5 Things To Do This Weekend, From A Solange Knowles' Film To A Festival On The Greenway

In typical New England fashion, the weather has given us all a severe case of whiplash. After a weekend boiling in the sun, this week has oscillated between summer time fine and thunderstorm central. Luckily, the forecast for this weekend is lots of sunshine and bearably warm temperatures. So get out and explore these (pretty cool) happenings taking place within and outside of Boston city limits.

The multi-hyphenate songstress is releasing "When I Get Home," a short interdisciplinary performance art film that explores Knowles' Texan roots, futurism in the black cowboy and the tumultuous nature of soul searching. The 33-minute long project is screening exclusively at partner institutions across the United States and Europe. Knowles directed and edited "When I Get Home" and said the project touches on her old fear of the Holy Spirit. In many ways, the film serves as "an invitation for that same spirit to manifest through me and the work I want to continue to create,” she said in a press release.

This two-day arts festival turns the Greenway into a place of public, participatory art experiences. The goal is to morph the space into a large-scale, collaborative artwork in which attendees can contribute. FIGMENT is family-friendly and free, so it's the perfect outing for a day with the kids. A long list of scheduled activities include belly dancing, a real time photo exhibit and neon human sized terrariums and garden structures.

Whether you're Puerto Rican or not, this festival is an immersive route to experiencing the culture of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican diaspora. Now in its 52nd year, the Puerto Rican Festival and Parade of Massachusetts transforms Boston City Hall into a celebratory space centering the island's history, music and food. With a beer garden on site and plenty of kid's activities, the festival is a family-friendly way to check out the extensive lineup of Puerto Rican artists, including Rubio y Joel and Son Taino. If you're looking to be a part of the parade, make sure to be at the Hynes Convention Center on July 28 at 9 a.m.

Bloom's work may disgust you, scare you or entice you. But the Latvian-born painter's work is sure to stop you in your tracks. Bloom, who was one of the leading artists in Boston in the 1940s and ‘50s, is the subject of a new solo exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts that examines his determination to look beneath the skin of the human experience. The painter's combination of full-bodied hues and (at times) grotesque subject matter lifts the veil on human nature, inviting viewers to see that the juxtaposition of decay and beauty is a part of our ephemeral existence. (Read Lloyd Schwartz's review of the exhibit.)

If you're the type of theatergoer who likes to be stationary, Kirsten Greenidge's "Greater Good" will challenge you to do the opposite. This play utilizes multiple rooms and floors of the Commonwealth School in Boston's Back Bay to provide a sensory theater experience. "Greater Good" explores the macrocosms of race, class and politics in the microcosm of the fictional Gleason Street School. Audience members are split into three groups and tour the school as scenes of the play unfold, telling a tale of a high school on the brink of collapse.