museum -- Saco
Now through November 15, 2009
Paintings by masters of the Hudson River School, rare and important furniture and silver by 19th-century Saco artisans, and a magnificent selection of folk art sculpture are among the highlights of this exhibition. In this exhibition, magnificent landscapes by renowned White Mountains painters Albert Bierstadt, Alfred Thompson Bricher, and Jesse Talbot provide a national context for the work of regional masters such as Gibeon Bradbury and William S. Gookin. From fantastical scenes to sensitive portraiture, these paintings demonstrate the breadth of influence and subject matter embraced by 19th-century artists. Location: The Dyer Library/Saco Museum, 371 Main Street (Route 1). Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, noon-4 p.m.; Friday, noon-8 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; and Sunday, noon-4 p.m. Information: 207-283-3861, ext. 114 or visit www.dyerlibrarysacomuseum.org

Faces of Literacy, Voices of Courage
Saco Museum -- Saco
Now through November 15, 2009
Photography students at Portland’s Maine College of Art have teamed up with Literacy Volunteers of Maine to create portraits of people whose lives have been changed by achieving literacy. Portraits of literacy learners and their tutors will be paired with their remarkable and uniquely individual stories, recorded and in print. Location: The Dyer Library and Saco Museum, The Dyer Library/Saco Museum, 371 Main Street / Route 1. Information: 207-283-3861 or visit www.dyerlibrarysacomuseum.org

View the Rare Bird of Fashion: The Irreverent Iris Apfel
Peabody Essex Museum -- Salem
Now through February 7, 2010
View the Rare Bird of Fashion: The Irreverent Iris Apfel featuring more than 80 unique and dramatic ensembles created by legendary style icon Iris Apfel, then take in Valerie Belin: Made Up, whose photos explore perceptions of beauty and identity through images that blur the line between fashion models and mannequins. Location: Peabody Essex Museum, 161 Essex Street. Hours: Tuesday-Sunday and holiday Mondays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission: Adults, $15; seniors, $13; students, $11; youth age 16 and younger and Salem residents, free. Information: 978-745-9500 or visit www.pem.org

Making Her Way: Mill Girls of Saco and Biddeford
Saco Museum -- Saco
Now through December 30, 2009
Designed to evoke the interior of a factory girl boardinghouse bedroom from the 1840s, this exhibit provides a glimpse into the lives of the early 19th-century factory girls with artifacts ranging from period furniture, textiles, and loom shuttles to letters, photographs, and sensational fiction. The bedchamber also features a dress-up trunk, allowing visitors to experience the factory girl fashion of the 1840s and 1850s. Making Her Way is a preview of the Saco Museum’s new, upcoming permanent exhibition, Making History: Art and Industry in the Saco River Valley, which opens May 29, 2010. Location: The Dyer Library/Saco Museum, 371 Main Street (Route 1). Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, noon-4 p.m.; Friday, noon-8 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; and Sunday, noon-4 p.m. Information: 207-283-3861, ext. 114 or visit www.dyerlibrarysacomuseum.org

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MUSIC

Great Stories to Tell with the Portland Symphony Orchestra – Portland
November 8, 2009
With Portland Ballet, Great Stories to Tell offers audiences a truly theatrical experience. The charming Ancient Airs and Dances Suite 1 by Respighi opens the matinee program, followed by selections from Mendelssohn’s beloved A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The highlight of the program is Igor Stravinksy’s L’histoire du soldat (“A Soldier’s Tale”), a theatrical adaptation of a Russian folk tale. A special guest actor will take on the roles of the Narrator, the Soldier and the Devil, and dancers from Portland Ballet illustrate the Princess and other characters. Location: Merrill Auditorium, 20 Myrtle Street. Time: The concert begins at 2:30 p.m., preceded by a Concert Conversation at 1:15 p.m. and followed by a post-concert QandA with the artists. Information: www.portlandsymphony.com.

A Tribute to Louis Armstrong with the Portland Symphony Orchestra – Portland
November 14, 2009 to November 15, 2009
World-renowned trumpet virtuoso Byron Stripling will play and sing in the style of Satchmo with the PSO as his big band. Location: Merrill Auditorium, 20 Myrtle Street. Time: 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. Information: www.portlandsymphony.com.

Arlo Guthrie & Family --Portland
November 20, 2009
The first family of American folk music - featuring Arlo Guthrie and children Abe, Cathy, Annie and Sarah Lee with Johnny Irion - join in a festive evening of music from the songbooks of Woody and Arlo. Arlo’s grandkids join in on selected songs in a night of joyous sounds reaching back across four generations to Woody, the legendary poet, political activist, and patriarch of the Guthrie clan. Location: Merrill Auditorium, 20 Myrtle Street. Time: 8 p.m. Cost: $44, $38, $32. Information: 207-842-0800 or visit http://portlandovations.org/

Pianist Peter Serkin -- Portland
November 22, 2009
An artist of great passion, integrity, and intelligence, the preeminent American pianist Peter Serkin performs works by Chopin, Debussy, Schoenberg and more. Location: Merrill Auditorium, 20 Myrtle Street. Time: 3 p.m. Cost: $40; students, $20.. Information: 207-842-0800 or visit http://portlandovations.org/

Mozart’s “Requiem” with the Portland Balley-- Portland
March 30, 2010
Portland Ballet will collaborate with the Choral Art Society and a live orchestra for this celebration of Mozart’s music featuring one of his most famous works and the world premiere of a newly commissioned dance. Location: Merrill Auditorium, 20 Myrtle Street, Portland Information and tickets: 207-842-0800 or visit www.porttix.com

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PERFORMING ARTS, THEATER, DANCE

Jewish Arts & Film Festival -- Fairfield
Now through November 8, 2009
Featuring music, recitals, dancing, fine art, author events, films and more. Location: Various locations throughout the Fairfield County Information: Nancy Schiffman at 203-487-0941

"L’histoire Du Soldat" with the Portland Ballet – Portland
November 8, 2009
Portland Ballet performs with the Portland Symphony Orchestra and narrator Judd Nelson to present this famous Stravinsky parable. This piece is part of the PSO’s Great Stories to Tell! program. Location: Merrill Auditorium, 20 Myrtle Street. Time: 2:30 p.m Information and tickets: 207-842-0800 or visit www.porttix.com.

Yamato Drummers of Japan -- Portland
November 10, 2009
Performing on a mind-altering array of traditional percussion instruments, the men and women of Yamato promise a heart-pounding spectacle of athleticism, grace, and exhilarating musicianship. Location: Merrill Auditorium, 20 Myrtle Street. Time: 7 p.m. Cost: $40, $34, $28; students, $20. Information: 207-842-0800 or visit http://portlandovations.org/

Big-Time Vaudeville with Michael Trautman and Michael Menes -- Gardiner
November 21, 2009
The Big-Time Vaudeville Show brings to the stage two incomparable variety performers, Michael Trautman and Michael Menes. Clowning! Juggling! Feats of magic and illusion! Light show! These performers have traveled around the world, wowing audiences with their magical, amazing talents. The show is a perfectly-blended mix of expert juggling, amazing magic, stunning slapstick, eccentric comedy, incredible illusions, and evocative variety-theater. Location: Johnson Hall Performing Arts Center, 280 Water Street. Time: 7:30 pm. Cost: Adults, $16; children under age 13, $10. Seating is limited. Information and reservations: 207-582-7144 or visit www.johnsonhall.org.

Big-Time Vaudeville Show – Gardiner
November 21, 2009
Two incomparable variety performers, Michael Trautman and Michael Menes, perform clowning, juggling, and feats of magic and derring-do. These performers have traveled around the world, wowing audiences with their magical shows. Location: Johnson Hall Performing Arts Center, 280 Water Street. Time: 7:30 p.m. Cost: Adults, $16; child under age 13, $10. Information and tickets: 207-582-7144 or visit www.johnsonhall.org

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