CultureFest!, women entrepreneurs, US poet laureate and more cap off March

A quarter of the year has flashed by us already. Can you believe it? With so many days behind us in 2019, it’s almost like everything got merged into one jam-packed weekend. There are panels celebrating women entrpreneurs and artists, a celebration of the Persian New Year, gothic fable theater, queer art exhibitions, and more. Let’s kick off the second quarter of the year strong, shall we?

Tracy K. Smith, Poet Laureate of the US Annual Oration
The Philomathean Society will present Tracy K. Smith, Pulitzer Prize winning Poet Laureate of the United States, as the 2019 Annual Orator. Smith is a poet and memoirist currently serving her second term as the US poet laureate. Her poetry frequently centers identity, national politics, and our collective existence. The Annual Oration will feature a lecture and a Q&A, with a book signing to follow. Her latest book, Wade in the Water, will be available for purchase after the lecture. The Annual Oration is Thursday, March 28 at 7:30 pm at Meyerson Hall (210 South 34th Street), and is free. Reserve your seat online.

Historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich and The Age of Homespun
As Women’s History Month comes to a close, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian of early America and the history of women Laurel Thatcher Ulrich will join the Museum of the American Revolution (101 South 3rd Street) on Thursday, March 28 at 6pm to reflect on her pioneering work The Age of Homespun: Objects and Stories in the Creation of an American Myth. In The Age of Homespun, first published in 2001, Ulrich uses domestic items from preindustrial America to trace history and offer profound insights into American life and culture. At the Museum, Ulrich will revisit the Revolutionary era with an emphasis on the power of ordinary objects to enhance our understanding of the past.

Tickets are $15 for museum members, $20 for non-members, and $10 for students. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the museum online.

An evening with women in leadership at National Liberty Museum
National Liberty Museum (321 Chestnut Street) will host a panel of four women entrepreneurs, artists, and business leaders on Thursday, March 28 at 7pm. The panel will include Jeri Lynn Johnson, artistic director of Black Pearl Orchestra; Vernique Fields (aka Neeek Nyce), owner & DJ of Into Fields Live Entertainment; Carol Stoudt, founder and brewer of Stoudt’s Brewing Company; and Emily Selvin, artist/owner of Selvin Glass.

Admission to the program is $15, $10 for National Liberty Museum members, and is available online or by calling (215) 925-2800.

How to Catch Creation
Presented by Philadelphia Theatre Company, How to Catch Creation follows four artists and intellectuals in San Francisco who are struggling to nurture creative impulses and establish a legacy in both their professional and personal lives. When one discovers the works of a black queer feminist writer from a bygone era, their lives begin to intersect in unexpected ways. The play, written by Christina Anderson, runs through April 14 at Suzanne Roberts Theatre (480 South Broad Street). Tickets are available online. Be sure to check BSR theater writer Cameron Kelsall’s review when it publishes on Thursday.

The Picture of Dorian Gray
Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion’s Victorian Theatre Company presents Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray this weekend. Josh Hitchens adapts and performs the gothic fable of doomed love. The show is on Friday and Saturday, March 29-30 at 7pm and Sunday, March 31 at 2pm. Tickets are available online.

CultureFest! at Penn
Developed and presented in partnership with the Shabahang Iranian Cultural Society of America and the Middle East Center at the University of Pennsylvania, the Penn Museum (3260 South Street) will celebrate spring with CultureFest! Nowruz, Saturday, March 30, from 1-8pm.

Nowruz, or “new day” in Persian, is an ancient festival that marks the beginning of spring, a season of rebirth, and good luck in the Persian New Year—which was Thursday, March 21.

The day will feature family-friendly activities, including cultural performances from the Silk Road Dance Company, storytelling with author of Shahnameh for Kids Arsia Rozegar, choir performancs from the Turkish American Friendship Society of the U.S., and more. After 5pm, the fest continues with adult-focused programs, including live music with DJ Rana Ransom. Admission is $15.

4 Queer Voices
The exhibition of four queer artists Marisa Velazquez-Rivas, Santiago Galeas, Ryan Psota, and Marcus Branch, continues into April at the William Way LGBT Community Center. A collection of compelling images that celebrate their ideas about identity and community are featured. The artists have been recognized for murals and graffiti throughout the city, or for photography in national magazines. Through their artworks of painting, illustration, and photography the artists share their unique styles and celebrate their differences.