Piecing together Spring break plans?

Author: Grace Duggan

Brain too fried to figure out what to do over break? Have no fear - The Campus has you covered. From the Whitney Biennial in New York City to Montreal's notorious White Party, our picks will get you your arts fix.

New York

Headed to the Big Apple for a few days? Take a break from visiting your friends at NYU and check out the 2008 Whitney Biennial. Filling up three floors of the museum as well as space at the nearby Park Avenue Armory, the Biennial encompasses the work of over eighty American artists across numerous disciplines. For more information, go to www.whitney.org/biennial/. Want a more intimate experience? Head to Soho and take a look at "Come Across," a watercolor exhibition by Sonic Youth bassist Kim Gordon of concertgoers seen from the performer's point of view (www.ksartonline.com). Back in your friend's dorm room, see if you can get a ticket to one of the many concerts going on during break, including Jay-Z, Aretha Franklin, Crystal Castles and the Presidents of the United States of America.

Boston

Whether you're from just-outside-of-Boston or looking to spend a few days in the area as a tourist, make sure to take advantage of the many concerts in the area. Next weeks's options include Tilly and the Wall, Drive By Truckers, Auktyon, Drive By Truckers and They Might Be Giants (www.ticketmaster.com). Head to the Berklee Performance Center on the night of the 28th or 29th and enjoy a performance of East African music and dance by Spirit of Uganda, a group of twenty-two young musicians and dancers (www.berklee.edu/events). Don't remember what it was like to see a play where you didn't have a class with one of the leads? The Boston Center for the Arts has you covered with both "Stones In His Pockets," a play by Marie Jones about what happens when a Hollywood film crew comes to a rural Irish town, and "The Gibson Girl," a work by Kristen Greenidge that tells the story of twin girls whose mother winds up looking to a psychic for help with their questions about their different skin tones (www.bcaonline.org).

Montreal

It may be in another country, but Montreal is the closest major city to the Middlebury bubble. Save your love of the lower drinking age for nighttime and devote some time and energy to CCA, the Canadian Centre for Architecture. Current exhibitions include "1973: Sorry, Out of Gas," a look at the connection between the energy crisis of the 70's as it relates to "green" architecture and current environmental concerns. Catch the tailend of Montreal's infamous White Party week, offering five nights of events that culminate in the actual White Party on Sunday, March 23rd, an all-night electronica rave. In previous years over 15,000 people have attended to dance to the likes of Benny Benassi and Plastic Bertrand, while 2008 includes David Guetta, Armin Van Buuren and Offer Nissim. Don't forget your passports!

Vermont

You don't need to leave the country or even the state to find interesting arts events during the break…Just walk over to the Center for the Arts! Our own Museum of Art boasts a temporary exhibition of landscape photography from the George Eastman House Collection as well as several ongoing exhibitions. A short walk into town will bring you to the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History, currently showing photographs in an exhibit entitled "Let Children Be Children: Lewis Wickes Hine's Crusade against Child Labor" (www.henrysheldonmuseum.org). After supporting the local arts community make your way to Burlington's Higher Ground on March 27th, to see Pete Francis '99, formerly of Dispatch, play a set with Jamie McLean and Lowell Thompson in support of his upcoming album, Iron Sea and the Cavalry (www.highergroundmusic.com).