ART

JUST THE WAY YOU ARE A.I.R. Gallery presents Daria Dorosh’s “The Changing Room,” a multimedia installation that explores the themes of change, visibility, vulnerability, and risk. The exhibit includes fashion items for visitors to try on or contemplate. The artist was inspired by the mood in the fitting room of a fashionable boutique. Two new digital print series by Ms. Dorosh are also shown: photographs of tiny sculptures in “Little Nothings” and stills from her short video “Patternwoman, Ohio Version” in “Follow the Pattern.” Selections in the exhibit include “Scissor Girl” (2007), above. Through Saturday, March 3, Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., A.I.R., gallery I and II, 511 W. 25th St. at Tenth Avenue, 212-255-6651, free.

AMERICAN ART DEBUT Mitchell-Innes & Nash presents an exhibit of works by Veron Urdarianu. The Romanian-born artist’s works explore the relationships among sculpture, architecture, and painting, using such materials as wood, plastic, and metal. Through Saturday, February 17, Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Mitchell-Innes & Nash Chelsea, 534 W. 26th St., between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, 212-744-7400, free.

HOMEGROWN ARTIST An art critic for The New York Sun, Maureen Mullarkey, presents her first solo exhibit with the George Billis Gallery. Her collages feature artifacts of old books and paper. Ms. Mullarkey writes in the catalog: “How we remember the past determines the way we inhabit the present. Forgetting is not an option.” Through Saturday, March 3, Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., George Billis Gallery, 511 W. 25th St., between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, ground floor, 212-645-2621, free.

DANCE

PAIR OF DEBUTS The choreographic duos Isabel Lewis/Erika Hand and Katie Workum/Will Rawls make their debuts at Dance Theater Workshop. Ms. Lewis and Ms. Hand’s piece, “The Live Performance,” recounts an interpreted history of dance, and Ms. Workum and Mr. Rawls’s piece navigates their own relationship. Through Saturday, 7:30 p.m., DTW, 219 W. 19th St., between Seventh and Eighth avenues, 212-924-0077, $20 general, $12 members.

FAMILY

YOUNGACHIEVEMENTS The Wingspan Arts Kids Film Festival features films made by children and teenagers for a young audience. The festival features an awards ceremony and reception for filmmakers and those attending. Films include “A Journey to the Stars,” made by students of Gunston Middle School in Arlington, Va., about the late New York singer Celia Cruz. Saturday, 10:30 a.m., universe. Mr. Biggers teaches how mandalas are used in Asian and African traditions. Children use colored sand to paint their own mandalas. Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m., noon, 2, 3, and 4 p.m., Children’s Museum of Manhattan, 212 W. 83rd St., between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, 212-721-1234, $9 general, $6 seniors.

FILM

HORROR OF HORRORS Actor and filmmaker Crispin Hellion Glover presents weekend screenings of his film “What Is It?” (2005), a rambunctious horror flick about a man who is tormented by his obsessions with snails and salt, and by his hubristic, racist psyche. The screenings also feature a sneak preview of Mr. Glover’s latest film “It is Fine! EVERYTHING IS FINE!” (2007), which premieres at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Friday through Sunday, 7:30 p.m., IFC Center, 323 Sixth Ave. at 3rd Street, 212-924-7771, $11 general, $7.50 children and seniors.

FOOD & DRINK

STIR THINGS UP A LITTLE The Eight at Eight Dinner Club hosts a night out for singles ahead of Valentine’s Day. While the group has typically organized dinner parties of four men and four women, the event has been expanded in honor of a holiday that can leave the uncoupled feeling excluded. Guests are invited to a night of dinner, bar-hopping in TriBeCa, and with any luck, a chance to meet a special valentine. Hostesses join guests to ensure there is mingling. Saturday, 7 p.m., meet at Cercle Rouge bistro, 241 W. Broadway, between Beach and White streets, 212-785-5888, $50 general, $35 members. For complete information, go to 8at8.com.

SONOMA IS IN THE VALLEY The Sonoma Valley is celebrated in a wine lovers dinner at the James Beard House, featuring cuisine by a chef at the Zin restaurant, Jeff Mall. Dishes include wild mushroom chile rellenos with goat cheese, sweet potato and jalapeño soup with lime crema, and deviled eggs with house-made bacon. Wines include the 2004 Vision Cellars Syrah and the 2004 Acorn Zinfandel. Saturday, 7 p.m., James Beard Foundation House, 167 W. 12th St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues, 212-627-2308, $130 general, $100 members..

MUSEUMS

DARWIN AND MORE The American Museum of Natural History presents the opening of the Anne and Bernard Spitzer Hall of Human Origins, a permanent exhibit hall that features artifacts and displays that explain the history of human evolution. It is one of the first exhibits in an American museum that uses source materials from two separate fields of science, the fossil record and the genomic record. Saturday, 10 a.m., AMNH, Central Park West at 79th Street, 212-769-5100, $14 suggested general admission, $8 children.

MUSIC

PROTEST MUSIC Maskanda is a style of Zulu music born at the turn of the 20th century in the face of labor difficulties the tribe was experiencing. Maskanda songs feature a picking guitar style, instrumental introductions, and spoken sections of izibongo, Zulu praise poetry. The musician Shiyani Ngcobo makes his American debut with his own take on this traditional genre. Friday, 8:30 p.m., Carnegie Hall, Zankel Hall, 881 Seventh Ave. at 57th Street, 212-247-7800, $30-$42.

BANG THE DRUM BAMCafé at the Brooklyn Academy of Music hosts “Bonga & the Voodoo Drums of Haiti,” an evening of traditional Haitian roots music, performed in raw form by the Voodoo Drums of Haiti collective. Musician and instructor Gaston Jean-Baptiste leads the group in energetic drumming, dancing, and acoustic ceremonial singing drawn from a repertoire of Afro-Haitian rhythms. Friday, 10 p.m., BAMCafé, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette St., between Ashland Place and St. Felix Street, Fort Greene, 718-636-4139, free.

TALKS

DUST TRACKS ON A ROAD Poet and author Quincy Troupe discusses the writing of an autobiography in a talk presented by the Institute of African American Affairs of New York University. Mr. Troupe has collaborated with such figures as jazz legend Miles Davis. Mr. Truope is also the editor of the university’s literary journal, Black Renaissance Noir. Friday, 6 p.m., NYU, Institute of African American Affairs, 7th floor, 41 E. 11th St., between Broadway and University Place, 212-998-4222, free.

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.