Arts & Culture

Whenever Francesca McNeely heard “Wade in the Water” as a young girl, she simply thought the African American spiritual was an upbeat song. It’s an easy mistake to make, she said.

Lovers of live jazz in Boston face tough decisions this fall: How to choose among the many shows featuring numerous first-rate performers?

Monday, Oct. 14 is Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a celebration of Indigenous culture, history and heritage. Cultural institutions around Boston are celebrating with special programming, free admission and live art-making.

A new exhibition by Maya Alia at the Crossings Gallery in Allston, titled “Curls & Coils,” celebrates natural hair in all its beautiful and versatile glory, with 13 vibrant digital illustrations, jewelry and mixed media works.

When David Orr recognized how especially turbulent the past few years had felt, he set out to create a respite.

Nature and societal nurture collide in “Hugh Hayden: Home Work,” a sprawling exhibit on view now at the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University.

Composer, music educator and community organizer Carlos Simon has performed his unique compositions, blending gospel and jazz influences with Western classical chords, all over the world. Now, he’s ready to take on Boston.

At the corner of Cross Street and Hanover Street in Boston’s North End sits a steel structure, a house with no walls that is both open to the public and exposed to it.

Sabrina Avilés founded CineFest Latino in 2022 as a way of giving back to her community, she said. Breaking into the industry as a Latina was challenging for Avilés, so she wanted to take “a lot of these filmmakers under my wings” and give them opportunities that she had fought to get.

Breathy vocals and a scratchy, static-like effect overlay upbeat keys. “Love,” a low voice warbles, elongating the word. “Love” echoes. The multilayered fusion crescendos into a bouncy drum beat, ushered in by the voice rapping, “So we’re leading with love? Yeah, we’re leading with love.”

There’s a new kid on the artistic block. Last week, world-renowned multidisciplinary artist Jeffrey Gibson installed “your spirit whispering in my ear” in Dewey Square on the Rose Kennedy Greenway.

On a crisp spring evening in early May, several dozen people from all ages, backgrounds and walks of life gathered in Simmons Hall, an eye-catching MIT residence hall designed by Steven Holl. Inside the apartment of an MIT professor, the group of strangers observed artworks, ate dinner together and engaged in meaningful discussions about their joys, their conflicts and their traumas.