Boston Weekend. Artsy Dates and Summer Classes.

This “edition” of Boston Weekend  is all about art: date nights (for parents) and summer arts classes for the kids.

For a last minute date night this Friday, June 5^th we are going to a First Friday series by SoWa Artists Guild at 450 Harrison Ave in Boston’s South End.  We have not yet attended  their Friday events, but the website promises a multi-open studio type event presenting 60+ international artists working in different mediums. ( 5-9pm, every “first Friday” of every month).

South End is one of my favorite areas of Boston and there are many nice eateries nearby for dinner/coffee/drinks before or after the show (including my favorite Beehive  with nightly live music).   For this evening, I am considering a couple of places from this  Tripadvisor’s list of  best South-end restaurants.

Another date night idea I recommend in the next couple of days is the Boston Pops’ evening of Stephen Sondheim’s music (You may be familiar with this living Broadway legend’s musical scores from Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, West Side Story, Gypsy and Follies). The Simply Sondheim event is at Symphony Hall  on June 10 and 11.  (Here is a link to Goldstar discounted $15-$47 tickets).

Unfortunately, there are no discounted tickets offered for Vakhtangov Academic Theatre of Russia new theatrical work Smile at Us, Oh Lord which is showing next Fri-Sat June 12-13 at Cutler Majestic Theater. Here is a theater’s link to the tickets (and more information) . Note that there are very few tickets left!

But it is not all about date nights. On Sunday, June 7, I look forward to my little ballerina’s performance in the year-end demonstration in her Boston Ballet’s (Newton Studio) class.  If you are considering enrolling your child in one of their classes, this event may be of interest to you (12 pm on Sunday in Newton Studio, at 863 Washington Street, Newton).  I am a big fan of Boston Ballet’s children’s program (I have also written about their adult ballet classes in my story on adult learning).

Boston Ballet School offers summer program for ages 5-19, the link to a full schedule is here.

Another Boston’s cultural “staple”, Museum of Fine Arts offers weekly and bi-weekly summer sessions for teens and tweens (age groups 12-14 and 15-18) in photography, animation, drawing and painting. For full selection of classes, here is a link to MFA’s website.

French Cultural Center on Marlboro street invites the kids (ages 5-18) to try their French language immersion programs taught by native speakers this summer (half or full day weekly sessions; here is a link to a full  programs schedule.)   I don’t know about you, but immersion in French without leaving Boston does sound amazing to me and I hope to enroll at least one of my kids – one of these summers (transportation to and from Boston is something to think about, but commuter trains and MBTA may be an option for older kids).

Wheelock Family Theater in Fenway offers a comprehensive selection of musical theater classes for kids ages 5-18. For full listing of their summer weekly sessions check this link.