5 things to do this weekend, including a 'Future Minded' art exhibit and leap day celebrations

Leap year is giving us one additional day this month, so what are you going to do with your extra time? Luckily, we have many options to choose from in and around Boston. From an annual floral show to an unexpectedly timely movie at the Harvard Film Archive, there are plenty of ways to spend your leap day weekend.

If rarity adds to a holiday’s value, leap day is worth four times your average annual festivity. Here are two options for marking this day, which helps make up for the fact that our year isn’t exactly 365 days. The Brighton branch of the Boston Public Library has honed in on the “leap” aspect of the day by hosting a free frog-themed event from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Thursday for children ages 4 to 12. There will be materials available to make paper-bag frog puppets as well as origami frogs. Across the river in Somerville, Aeronaut Brewing Company is celebrating the absurdity of the 2012 “Leap Day” episode of “30 Rock.”  The evening will be a reunion of sorts, bringing together musical acts from previous years’ iterations, including the “brasstastical LeapBand,” and they’re even teasing a potential surprise visit from Leap Day William, the Santa Claus of leap day. The Aeronaut event begins at 7 p.m.

This year marks the 21st anniversary of the Worcester Art Museum’s first Flora in Winter weekend exhibit. The four-day show is short-lived because it can only last as long as the flowers stay vibrant. For those unfamiliar with the annual event, it pairs floral arrangements next to works in the museum’s collection. I went on a curated tour of last year’s show, and I highly recommend the experience for those who are interested in learning more about the decisions that go into an artistically crafted arrangement. Outside of the show, you can catch a live demonstration of a flower arrangement (which will be included in the show) on Thursday morning, an after-hours event on Saturday starting at 5 p.m. with live music and drinks, and several opportunities to “Ask a Gardener” for advice throughout the four-day run. Entry is free for members, $30 for adults and $7 for ages 17 and under. All tickets must be purchased at the door.

The work of building a collection is often a steady, drawn-out process. Many times, museums acquire works only for them to remain out of public view for years. A new exhibit at the Harvard Art Museums brings those new acquisitions into focus. “Future Minded” showcases over 60 works from 30 artists who span centuries and the globe. While works in this exhibit go back as far as 500 BCE, living artists represent a large portion of the artists as the museum seeks to grow its collection of contemporary works. The exhibit features various mediums, including drawings, photographs, paintings, sculptures and prints, like “Worlds Within World” (2019) from Chinese artist Guanyu Xu (below). The exhibit runs through July 21. Admission is free to the Harvard Art Museums.

Whose ears don’t perk up when you hear a story about stolen artwork? Perhaps you’ve listened to WBUR and the Boston Globe’s “Last Seen,” about the famed theft from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. The story recently appeared in the news again this week after the passing of Richard "Rick" Abath, one of the overnight watchmen at the museum during the heist. “The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting (L’hypothèse du tableau volé)” is a 64-minute film in the style of a mockumentary that follows an arts collector in his efforts to learn about a stolen artwork. Released in 1978, the experimental film was made by French Chilean filmmaker Raúl Ruiz. His films often reject traditional narrative structure in favor of whimsy and oddity. The showing begins at 9:30 p.m. and will be preceded by an introduction from filmmaker and curator Simon Field. Tickets cost $10 and may be reserved online.

The Concord Band is a 65-member concert band that regularly performs in the towns of Concord and Harvard. On Saturday, the band will perform an original work commissioned by Ellen Feldman, who has performed in the Concord Band’s flute section for 35 years. The work is inspired by a comic book that Feldman self-published in 2011 titled “The Dancer as The Invisible Girl.” Composer Mason Bynes wrote in her notes, “These three movements capture the Invisible Girl’s whirling power and agility.” Musical director James O'Dell has curated a program around the original piece that includes George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris,” as well as works by Claude Debussy, Robert Russell Bennett and Eduard Strauss. Admission is free, but a $20 donation is requested. The concert begins at 7 p.m. and will be available to livestream via YouTube.