Upcoming Events in Somerset County, NJ

Please allow me to introduce myself “Professor James O’Lantern”, at your service. Now, step right up my friends, you need not be nervous. I’m NOT here to sell you “cure all” tonics or the promise of rain. No Sir, what I have is a miracle of machines that simply captures the magic of Halloween. So innovative and ingenious in design it’s the only one of its kind. By using calculations of complex mathematics, we have defied the fundamental forces of physics! The impossible . . . is now possible. So come take a journey into the world of the imagination. Watch as Halloween is created right before your eyes. Welcome to the HALLOWEEN MACHINE!   Please see website for details and daily hours.

Gallery on Main's "Artist of the Month" series continues with an exhibition of landscape photographs by award-winning, central New Jersey-based artist Dana Benner. Admission is free, and the artist’s works are available for purchase — including original prints on archival paper (framed and unframed), handmade photo cards and one-of-a-kind jewlery. Meet the artist at a free opening reception on Saturday, October 3, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Please note: Due to COVID-19, for everyone’s safety social distancing guidelines are in effect and MASKS MUST BE WORN PROPERLY at all times. No exceptions. Dana Benner has been a photographer for most of her life. As the daughter of a photographer, she grew up with a camera in her hand at an early age. However, it wasn't until college and after graduation that she pursued photography as a career. Says Dana, “I enjoy capturing the scenery of the beautiful places I visit along with the serendipitous moments that appear all around us. In the turmoil of the past few months as I thought about a body of work for my exhibit, I kept returning to a beautiful poem by Wendell Berry titled ‘The Peace of Wild Things.’ This poem was the inspiration

Explore Wallace House State Historic Site from the perspectives of ten women who lived and labored here when the historic house served as George Washington’s winter headquarters in the Revolutionary War. Meet women in slavery and freedom who carried the Continental Army through the Middlebrook Cantonment of 1778-79 from Hannah Till and Mary Maddox to Martha Washington. Expand on their stories with a reflection on Old Dutch Parsonage State Historic Site’s roles in the long history of women’s suffrage in New Jersey from the eighteenth century to the Nineteenth Amendment. Register for this online presentation with the NJ State Library.

To celebrate The Center’s 50th anniversary this fall, curators John Yau and Wes Sherman spent over a year assembling the work of nineteen contemporary artists. The artists featured in the exhibition are: Chakaia Booker, Willie Cole, Chie Fueki, Evan Halter, Takuji Hamanaka, Barry Hazard, Suzanne Joelson, Judy Koo, Talia Levitt, Jessica Mensch, Phillip McConnell, Ilse Murdock, Nadia Haji Omar, William A. Ortega, Joyce Robins, Stephanie H. Shih, Francesca Strada, Tejaswini and Peter Williams. Gallery Hours Monday – Thursday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday by appointment only Closed Sundays and major holidays The galleries are open during regular hours of operation and on evenings when classes and workshops are in session. Please call (908) 234-2345 with any questions. The Center for Contemporary Art 2020 Burnt Mills Road, Bedminster, NJ 07921 Phone (908) 234-2345 Fax: (908) 275-8828 Email: info@ccabedminster.org

Join us for 80s Online Trivia Night! Proceeds support State Theatre’s Community Engagement programs. Ready to take a blast back to the past—Back to the Future edition?! Test your trivia skills with questions ranging from The Breakfast Club, leg warmers, and mullets to Madonna, Cabbage Patch Dolls, and so much more! Proceeds support State Theatre’s Community Engagement programs. Sit back, relax, and travel back to the 1980s for an evening of throwbacks with your fellow '80s fans from all over the country! The first place winner gets bragging rights, a $150 State Theatre gift certificate, and a State Theatre swag bag. The second place winner gets a State Theatre swag bag! Your participation is a donation to State Theatre New Jersey’s Community Engagement programs. Donate What You Can—a minimum donation of $5 allows you to participate, larger donation amounts are greatly appreciated! We thank you for your support and hope you enjoy the trivia festivities—it will be great to reconnect and have some fun! HOW TO PLAY Online Trivia Night will be hosted on Zoom on your desktop computer and played on a smartphone-based trivia game called Kahoot. An email with login information will follow your donation to enter. One