Culture worthy of your calendar

Winter Park’s Whipples at Lake Eustis Museum of Art

Winter Park’s dynamic duo of painting and sculpture – John and Lynn Whipple – are married, talented, and fun! On Friday, April 2 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., they will exhibit their quirky, contemporary, and decidedly unique paintings and sculptures at the Lake Eustis Museum of Art. Aptly titled, “Hypnotic Oddities from a Whimsical Universe: Lynn Whipple & John Whipple” will run through May 11 at the Museum.

From adjoining studios filled with odd bits and rusted treasures, each Whipple picks and chooses objects and accents, including paint, wax and abandoned toys, to create poetic and profound works which find their way into art collections nationwide. With a tongue-in-cheek view of their sentimental roots, John’s recent series of quirky toy animals painted on burlap “are the most dysfunctional from a dysfunctional family,” he says. Whipple art – from both Whipples – tugs at emotions with a twist of smirking good humor.

The Lake Eustis Museum is at 200 B E. Orange Ave. in Eustis, Fla. Call 352-483-2900 or visit www.LakeEustisMuseumofArt.org.

Easter Weekend Free at the Morse Museum

The good folks at the Morse Museum in Winter Park believe in sharing – especially on holiday weekends, and we are all invited to visit the Museum for free on Easter weekend (That’s April 2,3, and 4). The hours are Friday 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Easter Sunday. There is beauty at every turn in this gem of a museum, and the famous Tiffany windows lend themselves to peaceful contemplation, especially on Holiday weekends. The collection of works by Louis Comfort Tiffany includes leaded-glass windows and lamps to art jewelry and pottery—as well as the amazing chapel interior Tiffany designed for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The Museum is located at 445 N. Park Ave., Winter Park. Call 407-645-5311 or visit www.morsemuseum.org

Porgy and Bess

The Orlando Philharmonic continues its mission to bring opera to Central Florida with that most American of all operas – Porgy and Bess. Having written some of the greatest music ever composed by an American, Porgy and Bess is George Gershwin's undisputed masterpiece. Songs include “Summertime,” “It Ain’t Necessarily So” and “I Got Plenty of Nuttin’.”

The intensity of Porgy and Bess holds its own in the world of opera offering multi-layered emotions; human frailty; the striving for something better; and violence. In these performances, Bess will be sung by Marquita Lister, who performed the role at the Hollywood Bowl’s concert production last summer and was chosen as Bess in the New York City Opera’s PBS broadcast of the opera. She can also be heard as Bess on the acclaimed 2006 Decca CD recording that reflects the musical as it opened in its 1935 Broadway premiere. Philharmonic Conductor Christopher Wilkins calls it, “one of the miracles of American dramatic art."

The Philharmonic will present Porgy and Bess in collaboration with Mad Cow Theatre and the Negro Spiritual Scholarship Foundation. Porgy and Bess will be performed on Friday, April 9 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 11 at 2 p.m. at the Bob Carr. For tickets call 407-770-0071 or visit www.OrlandoPhil.org.