ART/ACT LOCAL The David Brower Center’s annual juried exhibition of work by Bay Area artists this year focuses on art inspired by and addressing ocean conservation. “Sea Change” examines the negative changes in the world’s oceans as well as the positive change conservationists hope to achieve in the future. The five artists in the exhibition are photographer Barbara Boissevain, printmaker and painter Sukey Bryan, public environmental artist Lauren Elder, sculptor Ethan Estess, and printmaker Sarah Newton. The exhibition, which runs through May 29, opens on Friday evening with a free public reception and a moderated discussion including all five artists. Opening: Friday, Feb. 22, 6 p.m., Hazel Wolf Gallery, Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way.
DON’T BUILD A WALL Looking for hope for the future? When 10-year-olds Lily Ellis and Lauren Jones read about a kid in Austin, Texas raising thousands of dollars through a hot chocolate stand to support building Trump’s wall on the border, they decided they had to do something. On Sunday, Lily and her Lauren will host a Mexican hot chocolate stand to raise money to reunite families separated at the border. One of the slogans on the site: “Hot chocolate for peace!” Lily is no stranger to the spotlight: she performs with Grammy-nominated kids hip hop group Alphabet Rockers, which sold out the Freight & Salvage last weekend. Lauren’s family runs Jenny’s Churros. Lily and Lauren will be serving Mexican hot chocolate and churros, as well as a variety of donated sweets and bake sale goods, all for donations to support RAICES, whose mission is to “help separated families, detained families, unaccompanied minors, and others who are seeking asylum in the United States.” The rest of Alphabet Rockers will join, as well 11-year-old Kaia Marbin, who organized the “Families Belong Together” rally at Lake Merritt in June last year. Sunday, Feb. 24, 1-3:30 p.m., in front of Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison St.
BERKELEY DANCE PROJECT UC Berkeley’s dance program is celebrating its 50th anniversary with “Berkeley Dance Project 2019: the body remembers,” an evening of five dances by professional choreographers performed by an all-student cast. The evening includes works by choreographers Joe Goode, Rulan Tangen, Latanya Tigner and Cherie Hill, as well as recent UC Berkeley alumna Katie O’Connor. In addition to the performances, the celebration includes a photographic retrospective of the program’s history in the lobby of Zellerbach Playhouse. Performances on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays through March 2, 8 p.m., Zellerbach Playhouse.
BACH CANTATAS You might think that a group dedicated solely to the performance of Bach cantatas had too narrow a focus. But with more than 200 works to choose from (there are 216 cantatas definitely attributed to Bach, and a further eight with disputed authorship), the Cantata Collective has plenty of musical territory over which to roam. On Sunday, the group will be performing a free concert including BWV 36, Schwingt freudig euch empor, and BWV 124, Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht (by the way, if you know anyone planning a performance of my favorite, BWV 51, Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, ping me). Sunday, Feb. 24, 5 p. m., St. Mary Magdalen Church, 2005 Berryman St.
RAISING BLACK CHILDREN Author Janet Stickmon will be at Eastwind Books of Berkeley on Saturday for a reading and discussion about raising black children. Stickmon’s starting point for her book, To Black Parents Visiting Earth: “How would you explain today’s social climate to Black parents visiting from other planets? In a collection of letters with topics ranging from the politics of hair to generational wealth, Janet Stickmon writes to Black parents visiting Earth, offering practical advice on how to raise our Black children to be happy, confident, and resilient.” Saturday, Feb. 23, 3 p.m., Eastwind Books, 2066 University Ave.
Don’t miss these other events covered on Berkeleyside:
A world of dance in Berkeley, and Denise Perrier sings Nancy Wilson
Central Works’ ‘Wonderland’ is a Kafka-esque comedy
