• Community Chat with Christopher Talton, May 19 or 21, Goodman Community Center-Brassworks: At the end of March, Goodman Community Center announced Christopher Talton would step in as the east-side hub’s new president. Talton has more than a decade of leadership experience in the nonprofit sector, most recently as a vice president with Goodwill in north central Wisconsin. The GCC is welcoming the community to meet Talton at a pair of casual gatherings at the Brassworks Building, at 5:30 p.m. on May 19 (RSVP here) or 9 a.m. on May 21 (RSVP here).
• Plant Community: Gardens as Social Infrastructure: Tuesday, May 19, Olbrich Gardens, 6 p.m.: This time of year as flowers begin to pop, gardens can seem merely a nice decorative touch. Garden designer and gardener Chris Fehlhaber will encourage everybody to create gardens where we live — not, as with Olbrich, an attraction/destination. By bringing gardens to communities, communities grow stronger. RSVP at olbrich.org.

• Rhapsodie Quartet, Tuesday, May 19, Overture-Promenade Hall, 7 p.m.: The HeartStrings program is a Madison Symphony Orchestra music therapy initiative featuring MSO players presenting interactive programs at senior and other residential facilities and healthcare centers. The resident ensemble is the Rhapsodie Quartet, featuring co-concertmaster Suzanne Beia and Laura Burns on violin, cellist Karl Lavine, and violist Melissa Snell (the quartet’s newest member). The quartet also plays a few public performances each year, including this free concert featuring string quartets by Schubert and Shostakovich.
• Gelsy Verna, through Sept. 27, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art: This exhibition at MMoCA focuses on one work (and a recent museum acquisition): Gelsy Verna’s “Mother, Father, Please Help Me.” It’s a mixed media drawing using elements of collage that creates a visual example of considering more than one side of a subject — literally. The art work is two-sided, and MMoCA has created a reproduction of the reverse side for this exhibition. Verna’s multi-layered work invites the viewer to slow down and think about familiar cultural icons. You don’t need to “get it” immediately — that’s not really the point. A reception takes place as part of MMoCA’s 125th anniversary party on June 4; for more events, visit mmoca.org.

• Caro Claire Burke, Tuesday, May 19, Central Library, 7 p.m.: Yesteryear, the debut novel by Caro Claire Burke, presents the story of an influencer who builds a brand around an idealized pioneer lifestyle…and then mysteriously wakes up in 1855. Given the current social media and political landscape, it’s not surprising the novel built quite a buzz before publication. That hasn’t abated; since its April debut it’s remained perched high on the New York Times bestseller list (currently No. 1 in hardcover fiction) and generated an ocean of coverage and debate. Madison area audiences can hear about the novel from the author herself, in conversation with Mira Braneck, courtesy of a partnership between the Wisconsin Book Festival and A Room of One’s Own.
• Wilder Deitz’s American Canon, Wednesdays, through May 20, Muso, 7 p.m.: Madison musician and educator Wilder Deitz has been playing a variety of instruments and composing in a variety of genres from an early age. For “American Canon,” Deitz will pull together seemingly disparate musical threads and examine their connections in a series of performances-lectures. Deitz will be joined by bassist John Minnich, saxophonist Nathan France, and guests.

• WisCon, May 21-25, Zoom and Discord: This science fiction convention has been defying the status quo since 1977. The first WisCon took place in a world where it was unusual to have one session devoted to women in sci-fi. WisCon devoted the whole convention to women and has been determinedly progressive, feminist and left-leaning ever since. This year it continues its social justice focus, with guest authors Darcie Little Badger, a Lipan Apache who’s written a number of well received fantasy novels, and Premee Mohamed, a Canadian Indo-Caribbean scientist and speculative fiction author. Registration and more info at wiscon.net.
• Words with Nerds: 4-Year Anniversary Edition, Thursday, May 21, Crucible, 7 p.m.: For this special anniversary edition of Words with Nerds, a recurring showcase blending stand-up with specialist talks, Cheshire Cat Comedy found a perfect headliner — Eeland Stribling — but Stribling had to cancel. “The headliner got too famous!” jokes CCC founder Sasha Rosser. There's still plenty of fun on offer, including a talk on learning languages by Tanner Letourneau, Setty Mois discussing the world of burlesque, a "nerdlesque" performance by Neimo, and Rosser hosting. Tickets at eventbrite.com.
• Old Oaks EP release, Thursday, May 21, UW Memorial Union-Terrace, 7 p.m.: Old Oaks is an ongoing collaboration between Wurk singer-guitarist Frank Laufenberg and sax man Daniel Haschke, showcasing a different side of Laufenberg’s songwriting than Wurk’s funky rock. They’ll hit the Terrace with new music in tow: The new EP, I Wake Up in the Morning, is out on show day, and you can hear the contemplative and catchy single “Headed West” ahead of time on Bandcamp. The duo will be joined for this show by Zac Curtes on bass and Julian Russell on drums.

• Joy Harjo, Thursday, May 21, Overture Center-Playhouse, 7 p.m.: It’s not every day that the first Native American poet to serve as the U.S. poet laureate comes to town. But Joy Harjo, who held that role from 2019 to 2022 and is an internationally acclaimed performer and writer of the Muscogee Nation, will appear as part of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters’ “Finding Home” series. Harjo, whose 12th book of poetry will be published this fall, will focus on the layered meanings of home through poetry and conversation — drawing on themes of land, memory, ancestry, displacement and healing. Karen Lincoln Michel, a cultural consultant and story producer for PBS Wisconsin, will serve as moderator. Find tickets for in-person and livestream options at overture.org.
• Urban Sketchers Madison, through May 31, Goodman Community Center-Ironworks Ballweg Gallery: The group Urban Sketchers Madison is hosting its first public group exhibit, “Here, There, and Everywhere.” These non-professional sketch enthusiasts capture something vital and organic about scenes in our city, with a wide range of styles and perspectives.

• Stone Oak, Thursday, May 21, Muso, 7 p.m.: Longtime Madison bluegrass scenesters probably just thought: Stone Oak!? It’s true, the quartet is reconvening for a few shows this summer, starting with this Muso concert. Since disbanding in the early 1980s, Stone Oak’s members have inspired generations of Midwest musicians in groups such as Harmonious Wail, Honor Among Thieves, The Honey Pies and Sugar Bush. Keep an eye out for a few more shows this summer, including Waterfront Fest in June.

Find the individual Picks collected here, and as part of the full calendar of events.