Events & Happenings

Author talks, art events, and more!

Author

Juliana Lewis
February 24, 2025

Events & Happenings February 25th - March 3rd

Hello and Happy Monday!

Hope your week is off to a good start. We are coming up on the end of February, which went much quicker than January. I hope you’re taking time to enjoy yourself during this stressful time. I am still planning to host a Book Exchange at some point and would love to highlight more free/low cost community events! Let’s have a great week!

Juliana

Tuesday, February 25th

  • 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm at Central Library

  • Join Arlington Democrats, hosted by Arlington Public Library, for a Federal Employees & Contractors Town Hall to discuss the growing threats to federal worker and contractor rights under the Trump administration. Between mass layoffs, agency takeovers, and resignation buyouts, it’s critical to understand how to protect yourself and prepare for further uncertainty in this federal employment landscape. Our panel of experts will help answer your questions regarding your rights, remedies and recourse. And the Arlington Library will have available resources to help you find new employment should the need arise. If you are a government contractor, members of our panel know how to guide contractors in securing their rightful payments and awards from the government and how to navigate through the meaning and impact of Executive actions and to find a receptive ear within the Trump administration and on Capitol Hill.

  • RSVP to attend here.

Wednesday, February 26th

  • 4:00 pm-6:00 pm at FUSE at Mason Square First Floor Lobby

    • 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm: Registration and Networking

    • 4:30 pm - 5:15 pm: Speakers Presentation & Q&A

    • 5:15 pm - 6:00 pm: Dessert reception

  • University Life Mason Square invites you to our inaugural SIPS & SCHOLARS event—a unique opportunity to network with professionals while engaging with esteemed GMU professors, lecturers, and industry experts. Explore thought-provoking topics, discover the latest trends shaping our world, and connect with leading minds in their fields. Enjoy refreshments and a cash bar as you expand your ideas & network.

  • 6:30 pm - 7:45 pm Kenmore Middle School Auditorium (200 S. Carlin Springs Drive)

  • Dr. Mariel Buqué is an Afro-Latina psychologist and CEO of Break the Cycle of Trauma, where her mission is to help reduce the recurrence of Intergenerational ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences). She earned her doctoral degree in psychology at Columbia University, where she also trained as a holistic mental health fellow within Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC). In this role, she helped to build and implement an integrated system of care in specialty clinics across Columbia Medical, with a focus on helping Black and Latine community members overcome trauma and build better overall health. 

  • The author presentation will be followed by a book signing. Books will be available for purchase courtesy of One More Page Books. This event is hosted in partnership with the Arlington County Council of PTAs (CCPTA).

Coffee Art (Clarendon/Virginia Square)

  • 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm at Detour Coffee

  • We want to support everyone in connecting with their inner creative and figured what better way than a Coffee Art Paint Party! This event is recommended for ALL AGES.

  • In under 1.5 hours our creative host will walk you step by step how to create a coffee art painting while infusing laughs and music along the way. This class is beginner-friendly; so no experience necessary! Supplies include: White paper/ watercolor paper / coffee grounds / Black sharpie markers/ paint brushes / Paint palette for mixing / water

Thurday, February 27th

  • 6:00 pm - 8:00pm at Mason Exhibitions Arlington

  • In Radical Paper, the authors discuss the contemporary breakthrough of using colored paper pulp as an integral element in creating art – as opposed to serving only as the surface on which art is created. The book chronicles the rapid development of the movement over the last 70 years, and how early practitioners in the mid-20th century first began manipulating colored pulp, freeing it from its two-dimensional function as a substrate.

Blind Date with a Book (East Falls Church)

  • 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm at One More Page Books

  • Calling all ROMANCE READERS! Join us for a night of sparkling wine, mingling (or solitary reading), a tournament of tropes, and a Blind Date with a Book, featuring a selection of mysterious wrapped advance reader copies of Romance novels. This is a ticketed after-hours event with limited space, so sign up while you can! Tickets are $20, which includes a Blind Date Book of your choice, bubbly, and chocolate samples.

  • 7:00 pm - 9:00pm at Copperwood Tavern

  • A one-night-only pairing of bold flavors & fine spirits. Plus, you get to meet the brains behind Catoctin Distillery, owner and whiskey-chemist, Becky Harris! Join us at Copperwood Tavern for an exclusive Whiskey Dinner in collaboration with our longtime friends at Catoctin Creek Distillery. This special evening is crafted for whiskey lovers and food enthusiasts alike, featuring expertly paired dishes and pours that showcase the craftsmanship behind Virginia’s most celebrated spirits.

  • Tickets are $100 each.

  • 7:00 pm at Arlington Drafthouse

  • Climbing Film Tour is back for its 5th season with an awesome selection of short films celebrating the global climbing community. Climbing Film Tour is a unique platform for climbers and filmmakers around the world to share their stories with the community.  Each year, films are submitted and selected by our Vertical Life climbing team to go on tour with screenings in hundreds of gyms and cinemas. Join us for a journey around the world. This season, we’ll follow Ian Elliott, a 72-year-old Australian rock climber defying age stereotypes as he ascends a grade 28/7c route just before his 70th birthday; Kai Lightner, a 12-time national climbing champion, against the backdrop of Jamaica and their emerging climbing community; and Freya, Leo Houlding’s daughter, who uses climbing as a practice to lean into discomfort and fear to help navigate her neurodiversity and harness its strengths. You’ll also be on the edge of your seat in Cedar Wright’s film “Dropping Molly”, following Molly Mitchell’s Roller Coaster Journey to climb “Crank-It”, one of Colorado’s most dangerous routes. We’ll also take you north to the ephemeral Scottish land of mixed climbing with Fay and Line and then meet up with Québécois/Australian climber Jacques Beaudoin and the effort behind a hard trad first ascent up a thin crack in The Gardens of Stone Conservation Area of Newnes Plateau, NSW, Australia. And then, well, a film about Jackson Marvell!

Friday, February 28th

Brad Upton (Penrose)

  • 7:00 pm & 9:30pm at Arlington Drafthouse

  • With a career spanning over 37 years, comedy veteran Brad Upton is just getting started. The former fourth grade teacher and part-time track coach is seeing a resurgence unlike anyone else. His 2019 Dry Bar comedy special, “Boomer Triggers Gen-Z Snowflakes” with 16.1 million views on YouTube, is the 2nd most viewed comedy special on the planet. The viral phenomenon sent the album to #1 on the iTunes Charts and drove his ensuing special “I’m Not Done Yet” to new heights. Collectively, the clips and full specials have garnered well over 200 million views across all platforms and continue to build momentum from newfound fans all across the country. Over his storied career, Brad has appeared with legendary acts like Jeff Foxworthy, Neal McCoy, Kenny Rogers, Lewis Black, Dolly Parton, George Jones and even now continues to tour with music icon Johnny Mathis. In 2019, he drew the attention of the iconic Grand Ole Opry where he’s had the honor to step into the circle multiple times, becoming a regular guest

Saturday, March 1st

Prisoner Express (Courthouse)

  • 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm in the Birch Conference Room at the Courthouse Library

  • Join us for an afternoon with Prisoner Express. Prisoner Express creates an opportunity for incarcerated men and women to get information, education and a public forum for creative self-expression. Read and respond to journals, art, poetry, and essays that the prisoners have submitted. Led by an experienced volunteer. 

Sunday, March 2nd

  • 12:30pm - 5:00 pm at Military Women’s Memorial

  • Come join us at the Military Women's Memorial as we celebrate Black History Month and kick off Women's History Month with a special screening of the film "The Six Triple Eight". This in-person event will take you on a journey through the incredible story of the only all-female, predominantly Black unit to serve overseas during World War II. The film, written and directed by Tyler Perry, tells the story of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. The 6888th contributed to the war effort in a unique way: by sorting through a three-year backlog of undelivered mail and delivering the mail to American soldiers far from home on the front lines in Europe, an almost insurmountable task. In the face of discrimination and a vast, unfamiliar country divided by global conflict, these 855 women brought hope to the front lines. “No mail, low morale” was the motto they gave themselves, and they fulfilled the promise of delivered mail (17 million pieces of it!) and morale when the United States needed it most.

  • Joining Kerry Washington, our Military Women’s Memorial 2024 Patriot Leadership Award Recipient, who plays Major Charity Adams, in the film’s ensemble cast are Ebony Obsidian, Milauna Jackson, Kylie Jefferson, Shanice Shantay, Sarah Jeffery, Pepi Sonuga, Moriah Brown, Gregg Sulkin, Susan Sarandon, Dean Norris, Sam Waterston, and Oprah Winfrey.

Monday, March 3rd

Silent Reading Book Club (Aurora Hills)

  • 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm at Aurora Hills Library Eads Room

  • Bring your own book or choose one from our collection at Aurora Hills Library and make progress toward your Winter Reading goals. Audiobooks are equally encouraged (with earbuds). Need help finding a book? Try a title from one of these book lists for adults.

  • Hot beverages will be provided. Please consider bringing your own mug and you can bring your own blankets for extra coziness! Feel free to drop in anytime during the event. 

  • 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm at The Board Room

  • Beer Run Comedy, stand up comedy at its finest, presents their monthly series at The Board Room in Arlington, VA on Monday March 3, 2025 at 7:30pm!!! The show will be headlined by D'Lo (DC Improv) and featuring Badar Tareen (The Kennedy Center). Tickets are $20 online, and $25 at the door.