Fabric Mending: Darning (O'Neill)
Darning is a fabric mending technique that involves reinforcing or re-weaving a portion of fabric by hand. In this workshop, we’ll learn how to visibly mend holes and weak areas in sweaters, socks, and other knit fabrics using seed stitch and square darning techniques. You’ll leave with a sampler of both techniques that you can refer back to when tackling your own darning projects at home. Suitable for beginners with little or no darning experience, though it does help if you have some experience with hand sewing.
Registration is required.
Fabric Mending: Darning (Valente)
Darning is a fabric mending technique that involves reinforcing or re-weaving a portion of fabric by hand. In this workshop, we’ll learn how to visibly mend holes and weak areas in sweaters, socks, and other knit fabrics using seed stitch and square darning techniques. You’ll leave with a sampler of both techniques that you can refer back to when tackling your own darning projects at home. Suitable for beginners with little or no darning experience, though it does help if you have some experience with hand sewing.
Registration Required.
78-80 Porter Road
In 2009, the Cambridge Housing authority (CHA) through its Cambridge Affordable Housing Corporation (CAHC) purchased a 26-unit rental property in Porter Square, also known as 78-80 Porter Road, with the financial assistance from the Cambridge Affordable Housing Trust. Additional financing was used to significantly renovate the property and convert the mostly market-rate housing units into affordable housing rented out to income-eligible residents. In the process of updating and replacing old systems, the CHA was able to maintain and restore historically significant elements of the building.
Paint and Plant a Flower Pot (Central)
Celebrate Earth Day at the Central Square Branch of the Cambridge Public Library! Come decorate a terracotta pot or recycled planter, then plant a seed in your new pot to take home to watch grow. All seeds and supplies will be provided. Registration encouraged.
The City of Cambridge does not discriminate, including on the basis of disability. We may provide auxiliary aids and services, written materials in alternative formats, and reasonable modifications in policies and procedures to people with disabilities. For more information contact us at library@cambridgema.gov, 617-349-4032 (voice), or via relay at 711.
Peter Guralnick presents: The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley, and the Partnership that Rocked the World (Main)
Harvard Book Store and the Cambridge Public Library welcome Peter Guralnick—Grammy Award-winner for his liner notes for Sam Cooke Live at the Harlem Square Club, and prize-winning author of the two-volume biography of Elvis Presley, Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love—for a discussion of his new book The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley, and the Partnership that Rocked the World. He will be joined in conversation by Peter Wolf—Boston-based rock ’n’ roll legend and former front man of the legendary J. Geils Band.
Registration is required.
Mindfulness Meditation Session
Join us in the Lewis Room at the Central Square Branch for an introduction to mindfulness meditation followed by a guided practice session with instructor Zeenat.
If you are curious or would just like to be in community, stop on by!
Registration is required to attend this event!
Biography: Zeenat Potia teaches meditation in Buddhist and secular spaces, and has taught at the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center since 2014. She practices vipassana at CIMC and the Insight Meditation Society, and has over 15 years of meditation training, including extensive silent retreat experience in the Early Buddhist tradition. Zeenat is committed to healing and recovery through trauma-sensitive mindfulness. She is an instructor for Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare’s Mind the Moment program and works directly with corporations, non-profit organizations and universities in the delivery of secular mindfulness programs. Learn more at: www.zeenatpotia.com
Cambridge Cooks: Caribbean Heritage Month Edition with Chef Gaitskell (Main)
Join Chef Gaitskell Cleghorn Jr. as he prepares Jerk Chicken and Mango Salsa in celebration of Caribbean-American Heritage Month.
Gaitskell Cleghorn Jr., professionally known as Chef Gates, is an entrepreneur and culinary educator based in Boston. He specializes in culinary education, catering, and community outreach, partnering with organizations such as the Codman Square Farmers Market and BOLD Teens.
Throughout his career, he has taught at prestigious institutions, including Harvard University, as well as local schools such as Madison Park Technical Vocational High School and Boston Day & Evening Academy. His work has been featured in publications including Channel 7, Edible Boston, Boston Herald, and the Boston Globe. Additionally, he collaborated with a Master Sushi Chef to produce over 3,000 sushi plates at the New England Seafood Expo. His work on food and culture is currently featured in an Exhibit at the Boston Children’s Museum. Although he lived globally due to his father’s military service, he has spent most of his professional life in Boston, where he continues to grow as a culinary professional.
The Foundry
The Foundry, a brick and timber frame industrial building, built in 1890, will be repurposed into a creative, innovative and collaborative multipurpose center. When completed, it will provide public community space and programming for art, entrepreneurship, technology and workforce education.
The building will be accessible and inclusive to Cambridge residents of all ages and backgrounds, and its location on the border of Kendall Square and East Cambridge provides an ideal opportunity to connect residents to some of the world's most visible companies in life sciences, technology and innovation.
The Foundry property is owned by the City of Cambridge and is being developed by the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority (CRA). Through a Request for Proposal process in 2018, the CRA selected the Foundry Consortium to act as operator and master tenant, with responsibility for managing the building, establishing and managing a programming framework, and recruiting sub-tenants.
As part of the Foundry construction project, Cambridge Arts will commission an artist, team of artists, or multiple artists to create a public art project as part of the percent-for-art ordinance. A jury met and selected three finalists: Masary Studios, Elisa Hamilton, and Innovators for Purpose.
The Margret and H. A. Rey Curious George Lecture: Jerry Craft (Main)
Children and families are invited to meet Jerry Craft, award-winning and best-selling graphic novelist of the "New Kid" series. Craft will talk about his work, answer questions from the audience and sign books. Porter Square Books will have books available for sale. This event takes place in the Lecture Hall (L2) with limited overflow seating in the Community Room. Recommended for ages 8 and up.
About the Lecture
The annual lecture is an initiative sponsored by the Cambridge Public Library, the Curious George Fund and the Cambridge Public Library Foundation. The series aims to bring the community together to celebrate outstanding and engaging books for young readers.
About the Author
Jerry Craft is The New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of the graphic novels New Kid, Class Act, and School Trip. New Kid is the only book in history to win the John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature (2020), the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature (2019), and the Coretta Scott King Author Award for the most outstanding work by an African American writer (2020). Jerry was born in Harlem and grew up in the Washington Heights section of New York City, and now travels the world telling kids and their families about the importance of reading.