T’s list of things to do and see in the week ahead.
A talk on literature and education by an indie publisher
The San Francisco-based book publisher and magazine McSweeney’s stands out from other literary outfits thanks to its intelligent curation of curious, humorous and niche subjects; it also advocates for keeping the written arts alive in underserved communities. To explore this role, one of its most celebrated contributors, Kevin Moffett, will team up with its executive editor, Jordan Bass; Joel Arquillos, executive director of L.A.-based nonprofit writing and tutoring organization 826LA; and the author Mona Simpson for a roundtable discussion as part of the Hammer Museum’s Some Favorite Writers series.
Talk starts at 7:30 p.m., Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, hammer.ucla.edu.
A heavy-hitting art show to benefit Haiti
The hyperrealist master Chuck Close and the luxe-life photographer Jessica Craig-Martin are the head curators behind this year’s Fierce Creativity exhibition, a four-day show and sale featuring works by the artists Anne Collier, Jasper Johns and 43 others. All proceeds from the show go to support Artists for Peace and Justice, a nonprofit that works to build physical, civil and educational infrastructures in Haiti.
Exhibition runs until Oct. 25. Pace Gallery, 32 East 57th St., New York, pacegallery.com.
Wednesday, Brooklyn
A Brooklyn food fair that gives back to the borough
In 2013, the Brooklyn Historical Society’s Brooklyn Bounty culinary event raised more than $160,000 to help strengthen borough-based education programs. This year, it returns with the theme of Kings County Agricultural Fair and offers tastings from more than 25 different Brooklyn restaurants, including crowd favorites like Brooklyn Brewery and Mast Brothers Chocolate. Cocktails, music from the local blues band Roosevelt Dime and a number of fair-style events will accompany guests from tasting to tasting.
6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., 26 Bridge Event Space, 26 Bridge St., Brooklyn, brooklynhistory.org.
Wednesday, Montreal
A future-facing Canadian art event
This year, the Biennale de Montréal will house a richly divergent scope of international artists whose works capture the influence of future speculation on artistic practice. Titled “L’Avenir (Looking Forward),” some of the festival’s 50 participants offer aesthetic investigations into long-term environmental crises, like Ursula Biemann, whose video essay “Deep Weather” (2013) traces tar sand extraction in Northern Canada to melting ice fields in the Himalayas. Other highlights include Richard Ibghy and Marilou Lemmen’s “The Prophets” (2013), which focuses on the impossibility of economic anticipation by transforming complex financial charts and graphs into simple household-item sculptures.
Exhibition runs until Jan. 4, 2015. Venues across Montréal, bnlmtl2014.org.
A pop-up features vintage Levi’s with a modern fit
RE/DUN jeans are made along the same “reduce-reuse-recycle” principles incorporated by most eco-friendly entrepreneurs, but in this brand’s case, the process itself is a necessary component of the fashion. Each pair of jeans was previously owned, giving them the natural worn-in feel that makes vintage denim classic, yet they’re retailored in line with more modern fits and styles. Pick up a pair at RE/DUN’s first-ever retail appearance, a pop-up at Warm in Nolita that will remain open until Dec. 15.
Warm, 181 Mott St., New York, warmny.com.
Thursday, Los Angeles
A botanical beauty how-to
Otherwild Goods & Services provides workshop and studio spaces to the many communities of artists and creators throughout Los Angeles. As the first part of an end-of-year series titled holiDIY, Otherwild has partnered up with the Los Angeles-based Women’s Center of Creative Work and the natural skin-care company Earth Tu Face to host an herbal beauty class for those looking to learn how to get the best skin from the best botanicals.
6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Otherwild Goods & Services, 1932 Echo Park Ave., Los Angeles, otherwild.com.