A Wonderful Year

Artistic ferment is inevitable in a college town that shrewdly juggles its tight-jeaned hipsters with its beer-guzzling frat boys and its basketball team. One of the many venues in Lawrence that nurtures creative expression is the Wonder Fair: Art Gallery & How! (803 Massachusetts, in the basement of the Casbah Market). Wonder Fair’s newest exhibit, Thumbs to the Heavens, celebrates the gallery’s first-year anniversary with an exhibition of local and national artists. Canadian Luke Ramsey brings his affinity for masks, drawings and black-and-white photography to the show, which runs through July 5. The opening reception from 6 to 9 tonight will feature music by DJs Candlepants and Gloria Vanderbuilt, libations and the release of a floating time capsule by Asteroid Head Art Club. Given the collapsing economy, the one-year survival of any start-up, let alone an art gallery in the Midwest, should inspire a celebration of timelessness. Call 406-360-5875 for more information.

Sat., May 9, 6-9 p.m.; Thursdays-Saturdays, 12-8 p.m.; Sundays, 12-6 p.m. Starts: May 9. Continues through July 5, 2009