MUSIC

A LITTLE FAITH Mavis Staples got her start as the lead in the family quintet, the Staple Singers. Led by her father, Roebuck “Pops” Staples, Mavis and the rest of the group soon became allies of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., accompanying the leader to rallies and spreading the gospel of good music. The indefatigable Ms. Staples performs this morning at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s tribute to King. The singer’s set list includes R&B classics such as “Have a Little Faith” and “Respect Yourself.” Other featured performers include Gary Anglin & the Voices of CCC. Today, 10:30 a.m., BAM, Howard Gilman Opera House, Peter Jay Sharp Building, 30 Lafayette Ave., between Felix Street and Ashland Place, Brooklyn, 718-636-4100, BAM.org, free.

ART

ANTIQUE ENTHUSIASTS “An Eye Toward Perfection: The Shaker Museum and Library,” an exhibit that highlights Shaker furniture design during the last quarter of the 19th century, is the centerpiece of the 54th Winter Antiques Show at the Park Avenue Armory. The library, in Old Chatham, N.Y., is the home to the largest collection of Shaker furniture and crafts in the world. The antiques show features American, English, European, and Asian fine and decorative arts. All net proceeds from the show benefit the nonprofit East Side House Settlement. Through Sunday, January 27, Monday–Wednesday and Friday–Saturday, noon–8 p.m., Sunday and Thursday, noon–6 p.m., Park Avenue Armory, 67th Street at Park Avenue, 718-292-7392, $20 (includes show catalog). For complete information or to purchase tickets to Young Collectors’ Night on Thursday, go to winterantiquesshow.com.

ONCE ON THIS ISLAND “Infinite Island: Contemporary Caribbean Art,” an exhibit of more than 80 works, concludes this week at the Brooklyn Museum. The show features contributions from 45 artists who represent the complexity and vibrant nature of this culture. The art explores Caribbean societies through video, photography, print and drawings, sculpture, and installation. Through Sunday, Wednesday–Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., until 11 p.m. on first Saturdays, Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Pkwy. at Washington Avenue, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, 718-638-5000, $8 general, $4 students and seniors, free for children under 12.

INDIANA’S LOVE JONES “Love Wall,” a 12-foot-high steel sculpture, was initially conceived of in 1968 by artist Robert Indiana in the form of a painting. This reinterpretation of the artist’s iconic work is featured as part of “Art in the Parks: Celebrating 40 Years,” a tribute to the 40th anniversary of New York City’s public art program. In “Love Wall,” four “LOVE” sculptures have been stacked to create a sort of visual puzzle. Mr. Indiana became famous for employing the symbols of commercial art to express an existential viewpoint. The exhibition is presented by the Paul Kasmin Gallery and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. On view through Friday, February 29, at Park Avenue and 57th Street, 212-563-4474, free.

JUST ANOTHER GIRL ON THE IRT Photographer Jaishri Abichandani immigrated to Queens from India when she was 14 years old. Her latest work, featured in the exhibit “Reconciliations,” speaks directly to her migration experience. The show focuses on her attempts to unite differing worlds. Ms. Abichandani creates collages from photographs of boroughs and cityscapes — both her own and appropriated — by employing Photoshop software to build overlapping scenes that address social and political issues. Through Sunday, March 23, Wednesday–Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, noon–5 p.m., Queens Museum of Art, New York City Building, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Grand Central Parkway and Roosevelt Avenue, 718-592-9700, $5 general, $2.50 seniors, free for children.

THE WORLD OUTSIDE An artist of Cuban-Dominican heritage, Quisqueya Henriquez, has her first major survey, at the Bronx Museum. The show features a selection of sculptures, installations, drawings, photographs, videos, and light/sound works created between 1991 and 2007. The artist’s pieces frequently explore themes such as environment and its role in how cultural clichés are produced. Ms. Henriquez aligns herself with an avant-garde group of Cuban artists that rose to prominence in the 1980s. Through Sunday, Bronx Museum of the Arts, 1040 Grand Concourse at 165th Street, 718-681-6000, $5 general, $3 students and seniors.

FACE BOOK For the exhibit “Class Pictures,” photographer Dawoud Bey visited high schools in New York, Detroit, Orlando, and other cities. He spent between three and four weeks at each school making oversize formal portraits of young people who represent the country’s full economic, racial, and social spectrum. But more than that, Mr. Bey learned that his subjects defied the easy stereotypes often ascribed to American youth culture. A brief autobiographical statement by each student at the start of the sitting accompanies the selection of 40-by-30-inch color prints.

Through Thursday, February 28, Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Aperture Gallery, 547 W. 27th St., between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, 212-505-5555, free.

HOLIDAY

MAN WITH A DREAM Jazz at Lincoln Center celebrates the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and his message of nonviolence with a day of free concerts. Trombonist Wycliffe Gordon performs “The Gospel of Jazz” at 1 and 3 p.m., with accompaniment from the city’s Middle School Jazz Academy’s talented group of young musicians. Later, pianist Marc Cary is joined by special guests, including a rapper and member of the seminal group A Tribe Called Quest, QTip. Mr. Cary and friends perform evening sets at 5:30, 7:30, and 9:30 p.m. King was an avid jazz fan, as he demonstrated in discussing the Berlin Jazz Festival: “Jazz speaks for life. The blues tell the story of life’s difficulties….” Today, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Irene Diamond Education Center, Broadway at 60th Street, 212-258-9595, free.

REMEMBERING A HERO In celebration of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Carnegie Hall and Distinguished Concerts International New York present a concert of works by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins, who is best known for his piece “The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace.” The mass has its American premiere tonight. Other pieces on the program include Mr. Jenkins’s “Hymn — In Memoriam: Martin Luther King, Jr.” and “Requiem.” Performers include cellist Lori Singer, soprano Pamela Hinchman, mezzo-soprano Tracy Watson, tenor William Watson, and bass Ricardo Herrera, as well as choristers from Australia, Canada, Britain, and America. Conductor Jonathan Griffith leads the orchestra. Tonight, 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, Isaac Stern Auditorium, 881 Seventh Ave. at 57th Street, 212-247-7800, $20–$100.

OPERA

SALUTING THE MASTERS Opera News, among the industry’s notable trade magazines, hosts its third annual awards presentation at the Pierre Hotel. Mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and actress Sigourney Weaver are co-hosts of the event. (Ms. Graham most recently appeared in the Metropolitan Opera’s “Iphigénie en Tauride.”) A cocktail reception precedes the gala dinner and ceremony. Among the honorees are an American conductor, Julius Rudel; a dramatic mezzo who first became known while creating roles in Russia’s Mariinsky Theatre, Olga Borodina, and the pioneering black American soprano, Leontyne Price. Thursday, 6 p.m., the Pierre Hotel, Grand Ballroom, 2 E. 61st St. at Fifth Avenue. For information on how to purchase tickets, call 212-769-7009, or go to metoperafamily.org/guild.

PAINTINGS

LOOP DE LOOP “From the Studio: Agnes Jacobs,” an exhibit presented by Cheryl Pelavin Fine Arts, focuses on works the artist created between shows, and that have never before been on view. Ms. Jacobs’s signature style features colorful, seemingly spontaneous loops and squiggles. Through Saturday, tomorrow–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., Cheryl Pelavin Fine Arts, 3 Jay St. at Hudson Street, 212-925-9424, free.

YOUNG AT HEART Khalif Kelly makes his New York debut with his first solo exhibit, “Recess.” Mr. Kelly counts Jacob Lawrence and George Pal among his influences, and his brightly colored figures bear that out. The images on view recall the artist’s early childhood interactions with youngsters his own age, and the rituals that make those experiences memorable, if a bit awkward. Through Sunday, February 10, Wednesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., Thierry Goldberg Projects, 5 Rivington St., between Chrystie Street and the Bowery, 212-967-2260, free.

IN THE ABSTRACT Born in 1930, Robert Natkin is considered to be one of a pioneering group of abstract painters who flourished in Chicago during the 1950s and ’60s. In recent years, he has increasingly focused on painting portraits. Still, he has not abandoned entirely his signature abstract works, which feature oblong shapes painted with soft lines. A selection that reflects both genres is currently on view.

Through Saturday, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m., David Findlay Jr. Fine Art, 41 E. 57th St. at Madison Avenue, 212-486-7660, free.

READINGS

PITCH PERFECT Adam Langer’s latest work of fiction, “Ellington Boulevard: A Novel in A-Flat” (Spiegel & Grau), follows clarinetist Ike Morphy, whose impending eviction threatens him, his dog, and a pair of pigeons roosting on the air conditioner. Morphy, who procured the apartment in a handshake agreement with the now deceased landlord, must now fight for his home with a new landlord, who wants to sell. Mr. Langer reads excerpts from his ode to New York City. Tomorrow, 7 p.m., the Strand, 828 Broadway at 12th Street, 212-473-1452, free.

MOTHERS AND SONS In “Swimming in a Sea of Death” (Simon & Schuster), writer David Rieff’s memoir and tribute to his mother, Susan Sontag, readers are given a window into the last nine months of the critic and essayist’s life. Sontag died in December 2004 after a prolonged battle with cancer. Mr. Rieff takes a frank approach, producing an intense portrait of a mother-son relationship during a difficult period. The author reads from his book and discusses what it means to face death in today’s America. Wednesday, 7:30 p.m., Barnes & Noble, 1972 Broadway at 65th Street, 212-595-6859, free.

THEATER

TEMPERS WILL FLARE The Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College presents “The Tempest,” Shakespeare’s classic drama. When a shipwrecked group is marooned on an island populated by mythical creatures, a magician with a grudge sets out to avenge his misfortunes. The play, widely believed to be the last Shakespeare wrote entirely on his own, blends romance, tragedy, comedy, and the supernatural. Davis McCallum directs this multicultural staging.

Sunday, 2 p.m., Brooklyn College, Whitman Theater, 2900 Campus Rd. at Hillel Place, Brooklyn, 718-951-4500, $20–$30.

PHOTOGRAPHY

THE MARTINI HOUR The Museum of the City of New York presents “Manhattan Noon: Photographs by Gus Powell,” a collection of about 30 recent works inspired by poet Frank O’Hara’s 1964 volume, “Lunch Poems.” Mr. Powell photographed New Yorkers during his own lunch break: He found the full range, from lounging construction workers to ladies rushing by in stilettos, all of them lit by the midday sun. Selections include “Putti” (2000–07), above. Through Saturday, March 15, Tuesday–Sunday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Ave. at 103rd St., 212-534-1672, $9 general, $20 families, $5 students and seniors, free between 10 a.m. and noon on Sunday.

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.