May Arts and Cultural Events in Medford

May is maker month in Medford!

Four events featuring more than 100 local makers dot the Arts Across Medford Calendar, starting on Thursday, May 1, with a reception for the 20+ artists whose work will be offered at EventThem Studios’ Spring Art Market on Sunday, May 4.

May 4 also offers a Sip & Shop Makers Market at the Great American Beer Hall and a Craft Market Pop-Up by 4GoodVibes at Medford Brewing Company.
Then on May 18, 4GoodVibes kicks off the outdoor festival season with a Spring Artisan Fair at the Condon Shell that will feature 80+ vendors plus live music by three bands from School of Rock Medford.

And more is to come. This week the City of Medford announced that it is creating a pop-up retail incubator at 68 High Street in Medford Square (the former Maietta Insurance space at Governors Avenue). The shop will be open from May to July and accommodate up to three microenterprises (5 or fewer employees), with the city particularly seeking artists, crafters, and makers to utilize the space rent-free. Interested parties may apply through the city website.

Meanwhile, if you want to embrace your own creative side, the library, Arts Collaborative Medford and Senior Center offer a broad ranges of classes and workshops on subjects such as crochet knitting, sewing, 3D printing, fiber crafts, painting, cardmaking, writing, poetry, storytelling, dance, and much more.

Also notable on the May calendar:

+ The library's monthlong art exhibit features winners from the annual Medford High School Photo Contest.

+ After a quiet April to allow for a complete LED interior light conversion, Chevalier Theatre resumes its normal schedule with six shows: comedians Anjelah Johnson-Reyes (May 3), Mo Amer (May 7) and Jay Leno (May 30), the bands Little Feat (May 6) and Old Crow Medicine Show (May 8), and the improv act Whose Live Anyway? (May 10).

+ The Medford Community Chorale and Youth/Young Adult Chorus present their spring concert, “All You Need Is Love,” on May 2, at Medford High School.

+ Mystic Players Revival brings another Impromptu Revue to the library, this one with a comedy theme (May 6)

+ The city presents its annual disAbility Fair (May 10) and Haitian Heritage Month Celebration (May 17)

+ Historian Dee Morris delivers “Dancing the Night Away,” a talk at the Senior Center about the many popular dance halls in Medford during the 1700s and 1800s (May 15).

+ Looking Back at Medford History, Inc., holds an event at the library on May 21 to help raise funds for a planned statue of Medford Revolutionary War heroine Sarah Bradlee Fulton, with author Anthony Sammarco as the featured speaker

For more details, visit the Arts Across Medford Calendar on the website for CACHE: The Coalition for Arts, Culture, and a Healthy Economy in Medford. There, you can also sign up for a Monday morning email with calendar highlights for the upcoming 10 days.

And if you'd like to support CACHE's efforts on behalf of the arts in Medford, please attend Tea, Treats and Art on May 10 at Arts Collaborative Medford. The fundraiser offers tea, sandwiches and treats, a guided art activity led by local artist Chelsea Brown, and a performance by the Tufts a cappella group the Jackson Jills.