Community Calendar

Route 66 is as much an idea as it is a place. Since its creation in 1926, America’s most famous highway has evolved from a 2,400-mile transportation corridor into a powerful symbol of nostalgia, travel, and the American road. Today, it functions as a kind of pilgrimage route, marked by neon signs, roadside attractions, and preserved motels, cafés, and gas stations. In this course, we will explore the history, cultural meaning, and enduring appeal of Route 66. Together, we will examine its origins, rise and decline, late-20th century revival, the role of nostalgia and car culture, preservation efforts, and the possible future of this iconic highway

Join us every Monday from 6–8 pm, beginning October 5, 2026, for informal, non-instructional figure drawing sessions with a live, undraped model.

Open to artists of all skill levels, these relaxed sessions offer an opportunity to draw from life, practice, and connect with other local artists. No experience is necessary. Volunteer artists host each session and will be available to offer feedback or guidance upon request.

Every Monday beginning October 5, 2026
6–8 pm
$15 per session
18+ only

Please bring your preferred drawing materials and a drawing board if you have one. Chairs are plentiful, but easels and drawing boards are limited.

Note: Please check the gallery website or social media for closures; cancellations may occur due to holidays, weather or special events.

Harry S. Truman once de scribed the presidency as “the most peculiar office in the world.” In this course, we will explore how the Founding Fathers left the office for future presidents to define, creating conditions for a dramatic expansion of executive power. We will examine how the presidency has come to dominate the three co-equal branches, with Congress and the Supreme Court at times ceding authority. We will consider how and why this shift occurred, how this peculiar office is won or lost, how they have exercised power, and how the rise of the administrative state has reshaped the balance envisioned by the framers.

As people face mental health challenges, whether because of the economic events or events in the newspaper, they may find solace in self-help mental health resources in a book titled "Navigating the Web: Curated Website Reviews for LIS Professionals and the Public". To order your copy now, please contact Eliva Press at info@elivapress.com

America has provided fertile ground for new and alternative religions to sprout and grow. Some prosper and eventually become accepted as part of the normal religious landscape, some wither away and are forgotten, and some detonate, creating public scandal and in the worst cases, national tragedy. This course will examine New Religious Movements, popularly known as “cults”, within the US context. We will examine these religious movements both from insider perspectives and outsider perceptions. We will analyze the history, practices, and beliefs of these organizations to better understand them and deconstruct misconceptions. This course covers the 18th and 19th centuries.

In this course, we will explore the three fascinating realms of the cosmos: nearby planets and moons; the stars; and the galaxies (the great island of stars that turn out to be the building blocks of the universe.) Our discussion will be in everyday language, without any math, and will be accompanied by remarkable color images from the latest space probes and the world’s largest telescopes, including the latest breathtaking images from the James Webb Space Telescope.

This course traces Apple’s fifty-year history and its massive impact on personal computing, design, product culture, platforms and ecosystems, and daily life. Each session focuses on a different decade in Apple’s history, from the birth of the PC in the late 1970s to the latest Apple silicon, VR headsets, and future iPhones. We will learn how Apple reshaped not just technology, but how people live, work, and communicate.

As people face mental health challenges, whether because of the economic events or events in the newspaper, they may find solace in self-help mental health resources in a book titled "Navigating the Web: Curated Website Reviews for LIS Professionals and the Public". To order your copy now, please contact Eliva Press at info@elivapress.com

August Wilson was the first African American playwright to have a Broadway theater bear his name, a fitting tribute to a dramatist who brought African American culture and lived experience to the stage. In this course, we will read, watch, and examine the first five plays in Wilson’s American Cycle, a tenplay series representing each decade of the African American culture’s 20th century. We will explore Wilson’s life and the influences behind his work while focusing on Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and Seven Guitars, tracing his powerful interpretation, celebration, and preservation of African American culture.

This course continues our journey into how music becomes the emotional engine of film. This is not film school—it is a celebration for film lovers who want to experience how music shapes story, character, and unforgettable moments. We will explore how instrumental scores and songs with lyrics work together to drive narrative, define identity, and capture cultural shifts. We will focus on films where songs take center stage, from iconic franchise themes to pop- and rock-driven storytelling. Spanning genres and eras, we will see how composers, songwriters, and performers expanded the language of film music. (Class will not meet 10/28)