thursday, jan. 1
Footsteps Through Time
This permanent exhibit at the San Diego Museum of Man covers 7,000 square feet and features five galleries and more than a hundred touchable replicas of early humans, primates and futuristic cyborgs (part human, part machine). This compelling exhibit is the only one of its kind on the West Coast. It transports visitors on a fascinating 65-million-year journey through time, spotlighting the major anthropological finds relating to human evolution. Footsteps Through Time represents a milestone in the Museum’s 95-year history. It is especially significant as it reflects the Museum’s original mission: to display the life and history of humankind.
San Diego Museum of Man, 1350 El Prado in Balboa Park, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., adult admission $12.50, 619-239-2001, museumofman.org
friday, jan. 2
Viva La Libertà
Toni Servillo, star of The Great Beauty and Il Divo, is brilliant in a double role as identical twin brothers. When Enrico (Servillo), the leader of Italy’s opposition party doing poorly in the polls abruptly decides to drop out of his high profile life and disappears, his panicked political handler (Valerio Mastandrea) enlists Giovanni, his philosophy professor twin who has just been released from a mental hospital, to pretend to be his brother in public. Giovanni agrees, enjoying the attention, and proceeds to re-invigorate the party with his unexpected candor and philosophy, a la Being There.
Landmark Ken Cinema, 4061 Adams Ave. in San Diego, 4:45 and 7 p.m., tickets from $7.50, 619-283-3227, landmarktheatres.com
saturday, jan. 3
Ann Weber
Ann Weber works in bigger-than-life scale. Her biomorphic sculptures in the exhibition “Love and Other Audacities” are made of cardboard — cardboard finished with shellac, and mostly in shades of beige and brown, and sometimes white and sometimes with splashes of color. Weber stumbled upon the idea when she moved and found herself with a surfeit of cardboard boxes. She’d been searching for a material that would be cheap, readily available, and workable.
Lux Art Institute, 1550 S. El Camino Real in Encinitas, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., adult admission $5, 760-436-6611, luxartinstitute.org
sunday, jan. 4
Organ concert in Balboa Park
Free concert on the great Spreckels Organ. Ample seating in the sunshine. The Spreckels Organ Society is happy to rent you a shade umbrella or to sell a souvenir seat cushion! San Diego Civic Organist Dr. Carol Williams will play.
Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park, 2-3 p.m., free, 619-702-8138, spreckelsorgan.org
monday, jan. 5
Missy Andersen
Missy likens her musical approach to Soul dipped in Blues. While you wrap your head around that description, consider the early influence of her parent’s extensive record collection of soul, R&B, blues, jazz and gospel. Her mother fanned Missy’s interest in singing early by entering her in a children’s talent contest and practicing with her after school. Missy started singing and performing at six, and particularly loved listening to songs that told stories like those by Gladys Knight, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, The Staples Singers and Teddy Pendergrass.
Humphreys Backstage Live, 2241 Shelter Island Drive San Diego, 7 p.m., 619-224-3577, humphreysbackstagelive.com
tuesday, jan. 6
Raphael, The Madonna of the Pinks
For centuries the prolific painter Raphael has dominated the world with his academic tradition of European painting. His works of art are known to be legendary, rare and revel the greats such as Leonardo and Michelangelo. The Timken Museum of Art is fortunate enough to have on loan from the National Gallery in London, the original Raphael, The Madonna of the Pinks, on exhibition through April 26.
Timken Museum, 1500 El Prado in Balboa Park, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m., free admission, 619-239-5548, timkenmuseum.org
wednesday, jan. 7
New Visions: Art and Invention in the 19th Century
Photography captured people, places and architecture of the 19th century. New Visions: Art and Invention in the 19th Century displays how pioneering photographers brought the world to people with images. This time of “global visual culture” grew from an interest in other countries and cultures along with the development of photography. The Grand Tour of Europe, Egypt and the Holy Lands, and the American West are presented in the selection that includes featured artists: James Anderson, Edouard Baldus, Eadweard Muybridge, Felix Bonfils, Samuel Bourne, William Henry Fox Talbot, Francis Frith, William Henry Jackson and Carleton Watkins.
Museum of Photographic Arts, 1649 El Prado in Balboa Park, 10 a.m-5 p.m., adult admission $8, 619-238-7559, mopa.org
