<b>Holidaze at ARTworks:</b> Jingle bells, hand-made presents are swell. On three Saturdays in December, drop in for a selection of ready-to-go art projects to help you decorate the tree, stuff stockings, and spread good cheer. Artists guide you through the creative process, like Rudolph leading the sled team — and take care of the clean up too! ARTworks supplies all the glitter, ornaments, and craft supplies you and your family needs for handmade presents, just bring your creativity, a list of your lucky gift recipients, and $5-$15 per project. Holidaze Saturdays are December 7, 14, and 21, from noon to 4 p.m. at ARTworks, the community arts center of Beaufort. For more information, call 379-2787 or visit www.artworksinbeaufort.org. ARTworks is located in Beaufort Town Center, 2127 Boundary Street.

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<b>Masterpiece Masquerade:</b> Is it a Van Gogh  or a or just pretending to be a Van Gogh?  “Masterpiece Masquerade” will once again be the feature exhibit for Beaufort Art Association’s All-Member Holiday Show.  Each year BAA invites all 200 of their members to exhibit in their downtown gallery.  Over the years  Masterpiece Masquerade has been a favorite subject for artists and art patrons.  This year’s exhibit will not disappoint. Artists were asked to pick their favorite master artist to emulate;  or choose a masterpiece to re-create with their own twist on it.  Either way, this December, the BAA Gallery will be filled with Beaufort artists own “masterpieces” reminiscent of art museums all over the world. Masterpiece Masquerade will open on December 9 at Beaufort Art Association Gallery, 913 Bay Street and run through January 5. A Masquerade Party reception will be held on Friday, December 13 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.BeaufortArtAssocation.com or call 843-521-4444.

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<b>Four Artist Christmas Concert:</b> Morning Song Music has announced its tenth national Christmas tour featuring four artists: Steve Darmody, Jennifer LaMountain and Rudy Micelli, and Angela Bryant-Brown. Morning Song Music’s Christmas concert event, called “The Angels Sang” includes both traditional Christmas classics, new Christmas originals and favorites, like “Mary Did You Know” and “Oh Holy Night.” The free community concert will be at the USCB Center For the Arts on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at The Herban Marketplace, The Chocolate Tree and Beaufort Liquidation. Steve Darmody says, “I am excited about this tenth Christmas Tour for Morning Song. The bringing together of these talented singers to present this wonderful story of our Savior’s birth has become an annual touring tradition for Morning Song Concerts. Each year, new songs and new arrangements provide to create an awesome and memorable evening.”

<b>Celebrate Christmas Community Concert:</b> The Baptist Church of Beaufort, 600 Charles Street, Beaufort SC  29902, will host a “Celebrate Christmas” Community Concert on December 15 at 3 p.m. Come and join for a very special seasonal celebration as they bring back the infamous Sanders Family from Smoke on the Mountain, hear and watch  guest solo vocalists and dancers, choirs, instrumental ensembles of all ages, dance with children in their “Marshmellow World” and lift our voices together in community carols.  The season is upon us — join us for this free community event. Contact:  Dr. Melanie Williams ,  mwilliams@bcob.org, (843)252-4104.

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<b>December USCB Festival Series Concert:</b><b> </b>The USCB Festival Series concert features Gershwin, Dvorak and Mozart and will provide the opportunity to hear George Gershwin’s piano concertos and pieces for string quartet by offering one of these classical pieces, an early composition, “Lullaby for String Quartet” played by wonderful musicians in the fine acoustics of the USCB Center For the Arts. In recognition of Gershwin’s genius and as a gift to the Lowcountry audience, Artistic Director Edward Arron has positioned Mr. Gershwin between two of the grand names in classical music: from the 19th Century, Antonin Dvorak, and from the 18th, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Sunday, December 15 at 5 p.m. will bring a holiday evening to remember at the USCB Center for the Arts on Carteret Street. For tickets, call 843-208-8246 or go to www.uscb.edu/festivalseries.

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<b>A Child’s Christmas in Wales:</b>:

Originally written for BBC radio, Dylan Thomas’s “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” is holiday nostalgia at its best: “One Christmas was so much like another, in those years around the sea-town ... I can never remember whether it snowed for six days and six nights when I was 12 or whether it snowed for 12 days and 12 nights when I was six.” Peter Townes is your minstrel for these performances. Through him you will also learn who the Welsh are, and what they think they’re up to; the difference between the Welsh and the Irish, Scots, Picts and the Bloody English; a quick genealogy workshop exploring your own Welsh ancestry; and the Welsh Discovery of America. Originally from Wales, Townes now lives in upstate South Carolina, and considers Dylan Thomas to be “the master bard of all time. Although he does it in English, he has Welsh storytelling mastered. In one sentence he can floor you. He still floors me.” Tickets are $12 for adults and $5 for kids, and $10 each for groups of 10 or more. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 13 and Saturday, Dec. 14, and 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 15, at ARTworks in Beaufort Town Center, 2127 Boundary Street 29902.

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<b>Book signing by local author</b>:<b> </b>A new collection of true adventure tales has been released by local author Michele Roldán-Shaw. “Rambler’s Life: The South Reloaded” is a hand-bound book featuring original block-printed covers, and continues an odyssey begun in the underground classic “Ain’t a Rambler’s Life Fine: The South.” Both books recount her travels in Dixie, highlighting people and places from the everyday to the extraordinary. Roldán-Shaw has been a freelance journalist based in Bluffton for nearly a decade. In 2010 she started the Rambler’s Life Project as a way to find a bright side to the recession, and now considers herself blessed with freedom and richness of experience. Roldán-Shaw will read and sign copies of “Rambler’s Life” on Saturday, December 14 from 2 to 4 p.m. at ARTworks in Beaufort. For more information, visit www.ramblerslife.com or www.artworksinbeaufort.org or call 843-379-2787.
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