Week Ahead, Jan. 9-15: Girl Scouts, country music, hip hop, dinosaurs, folk art, comedy

HAPPENING NOW

37th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Hall of Fame Gala: 5:30 p.m. reception, 6:30 p.m. dinner today, Gateway Grand Hotel, 4200 NW 97th Blvd. Tickets: $100 each; must be purchased in advance. (376-2442)

Cash Unchained: Johnny Cash Tribute: 8 p.m. today, High Dive, 210 SW Second Ave. Tickets: $10 in advance, $13 at door, pay-what-you-can livestream. (highdivegville.veeps.com) Featuring Rick Ryan and Frank Carson.

Ville Sounds – Local Hip Hop & R&B Showcase: 8 p.m. Thursday, High Dive, 210 SW Second Ave. Tickets: $8 advance, $10 at door, pay-what-you-can livestream. (highdivegville.veeps.com) Featuring Jeremiah Ludicrous, Young Khaliq, Israel Jones, Sully Geez, Ayoleon and Hunter Ross.

Matcha, Spirit of the Dead and Lionel Jr AKA Maalik: 8 p.m. Friday, High Dive, 210 SW Second Ave. Tickets: $8 advance, $10 at door, pay-what-you-can livestream. (highdivegville.veeps.com)

Hotel Fiction, Driveaway and Estro: 8 p.m. Saturday, High Dive, 210 SW Second Ave. Tickets: $12 in advance, $15 at door, pay-what-you-can livestream. (highdivegville.veeps.com)

Tiny Titans: Dinosaur Eggs and Babies interactive exhibit: Extended to Feb. 20, Florida Museum of Natural History, 3215 Hull Road. Tickets: $8 for adults; $7 for Florida residents, seniors and non-University of Florida college students; $5.50 for ages 3 to 17; and free to museum members and UF students with a valid Gator 1 Card. (floridamuseum.ufl.edu/exhibits/tiny-titans, 846-2000) Features more than 150 dinosaur eggs, real dinosaur bones, reconstructed nests, hands-on exploration stations and animated video presentations. There is a “petting zoo” featuring five different species of baby dinosaurs and their on looking parents. Creative dinosaur costumes are available so visitors can dress up and channel their own inner reptile while they explore the exhibit.

Todd Snider with guest Chicago Farmer: 8 p.m. Thursday, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, 1050 A1A N., Ponte Vedra Beach. Tickets: $32-$46. (pvconcerthall.com/events/detail/todd-snider)

Girl Scouts of the Gateway Council Cookie Season Kick-off: Now through traditional booths and online via the Digital Cookie online platform. (bit.ly/GSGCfindcookies, 904-387-2570)

GFAA Gallery: Ongoing, 1314 S. Main St. Perfect gifts and smaller original artworks for sale in the gift shop. Gallery Hours: 1-6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday.

Gainesville Modern Quilters: Now through Jan. 30, Hotel Indigo, 4949 Celebration Pointe Ave. More than 20 quilts created by the members of the guild will be on display. Attendees will have the option to purchase some of the quilts. Gainesville Modern Quilters is the local chapter of the international Modern Quilt Guild. The group meets monthly to learn new skills, plan projects and events.

UPCOMING

"A Healthy Dose of Comic Relief": 11 a.m. Sunday service, 1 p.m. concert Jan. 16, Unity of Gainesville, 8801 NW 39th Ave. Tickets: $15 at the door (373-1030, unitygainesville.org) Guest speaker Greg Tamblyn, NCW (No Credentials Whatsoever), weaves together a sacred lesson experience with funny, award-wining songs, stories, a meditation and powerful group meditation music. There will be plenty of music and laughter, and a profound experience of the sacred.

Sunday Assembly: 11 a.m. Jan. 16, online via Zoom. (sagainesville.weebly.com, [email protected]) Guest speaker Heaven Campbell, Florida program director of Solar United Neighbors, a nonprofit that helps educate people about solar energy. She will speak about solar energy 101 and how to advocate for solar sights followed by a discussion and music by SA musicians with sing-along opportunities.

King Celebration Commemorative March: Noon Jan. 17, MLK Memorial Gardens, 200 E. University Ave.,. to Citizen’s Field, 1100 NE 14th St. Folks will march carrying signs and singing freedom songs (376-2442) Masking and social distancing is encouraged.

National Holiday Gospel Program: 2 p.m. Jan. 17, Citizen’s Field, 1100 NE 14th St. Free. (214-1044) Featuring national gospel recording artist Helen Miller, who will perform her hit song “I Won’t Let You Fall.”

Music at Holy Trinity series: 4 p.m. Jan 23, Holy Trinity Church, 100 NE First Street. Free. (olytrinitygnv.org) Concert featuring the Ben Rosenblum Trio, New York City jazz artist on tour.

Dance Alive National Ballet: "Don Juan in Loveland": 2 and 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12, Phillips Center, 3201 Hull Road. (392-2787) This production is a blank slate; the performance is filled with each dancer’s unique sparkle and painted with choreographer Ani Collier’s artistic brush. Just as each dancer’s body is unique, so is every creator’s point of view. The story is yet to be revealed. Limited seating. Family friendly. Talk back following the production.

"Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest": 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, Jan 28-Feb. 20, Acrosstown Repertory Theatre, 619 S. Main St. Tickets: $20 general admission, $15 seniors, military and students. ([email protected], 352-275-7790) Directed by Andrea Young.

ONGOING

Florida Impressions" exhibition: New exhibit, Harm Museum or Art, 3259 Hull Road. (harn.ufl.edu/linkedfiles/pressrelease-floridaimpressions.pdf) Permanent exhibition includes more than 50 paintings depicting the state's environment, people and history, and celebrates the transformative gift of 1,200 works of art from Sam and Robbie Vickers; includes works by Martin Johnson Heade, Thomas Moran and Louis Comfort Tiffany.

“Our Changing Climate: Past and Present”: Permanent exhibit at the Florida Museum of Natural History, 3215 Hull Road. Free. (floridamuseum.ufl.edu/exhibits/our-changing-climate) Exhibit uses large-format graphs showing major historic events to present the story of Earth’s changing climate over geologic time. It highlights how Earth’s climate fluctuates and what global trends are affecting life today.

The Harn Museum: "Plural Domains": On display through April 24, Harn Museum, Southwest 34th Street and Hull Road. Selected works from the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation Collection. The exhibition aims to advance cultural understanding and educational dialogue among Latin American artists and global audiences.

Library District monthly reading suggestions: Anyone can subscribe at aclib.us/acldreads to receive a monthly email with book suggestions linking directly to the Alachua County Library District’s catalog, where patrons can reserve titles for pick up or check out digital books. Choose from 25-plus categories. ACLD Reads suggests titles in all formats, including print, digital and audiobooks.

"Shadow to Substance": On display through February i the Melvin and Lorna Rubin Gallery, Harn Museum, 3259 Hull Road. The exhibition creates a chronological arc from the past to the present into the future using historical photographs from the Harn and Smathers Library collections and through the lens of Black photographers working today.

Good News Arts: Collaborates with local, regional and national artists to provide creative education opportunities, exhibitions and cultural programming to the community. Good News Arts serves as a community center, free and accessible to all. Located in High Springs at the First Avenue Center, 23352 W. U.S. 27, Suite 80.

Kanapaha Botanical Gardens: 9 a.m.-7 p.m. or dusk today, Kanapaha Botanical Gardens, 4700 SW 58th Drive. Admission, $10 adults, $5 children ages 5-13, free for children under 5 years old accompanied by parents. (kanapaha.org) Dogs on a leash and up-to-date on vaccines with no history of aggression are allowed in the park. Garden hours: 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. Monday-Wednesday and Friday, closed Thursday. 9 a.m.- 7 p.m. or dusk Saturday-Sunday.

Afternoon Adventure Camp: 2-5 p.m. Wednesdays, Cade Museum, 811 S. Main St. This mid-week opportunity will focus on challenges that boost kids' creativity and imagination. Cade Museum educators help children ages 5-11 engage in a broad range of hands-on STEAM experiments and activities. In the Creativity Lab and Fab Lab, children will explore and improve skills in 3-D design, coding, robotics and more. Cade’s educators will be available to help children in kindergarten through fifth grade address homework challenges. Registration is open. Members receive a discounted rate.

Little Sparks ages 0-5: 12:15-1 p.m. Saturday, Cade Museum, 811 S. Main St. Children will receive a personal Little Sparks kit with all of their own supplies, plus make and takes that extend the fun and learning at home. The BRAIN and Sweat Solution exhibits also will be open for Little Sparks.

Matheson Museum: “When Johnny Came Marching Home: Outdoor exhibition, located on the west side of the main Matheson building behind the set of flags along Sweetwater Branch Inn, 513 E. University Ave. (378-2280, mathesonmuseum.org) This sculpture was designed by Ken McGurn and fabricated by Matthew Pollard. The exhibit honors all if those who served. McGurn served in the Army and Army Reserves from 1963 to 1979. Current exhibits in person and online include “Trailblazers: 150 Years of Alachua County Women,” celebrating the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote in the U.S., and "McCarthy Moment: The Johns Committee in Florida." Hours are 1-4 p.m. Friday-Saturday.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Johnny Cash tribute, folk art, Girl Scouts, comedy, group meditation