ART

RUBENS SURVEY It’s not too late to catch the Bruce Museum’s exhibit “Drawn by the Brush,” the first ever in America devoted solely to Peter Paul Rubens’s oil sketches. Rubens (1577-1640) made the quick paintings as studies for large-scale paintings, murals, tapestries, and altarpieces. Upon the show’s opening in October, Lance Expound wrote in The New York Sun that it was “one of the most exciting events of the fall season.” It may serve as an appetizer for voracious Rubens fans: The Metropolitan Museum of Art is opening its own show of 115 Rubens drawings on January 15. Through Sunday, January 30, Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday, 1-5 p.m., Bruce Museum, Greenwich, Conn., 203-869-0376, $15 general, $12 seniors and students, $5 members.

SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT Two Williamsburg galleries host a group exhibit of contemporary art exploring the American South. “Cracker” features Chris Verene’s photography series focusing on his Florida grandfather and his caretaker, Travis Lindquist’s “Pentecostal Playboy Bunny” figurines, and Katherine Daniels’s homage to West Virginia crafts. Curator Kathleen Brady, a Louisiana native, discusses the show in a talk titled “Tapping In: Heritage as Inspiration” (Saturday, January 22, 4 p.m., NURTUREart Gallery). Receptions: Friday, 6-9 p.m., NURTUREart Gallery, 8-10 p.m., Naked Duck Gallery. Exhibit: Friday through Sunday, February 13, free. NURTUREart Gallery: Friday, noon-9 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, noon-6 p.m., 475 Keap St. at Union Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 718-782-7755. Naked Duck Gallery: Saturday, 1-5 p.m., Sunday, noon-6 p.m., 66 Jackson St., between Leonard and Lorimer streets, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 718-609-4096.

BOOKS

BEAT BOOK Ed Adler discusses his book “Departed Angels: The Lost Paintings” (Avalon), a collection of Jack Kerouac’s paintings, line drawings, sketches, and segments from his previously unpublished notebooks. Friday, 7:30 p.m., Barnes & Noble Astor Place, 4 Astor Place at Broadway, 212-420-1322, free.

BEARY COLD Lauren Thompson reads “Polar Bear Night” (Scholastic), her minimalist picture book for the prekindergarten set. Saturday, noon, Barnes & Noble Park Slope, 267 Seventh Ave. at 6th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn, 718-832-9066, free.

COMEDY

GET UP, STAND-UP The Gay & Lesbian Comedy Fest features comedians such as Erin Foley of Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend” and local stand-up regulars including Dale Sorenson, Lisa Kaplan, and Ted McElroy. Michael Brill hosts. Friday, 9:30 p.m., Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W. 46th St., between Eighth and Ninth avenues, 212-757-0788, $10 admission, two-drink minimum.

DANCE

REEL MOVEMENT The Dance on Camera Festival celebrates the cinematic beauty of tango, tap, ballet, and trance. A highlight of the festival, presented by the Dance Film Association and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, is the ballet film “The Red Shoes” (Friday, 3 p.m. and Friday, January 21, 6:15 p.m.). Festival: Friday and Saturday, January 7 and 8, 14 and 15, 21 and 22, Lincoln Center, Walter Reade Theater,165 W.65th St., between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, 212-875-5600, $10 general, $7 students, $6 members. A full schedule is at www.filmlinc.com.

FAMILY

RADIO DAYS “Re-Creating Radio” workshops invite children ages 9 to 14 to use sound effects, music, and scripts to produce an old-time radio drama. This week, participants put on a “live” broadcast of “The Lamp of Olah.” Also at the museum, the multimedia exhibit “Well, Blow Me Down!” celebrates the 75th anniversary of the wily cartoon sailor Popeye. Workshop: Saturday, 10 a.m., 212-621-6600, $7, reservations required. Exhibit: Through Sunday, January 30, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday-Sunday, noon-6 p.m., Thursday, noon-8 p.m., Museum of Television & Radio, 25 W. 52nd St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-621-6800, $10 general, $8 seniors and students, $5 children under 14.

HIP-HOP HOORAY More than 200 live frogs are on display in the exhibit “Frogs: A Chorus of Colors,” which was scheduled to close this Sunday but has been extended to the end of the month. More than 25 species are featured, from the less than 1-inch-long golden mantella to the giant African bullfrog. Through Sunday, January 30, 10 a.m.-5:45 p.m. daily, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, 212-769-5200 for reservations, $19 general, $14 seniors and students, $11 children. Note: Entrance to the exhibit is timed.

FILM

PARLEZ-VOUS JEUNET? A retrospective of the work of French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunet includes a new print of the 1995 dark fairytale “The City of Lost Children” (Saturday, 6:30 p.m.) and the quirky hit “Amelie” (Sunday, 6:30 p.m.). All screenings: American Museum of the Moving Image, 35th Avenue at 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, 718-784-0077, $10 general, $7.50 seniors and students, free for members.

ELEPHANT IN THE LIBRARY The Brooklyn Public Library screens the 1941 Disney classic “Dumbo” in its Saturday family movie series. Saturday, 11 a.m., Brooklyn Public Library, Central Library, second floor, Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, 718-230-2100, free.

DEATH AND DESTINY Fritz Lang’s silent film “Destiny” (1921), which depicts death as a resigned figure who is exhausted from a life given over to ending lives, is screened at the Rubin Museum of Art. Death offers the film’s heroine the chance to win her lover back if she can save someone from their destined end (Saturday, 5 p.m.). For a more uplifting experience, world music is performed all day Saturday and Sunday under the museum’s spiral staircase. Saturday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Rubin Museum of Art, 150 W. 17th St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues, 212-620-5000 ext. 318, $7 general, $5 seniors, students, artists, and residents of the and 10001 ZIP codes, free for children under 12 and members.

FOOD & DRINK

WINE FOR WRITERS The wine director of Montrachet and founder of Jeroboam Wines, Daniel Johnnes, leads a wine tasting that benefits the children’s writing center 826NYC. Wednesday, 7-9 p.m., 826NYC, 372 Fifth Ave., between 5th and 6th streets, Park Slope, Brooklyn, 718-499-9884, $50.

GAMES

VIDEO TEST-DRIVE “Gamers Nite Groove” is a showcase of new video games set up for test playing – some games haven’t even hit stores yet. There’s something for nongamers, too: Electronic music is blasting, digital art is on display, and Asia Society’s exhibit “Asian Games: The Art of Contest” is on view after-hours. Thursday, 7-11 p.m., Asia Society and Museum, 725 Park Ave. at 70th Street, 212-517-1741, free, reservations atgame@newyork-tokyo.com.

MUSIC

ERHU TUNES The Metropolitan Museum Artists in Concert, the museum’s resident chamber ensemble, performs the first of three concerts Friday. Xu Ke joins the group on the erhu, a Chinese stringed instrument. The program includes Yang Yong’s “River Songs for Erhu and Cello,” Chen Yi’s “Fiddle Suite for Erhu and String Quartet,” and pieces by Haydn and Mendelssohn. Upcoming concerts focus on the piano (February 18) and traditional stringed instruments (March 18). Friday, 7 p.m., Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave. at 82nd Street, 212-570-3949, $20 one concert, $50 for all three.

LION IN WINTER George Clinton and the PFunk All-Stars perform at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s “Winter Soul” concert, accompanied by the usual “funk mob” of additional musicians. The alternative funk-rock ensemble TV on the Radio opens. The concert is part of the annual Rhythm & BAM series. Friday, 7:30 p.m., Brooklyn Academy of Music, Howard Gilman Opera House, 30 Lafayette St., between Ashland Place and St. Felix Street, Brooklyn, 718-636-4100, $20-$45.

STRING SERENADE The band String Fever sings close three- and four-part harmonies and plays mandolin, fiddle, guitar, bass, and five-string banjo. They perform in a candlelit tavern at Staten Island’s living history village Historic Richmond Town. Saturday, 7:30 and 9 p.m., Historic Richmond Town, Guyon Tavern, 441 Clarke Ave. at St. Patrick’s Place, Staten Island, 718-351-1611 ext. 280, $12 general, $10 members, reservations required.

OPERA OF OPRESSION The Bronx Opera performs Gian Carlo Menotti’s “The Consul,” which premiered on Broadway in 1950. Set in an unnamed country behind the Iron Curtain, the opera follows the efforts of a woman who needs a visa in order to join her husband in a neighboring state. Saturday, 8 p.m., Sunday, 2 p.m., Lehman College, Lovinger Theatre, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, between Paul and Goulden avenues, Bronx, 718-960-8833, $15, $25, and $30.

JANUARY JAZZ The NYC Winter JazzFest draws local jazz fans as well as some of the several thousand attendees at this weekend’s Association of Performing Arts Presenters conference. Nineteen artists from all over America – and four from France – perform new jazz music. Performers include Gretchen Parlato (Sunday, 6 p.m., mainspace), noJazz (10 p.m., mainspace), Chicago’s Grazyna Auguscik Quintet (6:40 p.m., tap bar), Erik Friedlander on solo cello (7:30 p.m., old office space), and Gutbucket (10:20 p.m., old office space). Sunday, 5:20 p.m. until approximately midnight, Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard St., between Church Street and Broadway, 212-219-3132, $25. Note: The festival is free for Arts Presenter conference attendees who r.s.v.p. torsvpjazzfest@knittingfactory.com.

NATURE

TREE-CYCLING The city’s annual Winter Festival, scheduled for this weekend, has been postponed because of predicted warm weather. But there’s still a chance to get outdoors: MulchFest invites New Yorkers to drop off their holiday trees and wreaths for recycling at parks in all five boroughs. The Department of Parks & Recreation will turn the trees into mulch that will be used around the city this year. At some sites, citizens can take home their own wood chips or mulch. Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., call 311 for information and see www.nycgovparks.org for a complete list of drop-off sites, free. At the Central Park Zoo, this season’s Rockefeller Center Christmas tree will be recycled into playthings and habitats for animals. Children can also decorate and take home their own piece of the tree. The National Geographic Channel sponsors the event, which also includes complimentary snacks and hot drinks. Martin and Chris Kratt from the channel’s “Be the Creature” host a presentation of the toys and sign autographs for children. Sunday, 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m., 11:30 a.m. children’s workshop, Central Park Zoo, 64th Street and Fifth Avenue, 212-861-6030, free with admission, $6 general, $1.25 seniors, $1 children ages 3 to 12, free for children under 3. Children admitted free with an adult who brings a Time-Warner cable bill.

READINGS

WRITERS AND RELIEF The New York chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association presents an evening of readings to benefit tsunami relief efforts. Asian writers scheduled to participate include Suketu Mehta, Meera Nair, Meena Alexander, Jessica Hagedorn, and Akhil Sharma. Friday, 5:30 p.m. registration, 5:50 p.m. briefings by relief organization representatives, 7:15 readings, Maharaja Restaurant, 230 E. 44th St., between Second and Third avenues, 212-854-5979, $20 admission, $15 goes directly to relief organizations.

TALKS

SALON SESSION Former Manhattan borough president Ruth Messinger leads a session of the “Downtown Salon” conversation series sponsored by the New Shul. Next week’s session focuses on individual activism in the face of large-scale needs. Monday, 6 p.m., Cornelia Street Cafe, 29 Cornelia St., between Sixth Avenue and Bleecker Street, 212-989-9319, $10.

THEATER

SOUL FOOD ON STAGE “The Collard Green: Contributions by Cornbread Divas” tells the stories of black women writers through dance, song, and “theatrical ritual.” The John Montgomery Theatre and Cracked Plate production is presented by the Horse Trade Theatre Group. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m., Kraine Theatre, 85 E. 4th St. at Second Avenue, 212-868-4444, $15.

LAWYERS IN OZ The Association of the Bar of the City of New York presents the original musical “Off to See the Wizard.” Members of the bench and bar act out the story of a young librarian from Kansas who runs afoul of the Patriot Act. Friday, 8 p.m., House of the Association, 42 W. 44th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-382-6600, free.

INTERN ANTICS Rob Handel’s new play “Aphrodisiac” alludes to the last big news story before September 11, 2001: missing intern Chandra Levy and her connection to congressman Gary Condit. The play follows the adult children of a fictional representative under investigation for the disappearance of a young woman as they try to sort out their own responses. Ken Rus Schmoll directs the show, which is the second production of the playwrights collective 13P. Previews: Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m. Opens: Sunday, 3 p.m. Runs: Through Sunday, January 30, Thursday-Sunday, 8 p.m., P.S. 122, 150 First Ave. at 9th Street, 212-477-5288, $15.

TOURS

MANHATTAN MANSION Morris-Jumel Mansion, Manhattan’s oldest house, began as Roger Morris’s “Gentleman’s Farm,” became Washington’s Revolutionary War headquarters, and in the 19th century was used by Madame Eliza Jumel as a “Chateau in the Heights.” A guided tour provides a look at its 11 period rooms decorated in styles from throughout its Colonial, Federal, and Empire history. Saturday, 11 a.m.-noon, Morris-Jumel Mansion, 65 Jumel Terrace, between 160th and 162nd streets, 212-923-8008, $5 general, $3 seniors, students, and members, reservations recommended.

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