The diamond in the not-so-rough Bickett Gallery sparkles plenty on Sunday, April 27, with special guests, music and entertainment. The festivities ensue not only to open Beyond Baubles, a show of jewelry pieces by a handful of designers, but to celebrate the anniversary of their very first year bringing stellar and innovative visual art, complete with nice merlot and jazz soundtrack, to Five Points. The games begin at 5 p.m., Sunday, April 27, call 836-5358 for details.
Bickett can also be proud of the honor recently bestowed upon one of the artists they represent–painter Jill Bullitt has been nominated for one of seven annual awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The awards, which total just under $1 million, are given to artists, architects, writers and composers, from the organization established in 1898 to “foster and assist and sustain an interest in literature, music, and the fine arts.” Bullitt has taught at Duke and UNC, exhibited in several states as well as Italy, and was featured in a solo exhibition at Bickett last June.
The Contemporary Art Museum’s new home-to-be has lain fallow since last year’s amazing Some Kind of Dream exhibition, which included a few awe-inspiring site-specific pieces that made some of us wonder how the building could possibly be improved. While renovations progress, the caterpillar does not sleep dormant inside its chrysalis–CAM has recently spearheaded Moore Square: Past, Present and Future, a storefront windows project by students from Moore Square Middle School, and frequently offers exhibitions at Manbites Dog Theater in Durham. And this weekend brings the chance to peek in at the mid-transformation warehouse, as the space hosts an open Artist Hanging, allowing those of varying levels of experience to show their work. For two days the museum opens its doors to would-be participants, the only stipulations being that one work be accepted from each artist that it be appropriate for audiences of all ages, and ready to be installed by the artists themselves. The opening party is Friday, April 25, 7-11 p.m., and the exhibition runs Saturday & Sunday, April 26 & 27, from 2-6 p.m., 409 W. Martin St. (corner of Martin and Harrington streets downtown). For more information, call 833-0018.
At DUMA, architect Rafael Vinoly gives the annual Mary and Jim Semans Lecture on Tuesday, April 29 at 7 p.m. Vinoly’s pen will ink the plans for the Nasher Museum of Art, Duke’s $23 million construction that promises pavilions for international art, sculpture gardens, and park line grounds. Call 684-5135 for details.
This weekend is your last chance to see Beta Launch, Kevin H. Jones’ installation at LUMP Gallery. Art, science, beeping, technology, pixels, fruit, car races and Sasquatch all join happily together to raise a joyful noise one last time before Laura Sharp Wilson takes up residence in May. Open Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m., call 821-9999.
Art Without Galleries: Saturday, April 26, plan to be in downtown Durham, right up with there with New York, Paris, London and Montreal as one of the most vibrant and thriving cosmopolitan communities–oh, all right, maybe not exactly. BUT on this particular eve it’s host to a bevy of not-to-be-missed events theatrical, musical, and artistic all in one night. Joe & Jo’s, the neighborhood bar extraordinaire already renowned for saucy bartenders and veggie burgers, gains major art points as well for the collection Shearing The Blackwool, sketch excerpts from Jonathan Blackwell. The reception for this inviting assembly of journal works begins at 6 p.m., call 688-3322. At 9 p.m., head to Ringside for Architexture>>>Communication Beyond Structure, the Third Annual Lineast Art Exhibition, presented with RECESS> Mad Plaid Adult Playground. Intrigued? Call 680-2100 for details. 
