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Jayson had decided that he was homosexual while watching a Phil Donahue episode on the topic eight years earlier. He’d come home early from kindergarten that day because he’d gotten a stomach ache from worrying about whether his Hee Haw overalls were too outré for his peers. Jayson had been sent home from school fairly often over the years, including the first day of kindergarten when he’d become inconsolably agitated that the school wouldn’t change their spelling of his name from “Jason” to “Jayson.” He felt very strongly that he needed the extra flair to set himself apart from the other, obviously less special Jasons in the class.

– From Josh Kilmer-Purcell’s latest novel, Candy Everybody Wants. Kilmer-Purcell will read and sign copies of the book at Outwrite Books on Wednesday, May 28.

It’s refreshing to hear a pretty girl from Texas singing real country music again. I know, Miranda Lambert’s hot and all, but she is part of the Nashville machinery. SUNNY SWEENEY is doing her thing the way she wants to Tues., MAY 20, and the gal can wail like Loretta when she wants to. $7. 8 p.m. Smith’s Olde Bar, 1578 Piedmont Ave. 404-875-1522. www.smithsoldebar.com.

(Photo Courtesy Big Machine Records)

By Cinque Hicks

In Atlanta, art most often meets technology in a sonic landscape of hip-hop samples, glitch music and heady sound-generating software performed at Dorkbot. Continuing Wed., MAY 14, however, Spruill Gallery moves the digital ball forward on the visual field as well with BREAKING NEW GROUND: INTERSECTIONS AT THE FRONTIER OF ART AND TECHNOLOGY. Curator Hope Cohn has assembled eight artists who collectively explore technological interactions with art, both visual and aural, including heavy doses of site-specific installation and art produced by algorithms and formulas. Artists include Georgia Tech professors Tristan Al-Hadid and Carla Diana, technophilic visual artist Danielle Roney, painter Sarah Emerson and others. Through June 26. Free. Wed.-Sat., 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Spruill Gallery, 4681 Ashford Dunwoody Road. 770-394-3447. www.spruillarts.org/gallery.

(Photo Nest, Carla Diana)

A mesh of delicate drift and violent squall, Cleveland duo MR. GNOME ingests the lessons of Sonic Youth, King Crimson, Hella and the Cocteau Twins, spitting out dynamic, undulating arrangements of prog-pop and art-metal as they waver between sonic extremes Mon., MAY 12. Comely frontwoman Nicole Barille’s breathy vocals accompany supple six-string majesties that rise and collapse in fits of intensity and then ebb away. Drummer Sam Meister pushes and pulls the pace like the moon on the tides, getting jazzy for the twilight moments and martial for the rumbles. $5. 7 p.m. Smith’s Olde Bar, 1578 Piedmont Ave. 404-875-1522. www.smithsoldebar.com.

— By CHRIS PARKER

(Photo courtesy of Mr. Gnome)

Imagine how different the American flag could have been if Betsy Ross had the help of electricity and some young and crafty artists. In Cooper Sanchez’s independently produced art show FLAGSHIP MARK, he collaborates with the Betsy Ross Society, a group of 19 seamsters and seamstresses, sewing machines and printing presses, to make his own versions of flags. Sanchez expands on the idea of a flag as a symbol and uses motivation from his life and his crafty helpers to visually communicate to his audience at this one-day-only event, Fri., MAY 2. Free. 7 p.m. Function, 508 E. Howard Ave., Decatur. 404-377-0280. www.betsyrosssociety.com.

— Wendi Jonassen

(Photo by Cooper Sanchez)

The High Museum of Art recently acquired four Impressionist works to add to its permanent collection, strengthening the current holding of French Impressionist and post-Impressionist works.

The works include:

“Mother and Child,” by Mary Cassatt (pictured on right)
“Snowscape with Cows, Montfoucault,” by Camille Pissarro
“The Breakfast,” by Pierre Bonnard
“Villa les Écluses, St. Jacut, Brittany,” by Édouard Vuillard.

Thanks to the Forward Arts Foundation, the Robert D. Fowler Family, Helen C. Griffith and Joan N. Whitcomb, the purchases were made possible. The works were purchased from Kathryn Welch Hartzog, a longtime Atlanta resident.

Here’s what David Brenneman, the High’s Director of Collections and Exhibitions, has to say about the new works:

The acquisition of these four major works makes the Museum’s holdings of French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists one of the most important in the Southeast.

The paintings will be on display starting on Mother’s Day (May 11) until Aug. 17, along with other works by the featured artists in an exhibit titled Cassatt, Pissarro, Bonnard, Vuillard: New Acquisitions for the Collection.

Small Farms CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is sponsoring a benefit dinner at Glover Family Organic Farm (right) Sun., APRIL 27. The annual event is a fundraiser for Slow Foods Atlanta, a nonprofit organization that promotes local food traditions. This year’s theme of WORLD FOOD AT THE FARM pays homage to the immigrant roots that make up Atlanta’s culinary melting pot. Chefs and cooks from all over the world who showcase their talents daily at Atlanta restaurants such as Repast, Woodfire Grill and Restaurant Eugene are teaming up to prepare a family-style meal with most of the ingredients taken right from Glover Farm. It’s a collision of Southern comfort food and international flavors. Other treats for guests include a rare performance by a refugee drum troop from Burundi, and a silent auction to raise money for the community garden at Refugee Family Services. $45. Glover Family Farm, 3260 Ga. 166, Douglasville. 678-485-4941. www.slowfoodatlanta.org.
— Brooke Williams

(Photo courtesy of Glover Family Farm)

In its 37th year, the INMAN PARK FESTIVAL still meets the criteria of a block party. It’s a neighborhood celebration that overtakes the streets for no reason other than to congregate and have a good time. But over the past few decades, the festival has tremendously elaborated on the original definition. It now offers art from more than 100 local artists, a kids’ area, a dance festival, a tour of homes, music performed on three different stages (bringing the party into the night), and a highly acclaimed offbeat parade, this year featuring Mayor Shirley Franklin as parade grand marshal. Enjoy the extras Sat.-Sun., APRIL 26-27, but as tradition dictates, celebrate with your neighbors for no reason other than for fun. Free-$20. Fri., noon-4 p.m. (tour of homes only); Sat., 11 a.m. — 10 p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m. — 7 p.m. Inman Park. 770-242-4895. www.inmanparkfestival.org.

— Wendi Jonassen

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

It is the duty of the Camellia to observe. She does not insult directly but instead sandwiches her blows between compliments drizzled in honey. “Cindy has the prettiest hair,” my mother would say. “A little too fond of the bacon bits, but goodness, that hair is shiny.”

– From Katie Crouch’s debut novel, Girls in Trucks. Crouch will be at Wordsmiths Books in Decatur on Tuesday, April 29, at 7:30 p.m. Click here for a review and podcast interview with the author.

Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Marlon Rigg’s 1989 TONGUES UNTIED is an unconventional blend of documentary, fiction, personal testimony and poetry that masterfully archives gay, black males struggling to establish an identity. Though Rigg’s intention was to break the silence on this cross-culture, he was heavily ostracized for his blatant portrayal of homophobia and racism. On the 20th anniversary of its release, PinkEye and Film Love jointly present the film Fri., APRIL 18 as a reminder that these issues are still current and prevalent. A panel discussion follows the screening. $7. 8 p.m. Eyedrum Music & Art Gallery, 290 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Suite 8. 404-522-0655. www.eyedrum.org.
— Wendi Jonassen

(Tongues Untied (1989))