ART

PAINTING CUBA Watercolors and oil paintings by mid-19th-century landscape artist Charles De Wolf Brownell are on display at Hirschl & Adler Galleries. Brownell began painting the scenery near his homes in Connecticut and Rhode Island, but soon became curious about areas neglected by other painters in the Hudson River School. Beginning in 1953, he spent seven consecutive winters in Cuba, living on sugar and coffee plantations that were owned by his mother’s family. Brownell revered the work of Frederic Church, and when he moved to New York City in 1860 he visited Church at his studio during his second day in town. They became lifelong friends. Through Friday, December 31, Tuesday-Friday, 9:30 a.m.-5:15 p.m., Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-4:45 p.m., Hirschl & Adler Galleries, 21 E. 70th St., between Madison and Fifth avenues, 212-535-8810, free.

BENEFITS

POSITIVE DIFFERENCE The Partnership for a Drug-Free America honors Tom Brokaw at its second annual “Making a Difference” gala. Monday, 6:30 p.m. cocktails, 7:30 p.m. dinner and dancing, Waldorf-Astoria, Park Avenue at 50th Street, 212-973-3533, $1,000.

FAMILY

BRASS CLASS The Kids Classics series of family concerts kicks off with a recital focusing on brass instruments. Host Jim Blanton and his orchestra lead audience members through the different parts of the symphony and introduce musical ideas such as rhythm, pitch, and dynamics. At a preconcert activity sessions, children can make their own instruments (2 p.m.). Sunday, 3 p.m., Queens College, LeFrak Concert Hall, Kissena Boulevard at 64th Avenue, Queens, 718-793-8080, $50 for all five concerts.

FILM

DIASPORA DAYS The African Diaspora Film Festival screens movies that explore the global black experience from Belgium to Brazil to Burkina Faso. The series opens with the American premiere of “Kabala,” Assane Kouyate’s 2002 film from Mali that tells the story of what happens in a Mande village when the sacred well goes dry (Friday, 8:30 p.m., $30 for screening and party, in Bambara with English subtitles. Additional screening Monday, 7 p.m.). Other highlights this weekend include the French animated children’s film “Kirikou and the Sorceress” (Saturday, 1 p.m., Monday and Friday, December 3, noon) and “The Other Final,” about a soccer game between the world’s lowest ranked national teams, Bhutan and Montserrat (Sunday, 3:15 p.m.). Festival: Friday through Sunday, December 12, days and times vary, most screenings held at Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second Ave. at 2nd Street, 212-864-1760, $9 general, $7 340 2066 419 2076Monday-Friday general and seniors and students at all times, $110 pass includes admission to all regular screenings and discussions. See www.nyadff.org for full schedule.

GUYS GONE WILD WEST Two Westerns that portray the traditional “good guy” as bad screen at the Rubin Museum of Art. John Wayne’s protagonist in “Red River” slowly turns into a monster (5 p.m.). In “High Plains Drifter,” Clint Eastwood wreaks havoc on a town of settlers (8 p.m.). Both screenings: Saturday, Rubin Museum of Art, 150 W. 17th St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues, 212-620-5000, free admission, $12 food or drink minimum.

HOLIDAYS

CHOO-CHOO CHRISTMAS A model train exhibit at Citigroup Center opens this weekend. A miniature world decorated in the style of mid-century New York bustles with holiday activities. “High Noon” plays in a miniature drive-in theater and children decorate a Christmas tree as the train winds its way through the scenery. At Friday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony and at other times through the weekend children can have their picture taken with “Rugrats” characters (Friday, 10 a.m. ceremony. Photo sessions: Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Saturday, noon-3 p.m.). Trains on view: Friday through January 1, Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sunday, noon-5 p.m., Citigroup Center atrium, 153 E. 53rd St. at Lexington Avenue, 212-559-1747, free.

BROADWAY BONANZA A sprawling Upper West Side holiday festival celebrating the arrival of winter follows the lighting of the tree at Lincoln Center (5:30 p.m., Josie Robertson Plaza, Columbus Avenue at 63rd Street). James Earl Jones reads holiday stories for children (6 p.m., Barnes & Noble, 66th Street and Broadway) and children ages 4 to 9 can enjoy short performances by the theater group the Paper Bag Players (6:15 and 7 p.m., American Bible Society, 61st Street and Broadway). An outdoor square dance puts the honkey-tonk back in the holidays (6:30-8:30 p.m., 63rd Street and Broadway) and the soft-shoe continues when Dan Zanes & Friends create an allages dance party in the hall at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (7-8 p.m., Columbus Avenue and 575 2079 679 208965th Street). Other highlights include a live carving of an ice sculpture, a Dixieland marching band, free snacks from local eateries, and lots of shopping. Monday, 6-9:30 p.m., Broadway between Columbus Circle and 68th Street, 212-581-3774, free. See www.winterseve.com for more information.

MUSIC

BROOKLYN TUNES BAM cafe presents a holiday weekend pair of performances by MC Akim Funk Buddha with emerging hip-hop artists. Raised in Zimbabwe, the beat-boxing storyteller released one of the first African hip-hop albums, “Zimbabwe Legit,” in the early 1990s. Friday and Saturday, 9 p.m., Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Ave., between Ashland Place and St. Felix Street, Brooklyn, 718-636-4100, free admission, $10 food and drink minimum.

SCHOENBERG ON SCREEN The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra presents a three-part series on how music affected movie history. Each installment focuses on 20th-century chamber symphonies from the group’s 2004-05 Carnegie Hall season. The “Sound Off” series kicks off with “The Golden Age of Film,” with film clips and musical performances that focus on Arnold Schoenberg’s presence in Los Angeles from 1934 until his death in 1951. The host of WNYC’s “Soundcheck,” John Schaefer, moderates a discussion with musicologist Michael Beckerman, film and television composer Mark Snow, and the director of “Live from Lincoln Center,” John Goberman. The full chamber orchestra will perform Schoenberg’s second chamber symphony at Carnegie Hall on December 4. Sunday, 3 p.m., Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway at Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, 718-638-5000, free.

BETA BACH A concert titled “/RoboRecital/” is performed from start to finish by nonhuman creations. The League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots created a “GuitarBot” to perform Bach’s “Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080, Contrapuncti II and III.” Other nonhuman musical performers include a modern player piano and a Mozart playing automated pipe organ. Tuesday, 8 p.m., Lincoln Center, the Juilliard School, Paul Hall, 60 Lincoln Center Plaza, Broadway at 65th Street, 212-769-7406, free.

POETRY

EPHEMERAL ARIEL Sylvia Plath’s daughter, Frieda Hughes, introduces a reading of the entire newly restored edition of Plath’s “Ariel.” The manuscript left behind by Plath after her death in 1963 is quite different from Plath’s more familiar writings. Readers including Frank Bidart, Katha Pollit, and Jorie Graham will present the poems in the order and form that Plath originally placed them. Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., CUNY Graduate Center, Proshanky Auditori um, 365 Fifth Ave., between 34th and 35th streets, 212-254-9628, $10 general, $5 students.

READINGS

EXISTENTIAL LUNCH Jean Paul Sartre’s 1939 short story “The Wall” is read by a cast of four directed by Anthony Marsellis. The event is part of a National Arts Club program that presents lunch and readings of one-act plays. Monday, 12:30 p.m. lunch, 1:30 p.m. reading, the National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South, between Lexington Avenue and Gramercy Park West, 212-362-2560, $47 for lunch and reading, reservations requested. Note: Business attire required.

CHAPTER ONE Junno’s Monday Night Reading Series invites writers to try out their works-in-progress in front an audience. Up next are the author of “Chang and Eng” (Dutton), Darin Strauss, and literary blogger Maud Newton, who is also a fiction writer. Monday, 7:30 p.m., 64 Downing St., between Bedford and Varick streets, 212-627-7995, free.

TALKS

DELIBERATE DISCUSSION A professor at Harvard Law School, Charles Ogletree Jr., discusses the effects of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Mr. Ogletree examines the judicial, legislative, and societal resistance to an integrated public education system and its effect on affirmative action. The New York City Bar Association hosts the talk, which is based on Mr. Ogletree’s book “All Deliberate Speed” (W.W. Norton). Monday, 6 p.m. reception, 7-9 p.m. talk, House of the Association, 42 W. 44th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-382-6713, free.

CONGRESSMEN CONVENE Three members of New York’s delegation to the House of Representatives discuss the future of Congress in the second Bush administration. Reps. Joseph Crowley, Vito Fossella, and Gregory Meeks participate in the post-election speculation. A “networking breakfast” precedes the program, which is presented by Crain’s. Thursday, 8 a.m. breakfast, 8:30 a.m. discussion, Sheraton New York, 811 Seventh Ave., between 52nd and 53rd streets, 212-210-0739, $45 if paid by Tuesday, $50 afterwards, registration required.

THANKSGIVING

WINNIE AND CHARLIE The big meal may be over, but children are still home from school and everyone is in the mood to relax. Afternoon screenings of Thanksgiving cartoons are just the ticket. The Museum of Television & Radio shows “A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving (Friday and Sunday) and the 1973 Peanuts special “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” (Saturday). All screenings: 12:30 p.m., Museum of Television & Radio, 25 W. 52nd St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-621-6800, $10 general, $5 children.

TURKEY TIME Composer Bruce Adolphe and the PollyRhythm Players present “Tough Turkey in the Big City,” a musical fairy tale for children ages 4 and above. Tom Turkey leaves the farm for the big city, and his silly adventures – including a romance with a pigeon – garner plenty of laughs. Saturday, 11 a.m., Symphony Space, Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, 537 Broadway at 95th Street, 212-864-5400, $18 general, $15 members, $11 children.

TOURS

WORKING BOROUGH The Brooklyn Historical Society presents a guided boat tour of “Brooklyn’s Working Waterfront” that follows the East River. Saturday, 11 a.m., meet at the South Street Seaport in Manhattan or Fulton Ferry Landing in Brooklyn, drop-offs in both locations, 212-742-1969, $20 general, $14 children ages 12 and under, reservations strongly recommended.

FESTIVE FEET New Yorkers can celebrate the beginning of the Christmas season with a walking tour that explores sites associated with historic holidays. “The Victorian Christmas” tour includes a stop at Pete’s Tavern, where O. Henry wrote “The Gift of the Magi” and Clement Clark Moore penned “The Night Before Christmas.” Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m., 212-465-3331 for meeting place and reservations, $13.

To submit an event for consideration for the Calendar, please wire the particulars to calendar@nysun.com, placing the date of the event in the subject line.