Community Calendar

In Small Measure is our inaugural fundraising exhibition where we ask participants to create a postcard sized work of art, donate it to us, and in exchange, it will be included in an exhibition on February 13-14, 2026 at The Contemporary Dayton, Dayton, Ohio’s contemporary art center.

Submission Deadline (Postmark): Feb 1, 2026

In-Person Drop-Off Deadline: Feb 4, 2026

Exhibition Dates: Feb 13-14, 2026

National Parks not only deliver stunning landscapes, but they also provide mental/emotional, physical, social, and educational benefits to attendees while offering great recreational opportunities outdoors.
Dr. Thomas P. Martin, Professor Emeritus at Wittenberg University, will provide an overview of our National Park System and the audience will select from a list of major National Parks the ones that they would like to learn about. The presentation will emphasize the benefits of physical activity in the Great Outdoors. Dr. Martin has experienced all 63 National Parks, as well as all 433 National Park Units. The Channel Islands, Everglades, Great Smoky Mountains, Grand Canyon, Pinnacles, Virgin Islands, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Zion National Parks will be available options for discussion. Questions on other National Parks will be answered as time permits.

Get ready for your weekly refill of music during Tuesday Open Mic Night at Peach's Grill with host Kyleen Downes.

All styles and experience levels are welcome to our music community.

Enjoy our Happy Hour specials from 4pm-8pm, then get ready for the hot mic of artists.

To view the schedule of artists, register to perform, and watch recent open mic YouTube sessions, visit the link below:
https://www.peachsgrill.com/open-mic-night

Yellow Cab Tavern Karaoke is BACK every Tuesday at 8pm with MC Zane Gerlach!

Entry is always free!

With a catalog of over 60,000 songs, we have your favorites to sing...and if we don't, we'll do everything we can to get it for you!

Get your friends and family together and we'll see you on Tuesday nights at The Yellow Cab Tavern!

The Contemporary Dayton is proud to present Xaviera Simmons: Figure Eleven, a major solo exhibition bringing together recent works in photography, painting, video, and the world premiere of a new body of bronze sculptures by one of the most bold and visionary artists of our time.

Simmons’ practice is deeply rooted in art history, both through deliberate assertion and continuous engagement, drawing on references that span from antiquity and the American landscape to contemporary media. Her work unfolds through a cinematic sensibility, where narrative, movement, and stillness intersect. This is evident in her photographic series such as American Book Covers and Sundown, in her monumental text paintings, and now in this new body of bronze sculptures.

Performance, choreography, and the sensual are integral to Simmons’ artistic language. In this recent sculptural work, these elements coalesce into forms that feel both classical and contemporary. As with much of her practice, Figure Eleven situates art history within an ongoing continuum, like a film that resists final resolution.

The sculptures recall the Venus of Willendorf and Venus de Milo while simultaneously reflecting the multiplicity of contemporary bodies and motifs. Their power lies in their capacity to collapse and reconcile distinct historical and cultural narratives. The figures embody a poised stillness that resonates with the language of movement and performance. Figure Eleven, both the exhibition’s title and the newest figurative sculpture, appears as if drawn from a film still, a moment suspended between gesture and permanence.

In Small Measure is our inaugural fundraising exhibition where we ask participants to create a postcard sized work of art, donate it to us, and in exchange, it will be included in an exhibition on February 13-14, 2026 at The Contemporary Dayton, Dayton, Ohio’s contemporary art center.

Submission Deadline (Postmark): Feb 1, 2026

In-Person Drop-Off Deadline: Feb 4, 2026

Exhibition Dates: Feb 13-14, 2026

We’re hosting a Spoken Word and Open Mic Night at Tuck-N-Reds in Yellow Springs! This is a family-friendly event, and we’re working to build a supportive community of local musicians, poets, comedians, and performers of all kinds. Everyone is welcome—whether you’re a seasoned artist or stepping on stage for the first time, we invite you to come share your voice. Sign up by texting (937)460-8582

Open Mic nights on 2nd And 4th Wednesday
Poetry/Spoken Word Night on 1st & 3rd Wednesday
Beginning At 7

The Journalism Lab is excited to announce a two-day community journalism summit in Dayton on Thursday, January 22, and Friday, January 23, 2026.

Join us for two days of workshops and panel discussions at the Dayton Metro Library Main Branch, where we’ll share key reporting tools with the community and discuss — with your input — the state of journalism in the Midwest with journalism experts.

Highlights include 90-minute workshops on key reporting skills such as media literacy, photojournalism, audio journalism and news writing.

Attendance is free!

Register for the workshops and panel discussions below (spaces are limited for the Thursday workshops).

The Contemporary Dayton is proud to present Xaviera Simmons: Figure Eleven, a major solo exhibition bringing together recent works in photography, painting, video, and the world premiere of a new body of bronze sculptures by one of the most bold and visionary artists of our time.

Simmons’ practice is deeply rooted in art history, both through deliberate assertion and continuous engagement, drawing on references that span from antiquity and the American landscape to contemporary media. Her work unfolds through a cinematic sensibility, where narrative, movement, and stillness intersect. This is evident in her photographic series such as American Book Covers and Sundown, in her monumental text paintings, and now in this new body of bronze sculptures.

Performance, choreography, and the sensual are integral to Simmons’ artistic language. In this recent sculptural work, these elements coalesce into forms that feel both classical and contemporary. As with much of her practice, Figure Eleven situates art history within an ongoing continuum, like a film that resists final resolution.

The sculptures recall the Venus of Willendorf and Venus de Milo while simultaneously reflecting the multiplicity of contemporary bodies and motifs. Their power lies in their capacity to collapse and reconcile distinct historical and cultural narratives. The figures embody a poised stillness that resonates with the language of movement and performance. Figure Eleven, both the exhibition’s title and the newest figurative sculpture, appears as if drawn from a film still, a moment suspended between gesture and permanence.