Exhibits, galleries, theater and more: Seacoast arts and culture news

Special Veterans Night at Prescott Park Arts Festival

PORTSMOUTH — Prescott Park Arts Festival announces a special Veterans Night presented by Wilcox Industries Corp. featuring a performance by the U.S. Navy Band Cruisers on Monday, Aug. 19 at 7 p.m.

Thanks to generous support from Wilcox, special invitations to this event are extended to all veterans, service members, and their families. The Green Beret Foundation and Navy SEAL Foundation are included in this invitation and will have an onsite presence at this concert.

This special Veterans’ Night, presented by Wilcox, is free and open to the public and will take place on Prescott Park Arts Festival’s Wilcox Main Stage, located at Marcy Street in downtown Portsmouth, N.H. An optional recommended donation of $15 can be made to support the continued success of the Arts Festival and its mission to provide accessible arts and cultural programming to the community. For more information visit: https://www.prescottpark.org/event/u-s-navy-band-cruisers .

Upcoming events for Southern NH Ukulele Group announced

SEACOAST — The Southern New Hampshire Ukulele Group has had a busy year, hosting 83 gigs/jams to date including 15 beginner ukulele workshops.

These workshops are becoming more and more popular.  Upcoming beginner workshops include Epsom Library, Sept. 13 at 4 p.m. as part of the Dover Chamber Local Expert Series.  We bring our collection of 40 ukuleles and have groups playing tunes within an hour.

SNHUG will also be performing on Sunday, Aug. 18 at 11 a.m. on stage at the New England Yoga Festival to be held in Northwood. www.newenglandyogafestival.com

There are many more events scheduled through year-end, and we are currently booking into 2025.  All events are posted here: https://www.meetup.com/southern-nh-ukulele-group-snhug/events/calendar .

UNH Art Department collaborates with Local Arts Orgs to present ‘NFS: Not For Sale’ in former Museum of Art

DURHAM – The University of New Hampshire, in collaboration with Katzman Contemporary Projects of Dover, the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts of Rochester, and See Saw Art of Manchester, presentS NFS: Not For Sale , an invitational exhibition showcasing the work of nearly 40 artists.

The exhibition marks a significant milestone following the closure of the UNH Museum of Art last year due to a $14 million budget cut, a setback that was deeply felt by the greater New Hampshire art community.

In an attempt to revive the space, Benjamin Cariens, Chair of the Department of Art and Art History at UNH, contacted the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts and Katzman Contemporary Projects to produce an independent exhibition in hopes of ushering in a new era of programming focused on art accessibility, community engagement, and sustainability.

The NFS: Not For Sale exhibition invites artists to present works of personal significance, whether newly created or from their past. In order to foster a diverse and introspective collection, each artist was asked to submit 3-5 pieces, without knowing what others would bring. Additionally, the curatorial team asked each participant to look back at the time when they were emerging artists and ponder the question: What insight would you share with your younger self?

Invited artists include Alex Leith, Alicia Ethridge, Ashley Page, Bethany Engstrom, Brett Marcel, Chris Thibault, Claudia Rippee, Cozette Russell, Damion Silver, Dave Pettengill, Dean McCrillis, Douglas Breault, Edgar Paredes, Forrest Elliott, Forrest Knight, Hannah Hirsch, Heather Morgan, Holden Willard, Jackie Brown, Jason Bagatta, Kerri Kimura, Kevin Kintner, Kevin Xiques, Kristy Cavaretta, Lauren Karjala, Lydia M. Kinney, Marcus Greene, Matt Demers, Meg Hahn, Mike Howat, Miles Warner, Ned Roche, Rachelle Beaudoin, Raquel P. Miller, Richard Yu-Tang Lee, Ryan John Lefevbre, Sean Weare, Steven Cabral, Susan Schwake, Tara Lewis, and Tracy Hayes.

NFS: Not For Sale will be on view from Aug. 26 to Oct. 11, with a reception on Friday, Sept. 6, from 6-9 p.m. Visit www.katzmancontemporaryprojects.com , www.rochestermfa.org , and seesaw.gallery to learn more about the organizations involved in this effort.

Seaport Coffee House announces Season Kick Off event

EXETER — Seaport Coffee House presents our Season Kick Off, Saturday, Sept. 14, at the Old Exeter Town Hall, 9 Front St., Exeter. This outside event begins at 5 p.m. Admission is free and there will be food trucks, entertainment, and more. The feature performer is the band, Never Forgotten. For more information, visit at www.seaportcoffeehouse.com .

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Exhibits, galleries, theater and more: Seacoast arts and culture news