Don’t have time to read a novel? This is the perfect reading group for you! The group meets monthly to discuss an assigned essay on art with topics ranging from artists to art theory. All opinions welcome. The goal is to learn more about art. This week: “Rethinking Dichotomies: Crafts and the Digital,” by Love Jönsson from NeoCraft: Modernity and the Crafts, edited by Sandra Alfoldy. Copies of the essay are available at the Museum’s front desk. Wine and coffee served.

Over the duration of Hand+Made, artist Sheila Pepe invites the audience to help unravel her site-specific installation Common Sense II (2010), a sculpture made of crocheted yarn. Enjoy a specialty cocktail as you convert her artwork into your own functional pieces: cozies, mittens, pot holders, scarves, etc.

*Special location: Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, 4848 Main St.

In conjunction with Hand+Made, CAMH’s Teen Council leads a workshop at this organization founded to advance education about the process, product, and history of craft.

Art+Craft+Performance=An afternoon of limitless creative fun for the whole family! Enjoy hands-on art activities inspired by the exhibition Hand+Made. All activities are free and art supplies are provided.

Gwynne Rukenbrod, curator of fine craft at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, will lead a discussion about Hand+Made.

Internationally renowned ceramist James Melchert will restage Changes, a "happening" that has not been performed since 1972. Melchert will work with local artists in this meditative performance that involves wet clay slip and its effects upon the body. This performance is held in conjunction with Hand+Made.

Over the duration of Hand+Made, artist Sheila Pepe invites the audience to help unravel her site-specific installation Common Sense II (2010), a sculpture made of crocheted yarn. Enjoy a specialty cocktail as you convert her artwork into your own functional pieces: cozies, mittens, pot holders, scarves, etc.

Steel Lounge Underground is back as a special summer series! Presented with Derek Jones and Josh Zulu, this music event showcases Houston’s diversity and talent by bringing together musical artists representing a variety of genres. During the event, the audience is free to explore the exhibitions on view while enjoying the music. Cash bar and gourmet food by Houston’s latest food sensation, the Fusion Taco Truck. Steel Lounge Underground will be held 8-11pm the last Fridays of May-August: May 28, June 25, July 30, and August 27. Don’t miss this exciting combination of art and local music. Please check Steel Lounge Underground’s Facebook page for this month’s lineup.

Join us for the second in a two-part performance of Anne Wilson’s Wind-Up: Walking the Warp in conjunction with Hand+Made. Wilson will partner with local dance ensemble Hope Stone Dance to restage this conceptual choreographic work based upon weaving. In an endurance work, dancers literally walk the warp of a 17-foot long stainless steel frame, threading as they skillfully move in an out of the warp.

In conjunction with Perspectives 170: Cruz Ortiz, the artist and Mary Cantu present the Fontmasters Club of the Greater San Antonio Area. By studying hand-painted signs and other vernacular letter forms, the Fontmasters advance their mission of "establishing personal gain through font education in an ethical approach at the highest level." Look for Fontmasters on Facebook .

Always wanted to join a book club but too busy to read a novel? This is the group for you! Join us for this week’s discussion on “Contradictions” from Contemporary Art: A Very Short Introduction by Julian Stallabrass. Copies of the essay are available at the Museum front desk. All opinions welcome. Coffee and wine served.

Over the duration of Hand+Made, artist Sheila Pepe invites the audience to help unravel her site-specific installation Common Sense II (2010), a sculpture made of crocheted yarn. Enjoy a specialty cocktail as you convert her artwork into your own functional pieces: cozies, mittens, pot holders, scarves, etc.

Join us for the opening reception of work by Los Angeles-based artist Jennifer West. The artist will lead a gallery walk-through at 6:30pm.

*Special location: Houston Museum of African American Culture, 4807 Caroline Street, Houston, Texas 77004

Artist Theaster Gates performs A Closer Walk with Thee (2010), a choral piece that is part of his installation for Hand+Made. Gates creates, in his own words, “sculpture, performance, space, and friendship.” In Dave: A Legendary Black Clay Superhero and A Closer Walk with Thee (both 2010 and on view at CAMH), Gates provides a stage for his own music inspired by the writings of Dave the Potter, a slave born in South Carolina at the beginning of the nineteenth century who made pots for the plantation he served. Using the words Dave inscribed on the necks of the pots—his name, biblical verses, and couplets—Gates has created a choral piece, with lyrics in call-and-response form, with Dave’s prompts and Gates’s replies. The installation of A Closer Walk with Thee consists of speakers and a turntable, both made of porcelain, which play a recording of the piece. Gates will be joined by a Houston choir for his live performance.

Celebrate the closing of Hand+Made with a performance by Cynthia Giachetti. Integrating junk-shop objects—rusted forks, spoons, knives, finials—into her own handmade ceramics, Giachetti creates sculptures that invoke a spiritual reverence for death and a sense of gratitude for what exists and what can be experienced. For her performance, Flower Ceremony (2010), the artist will give away the flowers from still life (2010), a massive ceramic chandelier created for the exhibition made up of many floral elements.

Steel Lounge Underground celebrates Houston summers with art and music. Presented with Derek Jones and Josh Zulu, this music event showcases Houston’s diversity and talent by bringing together musical artists representing a variety of genres. During the event, the audience is free to explore the exhibitions on view while enjoying the music. This month’s talented lineup includes DJ Chicken George and Auto Body. There is no charge for admission; cash bar and gourmet food by Houston’s latest food sensation, Fusion Taco. Don’t miss this exciting combination of art and local music. Join Steel Lounge Underground’s Facebook page to receive updates on the event.