On view in the First Floor Gallery, "Art on the Inside" features works in an array of media, including watercolor, pencil, pastel, mixed-media collage, and handmade paper. The largest work in the show is an eye-catching collaboration among APAEP artists, nationally renowned artist Tameca Cole, and New Orleans-based Brendon Palmer-Angell. The present exhibition marks the unveiling of the mural, which is titled "Can You See You?".

Based at Auburn University, the Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project works to create spaces where currently and formerly incarcerated individuals can practice meaningful engagement with the arts and develop their own artistic voices. Founded with the knowledge that creativity is an essential trait of humanity, the program has grown from one poet teaching one class in one facility to hundreds of classes that have reached thousands of students at over 12 facilities. This exhibition is made possible by a grant awarded to the Friends Foundation of BPL by the Alabama State Council on the Arts.

This class focuses on strength, flexibility, endurance and balance. The group exercise setting provides a wonderful opportunity to stay healthy and meet new people while having fun.

"Issues" is a series of new canvases by local artist Jourdan Truth McGowan. The featured paintings are imagined covers of iconic magazines, in which McGowan makes bold commentaries on culture, politics, religion, and other topics. The paintings invite viewers to engage in meaningful reflection and dialogue on the pressing challenges of our time.

Jourdan Truth McGowan is a full-time artist from Enterprise, Alabama, who brings his own experiences and cultural heritage into every brushstroke of his paintings. By telling stories that are both inspirational and deeply human, his art speaks to people of all backgrounds, transcending barriers to connect on a universal level. For more information about McGowan, www.artoftruth.guru.

This exhibition is made possible by a grant awarded to the Friends Foundation of BPL by the Alabama State Council on the Arts.

St. Elias Maronite Catholic Church will celebrate its 27th Annual Lebanese Food and Cultural Festival from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM, Friday and Saturday, April 25 - 26, 2025! Admission is FREE! Come try homemade Lebanese food for lunch, dinner, or dessert; watch traditional Lebanese dancing demonstrations by our youth; bid on a premium item at the Silent Auction; participate in an informative Church tour; and dabke like no one is watching to a live Lebanese band! *FESTIVAL HOURS: 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM, Friday and Saturday, April 25 - 26, 2025. *LOCATION: St. Elias Maronite Catholic Church, which is located at 836 8th Street South, Birmingham, AL, 35205. *TAKEOUT: There will be an option available for walk up/ takeout orders located on the south side of the Church (just follow the signs)! *DELIVERY: For those living/ working in the downtown or southside areas, we will offer FREE DELIVERIES of food orders of $150 or more on Friday (April 25). Coordinate with your coworkers and order online ahead of time for the most authentic Lebanese Friday lunch! *PARKING: Parking is available both at the Church and surrounding the premise. A FREE SHUTTLE SERVICE will run Friday from 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM and Saturday from 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM from UAB Express 1 Parking Lot on 8th Street South (next to Stivers Collision Center - look for the signs)! *MENU: We are happy to be able to offer our FULL MENU of your favorite Lebanese plates, a la carte items, desserts, and more this year! Delicacies offered during the two-day event include baked kibbee, grilled lemon chicken, rolled grape leaves, spinach pies, meat pies, baked kibbee and falafel sandwiches, tabouleh, loobia (Lebanese-style green beans), rice, homous and pita bread, baklawa, Lebanese ice cream, and zlaybeh (Lebanese donuts). *PAYMENT: ONLY CREDIT/ DEBIT CARDS will be accepted for payment. *ENTERTAINMENT: We are excited to welcome back the New York based Amin Sultan Lebanese band, which will be playing outside, on stage, under a large tent from 6:00 PM - 9:30 PM nightly. Additionally, traditional Lebanese dances will be performed by the youth of the Church on an indoor stage beginning at 6:00 PM Friday and at 12:30 PM Saturday that will continue throughout the afternoon and evening both days. *CHURCH TOURS: Guided tours starting on the front steps of our historic Church at the top of every hour will be offered from 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM, with self-guided tours available from 11:00 AM - 9:00 PM, both days, with a 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM exclusion on Saturday during the Saturday Vigil Liturgy, which all are welcome to attend. *SILENT AUCTION: Visit our Silent Auction Room at the Church during festival hours to place your bids on a variety of interesting items! The Silent Auction will close on Saturday, April 26, at 7:00 PM. *5K/ FUN RUN: The St. Elias Cedar Run 5K and Cedar Shake Fun Run will take place the morning of Saturday, April 13. All proceeds of the 5K and Fun Run will benefit the non-profit organization Just Keep Smiling of Gardendale, AL. For more information or to register, visit https://www.facebook.com/StEliasCedarRun/ *OTHER CHARITIES BENEFITED: Since the beginning in 1998, 25% of all festival proceeds go to charities other than St. Elias Maronite Catholic Church. To date, over $768,000 has been donated to local and national charities. You can check out our festival web page (www.stelias.org) to see a list of charities supported. We look forward to celebrating our faith, food, and culture with you this year! For more information, be sure to visit https://stelias.org/ !

(Preschool) Bring your toddler for a musical morning filled with singing and dancing by Miss Maggie from Fiddlesticks!

Learn the basics of ceramics while exploring handbuilding with Jess of Jenkies Studio. Over three weeks, learn slab building and sculpting methods to create mugs, vases, ring dishes etc. Finish by exploring various surface textures and glazes to complete your pieces. This class will cover the basic terminology and techniques of handbuilding with all materials supplied, so it’s ideal for both beginners and those who've completed Ceramics: Throwing.

In Spring 2025, Magic City Art Connection's 42nd annual art festival will take place at Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark in the heart of Birmingham, AL. Take in the Festival’s array of sights, sounds, tastes, and aromas at this storied, rustic, industrial backdrop iconic to our city’s skyline. We look forward with much anticipation to melding MCAC’s vibrant contemporary art programming with this former master of industry April 25-27 as we present 150 juried, fine artists from the state, region and around the country alongside Corks & Chefs: A Taste of Birmingham (28th year Sat & Sun of the 3-day festival); Imagination Festival art workshops for kids; Collectors Classroom adult art workshops; live music and dance performances on stage Sat & Sun; Featured Artist Special Exhibition of work by Dori DeCamillis; APT Monograph series screenings of Alabama Artists; High School Sculpture Project competition installations; cultural partners and organizations; a café with food trucks and other mouthwatering favorites; plus boocoodles of other inspirational moments and experiences, lounging in the open air at MCAC’s Umbrella Lounges, people watching, and connecting with art and community. FIND ART at MCAC the last full weekend in April! It’s a spring arts tradition in Birmingham. Create. Inspire. Educate. Collect. Taste.

In an eerie, deceptively placid near-future, a techno-entrepreneur named Karsh (Vincent Cassel) has developed a new software that will allow the bereaved to bear witness to the gradual decay of loved ones dead and buried in the earth. While Karsh is still reeling from the loss of his wife (Diane Kruger) from cancer—and falling into a peculiar sexual relationship with his wife’s sister (also Kruger)—a spate of vandalized graves utilizing his “shroud” technology begins to put his enterprise at risk, leading him to uncover a potentially vast conspiracy.

Written following the death of the director’s wife, the new film from David Cronenberg is both a profoundly personal reckoning with grief and a descent into noir-tinged dystopia, set in an ominous world of self-driving cars, data theft, and A.I. personal assistants. Offering Cronenberg’s customary balance of malevolence and wit, The Shrouds is a sly and thought-provoking consideration of the corporeal and the digital, the mortal and the infinite.