Mei Lan made her first trip outside in 2007. She came out, went back in, then came out again to explore. Next week, she'll leave Zoo Atlanta and move on to China. AJC file photo

After so many celebrations for namings and birthdays, Mei Lan the panda will have her last great to-do in Atlanta this weekend.

Zoo Atlanta announced today that her farewell party will include refreshments, dancers keeper talks, good-bye card-making and Mei Lan memorabilia. The zoo will sell $25 raffle tickets to witness her last departure from the panda building before heading to Washington, D.C., and then to China. She’ll be aboard a Fedex flight with the National Zoo’s male panda, Tai Shan. (Here’s more info about her 14 1/2 hour flight to Chengdu.)

If you can’t make it out this weekend — or don’t want to battle the panda’s adoring fans — she’ll be on display in Atlanta through Wednesday, and will leave in the pre-dawn hours of Thursday.

Want to go? Zoo Atlanta celebrates panda Mei Lan with a …

Continue reading Zoo Atlanta says good-bye to panda with a party Jan. 30 »

Books: NBA star Eric Snow will sign and discuss “Leading High Performers: The Ultimate Guide to Being a Fast, Fluid, and Flexible Leader,” 7 p.m., Atlanta Fulton County Public Library Central Branch, Atlanta. FREE.

Comedy: Todd Glass performs, 8 p.m., Laughing Skull Lounge, Atlanta.

For kids: Creature Feature: Movers and Sleepers, 2 p.m., Chattahoochee Nature Center, Roswell.

Movies: “Dirt!” screening and Q&A with Farmer D, 8 p.m., The Gardens at Kennesaw Mountain, Marietta. Reservations required.

Sports: Georgia Tech men’s basketball vs. Wake Forest, 7 p.m., Memorial Coliseum, Atlanta.

Stage: “Good Boys and True” continues, 8 p.m., Actors Express, Atlanta. Review.

Have an event, venue, restaurant or performance in and around Atlanta? Add it to the AccessAtlanta.com calendar.

For instant updates, follow @insideaccess on Twitter.

Continue reading To do list: January 28 »

This photo of Harry Belafonte by Herschel Levit is in the new Atlanta History Center exhibition, "Let Your Motto Be Resistance: African American Portraits," which opens with a celebration on Jan. 30.

Heya weekenders, I’ve been busy on other projects the past two weeks, but I’m still coming through with a list of suggestions for fun stuff to do around Atlanta the next few days. There are some biggies on here: great stage shows, new exhibits and a proud farewell to Mei Lan, Zoo Atlanta’s first panda cub, who will head to China on Feb. 4.

Of course, if you’re looking for more music goings-on, check out the Atlanta Music Scene blog. As always, you can search the full AccessAtlanta.com calendar above. Posting will be back on its regular schedule next week. Till then, happy weekend! — Jamie G.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 29

Art: Closing reception for “Leftovers,” a group art show, 7-10 p.m., Little Five Points Aurora Coffee, Atlanta. FREE.

Comedy: Funny Fridays, 7:15 p.m., Aurora Theatre, …

Continue reading Weekend to do list: January 29-31 »

Like this collage by artist Felipe Jesus Consalvos? The High doesn't own it, but it might, if a High curator makes a strong enough case for it — to you.

Atlanta didn’t take so well to the idea of Ultimate Fighting in our high art spaces, but we’re so not above little curatorial rivalry.

Right now, seven of the High Museum of Art’s curators are trying to convince art lovers to buy a piece of artwork they want. Straight up, Pick me! Pick me! Not the other guy! Or…sure, pick us both. Yeah! That’s fine, too!

Not in some board room, not over e-mail. On YouTube.

I’m charmed by the idea of of dueling curators pleading their cases online like so many reality show contestants and memes of the past.

As High director of collections and exhibitions David Brenneman said in the AJC story, “Only YOU can help the High pick new art“: “We do this all the time anyway, we just simply don’t do it in competition with each other. Clearly we’re all scoping each other out, trying to figure out …

Continue reading High Museum YouTube art-off: which curator’s pick will win? »

Art: Final day for “Disobedience: Art as Agent of Change,” 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Georgia State’s Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design Gallery, Atlanta. FREE.

For kids: Little Hands: Did You See the Stars? program, 9:30-11:30 a.m., Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center, Buford.

History: DeKalb history Lunch and Learn with author Vivian Price, noon, Old Courthouse on the Square, Decatur. FREE.

Music: The Supersuckers perform with Red River Revival, 8 p.m., The Masquerade, Atlanta.

Stage: “Bat Boy: The Musical” continues, 8 p.m., Kennesaw State’s Black Box Theatre, Kennesaw.

Have an event, venue, restaurant or performance in and around Atlanta? Add it to the AccessAtlanta.com calendar.

For instant updates, follow @insideaccess on Twitter.

Continue reading To do list: January 27 »

Mei Lan at Zoo Atlanta in February 2008. She leaves for China on Feb. 4. AJC file photo

We all knew it was coming, but it appears the countdown can start: Zoo Atlanta’s first panda cub is moving back to China next month.

The Washington Post reported today that when the National Zoo’s four-year-old panda, Tai Shan, departs Washington on Feb. 4 to go back to China — with Mei Lan.

Zoo Atlanta has not yet confirmed the last day she will be on view or plans for a farewell celebration. Only the zoo’s MySpace page confirmed the Feb. 4 panda plane-pool. A press release Tuesday afternoon said the zoos plan to make a joint announcement about the panda departures later this week.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Zoo Atlanta spokeswoman Keisha Hines said they’re planning a going-away party for Mei Lan from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday. Details will be announced later this week. Mei Lan will remain on view through the weekend.

Feb. 3 will be the last day to see the National Zoo’s  panda prince on …

Continue reading Zoo Atlanta’s panda, Mei Lan, to depart for China Feb. 4 »

Art: 27th Juried Student Art Exhibition continues, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Kennesaw State University Fine Arts Gallery, Kennesaw. FREE.

Books: Author and Paralympic skier John Sundquist discusses “Just Don’t Fall,” 6-9 p.m., Park Tavern, Atlanta.

For kids: Super Reader, The Caped Crusader for Literacy event, 10 a.m., Atlanta Fulton County Public Library Central Branch, Atlanta. FREE.

Lecture: Sustainability educator David Orr to speak and sign “Down to the Wire: Confronting Climate Collapse,” 7:30 p.m., Agnes Scott College’s Presser Hall, Decatur. FREE.

Sports: Atlanta Thrashers vs. Anaheim Ducks, 7 p.m., Philips Arena, Atlanta.

Stage: “Young Frankenstein” opens, 8 p.m., Fox Theatre, Atlanta.

Stage: “Caught in the Net” continues, 8 p.m., Theatre in the Square, Marietta.

Have an event, venue, restaurant or performance in and around Atlanta? Add it to the AccessAtlanta.com calendar.

For instant updates, follow @insideaccess on Twitter.

Continue reading To do list: January 26 »

The Big Read selection by the Margaret Mitchell House Literary Center

Time to pull out those copies of Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” if you ever let them get buried in the bookshelf.

From an article by AJCer Howard Pousner:

The Atlanta History Center’s literary division has selected Hurston’s seminal 1937 novel for its second annual the Big Read event. Atlantans are encouraged to read the Harlem Renaissance writer’s most popular work between Jan. 30-March 16, whether solo or part of a book or discussion group.

The History Center is launching related programs (all of it free) beginning Feb. 17, from a Harlem Renaissance kick-off party to book readings and film showings.

The Big Read is a National Endowment for the Arts initiative taken up every year by communities all over the United States. You might have read last year’s pick by the Margaret Mitchell House Literary Center, “The Great Gatsby.”

A quick search on the NEA’s Big Read community site …

Continue reading Atlanta ‘Big Read’ events to explore Hurston’s ‘Their Eyes’ »

Art: “Remembering Asia,” by Solongo Mellecker and Sojung Yu, opens, 6-9 p.m., Studioplex Gallery Suite 143, Atlanta. FREE.

Books: Author Kimberla Lawson Roby discusses her novel, “Be Careful What You Pray For,” noon, Atlanta-Fulton County Public Library-Central Branch, Atlanta. FREE.

For kids: Winter Wonderland story and craft time, 7 p.m., Clayton County Public Library, Jonesboro. FREE.

Movies: DVD release party for Michael Jackson’s “This Is It,” 9 p.m., Blockbuster-Buckhead, Atlanta. FREE.

Nature: Introduction to Beekeeping class, 6-9 p.m., Oakhurst Community Gardent, Decatur.

Have an event, venue, restaurant or performance in and around Atlanta? Add it to the AccessAtlanta.com calendar.

For instant updates, follow @insideaccess on Twitter.

Continue reading To do list: January 25 »

Maggie Adams of Suwanee and Nathan Sublett of Sugar Hill inside the High Museum of Art's new exhibition of portraits by Robert Weingarten, "The Portrait Unbound." The portrait before them: Sandra Day O'Connor. AJC photos by Jamie Gumbrecht

You can almost make a game of your walk through “The Portrait Unbound,” a new exhibition of portraits at the High Museum of Art that opens Jan. 23.

What do a red wagon and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial have in common? Colin Powell.

An American flag, an old airplane, a spacecraft? Buzz Aldrin.

A silhouette from “The Color Purple” and a line of Grammys? Quincy Jones.

The digital images, photographed, layered and manipulated by California artist Robert Weingarten, are his answer to the question of whether you can make a portrait of a person without using their image. He signed on high-profile subjects — Mikhail Baryshnikov, Jane Goodall, Billy Graham, Sandra Day O’Connor, Steven Sondheim — and asked for a list of objects that represent them. …

Continue reading PHOTOS: First look at ‘The Portrait Unbound,’ photos by Robert Weingarten, at High Museum January 23-May 30 »