What’s going on in Joplin this week?

The hustle and bustle of Joplin never ends and this week is no exception! From poetry readings, to theatre, to blacksmith demonstrations, downtown Joplin has a wide range of activities and events planned.

Here’s a look at what is going on in Joplin this week:

October 24: Dog Day Afternoon (Ages 6-12), 4:00–4:45pm at Joplin Public Library (1901 E 20th St). Ready for some furry fun? This program allows independent readers to practice their skills by reading to certified therapy dogs! Registration suggested; register in-person or by calling (417) 623-7953. Free and open to the public.

October 24: The Secret of Kells, 7:00pm at Missouri Southern State University, Cornell Auditorium (3950 E Newman Rd). The Missouri Southern State University Institute of International Studies and the Harrison and June Kash International Film Festival invite you to experience films from Ireland! This animated fantasy tells the coming of age tale of a young Irish monk named Brendan, who shows an interest in the art of manuscript illumination (or painting religious texts). However, his haggard uncle, the Abbott, has become so fixated on defending the abbey from the invading Vikings that he has abandoned their holy craft. With the arrival of an elder monk with a partial manuscript, Brendan learns about bravery in art and battle. As the boy ventures into the forest to collect materials for ink, an elfin fox-girl helps protect him from the Norsemen and worse. Not Rated. Introduction by Dr. Jody Jensen. This event is part of MSSU’s Ireland Semester. Free and open to the public.

October 24: Bats of Missouri Webinar, 6:00pm online. Learn about Missouri’s bats during this evening webinar! Discuss species of bats in Missouri along with some of the challenges these flying mammals are facing in today’s world and what we can do to help them. Registration is required with a valid email address to receive the program link. This is a live webinar event only. Registration required; register online. Free and open to the public.

October 25: Bats at the Library, 4:00pm at Joplin Public Library (1901 E 20th St). Did you know that there are more than 12 species of bats that can be found in Missouri? Can you guess what they eat? Join Missouri Department of Conservation naturalists at the Joplin Public Library to learn about Missouri’s bats! Discuss bats in Missouri (and some from around the world), what makes a bat a bat, and what we can do to help them. After the program, make a bat mask to take home and explore a bat “cave.” Registration required. Free and open to the public.

October 25 & 26: Read and Play Preschool Hour (Ages 3-5), 9:30–10:00am & 10:30–11:00am at Joplin Public Library (1901 E 20th St). Join the Joplin Public Library’s Children’s Department on Wednesdays and Thursdays for preschool storytime. Sing, read, and play! Free and open to the public.

October 26: Joplin High School Fall Orchestra Concert, 7:00pm at Joplin High School Performing Arts Center (2104 S Indiana Ave). A night of spook-tacular music! From The Nightmare Before Christmas to Star Wars, see the young musicians of Joplin High School’s orchestra perform a wide selection of music during this fun and exciting seasonal program. Free and open to the public.

October 26: Ireland Semester Book Club: Brooklyn, 6:00pm at Bookhouse Cinema (715 E Broadway St). Explore Irish ideas, culture, and history with Colm Tóbín’s novel Brooklyn (2009). This novel is set in Ireland and Brooklyn in the early 1950s. It follows Eilis Lacey who, like so many Irish at the time, leaves her family and life in small town Ireland to escape the dismal Irish post-war economy and seek work and new possibilities elsewhere. In Brooklyn, Eilis finds a job in a department store on Fulton Street, night classes at Brooklyn College, and love at a parish dance. She also encounters changing demographics and social mores. As she is settling into her new life and imagining a future, news from Ireland calls her home and threatens to upend her life yet again. This event is part of MSSU’s Ireland Semester. Free and open to the public.

October 26: Tiny Art Night (Ages 13+), 6:00pm at Joplin Public Library (1901 E 20th St). Joplin Public Library’s Teen and Adult Departments are teaming up for a Tiny Art Night! Paint on tiny art canvases and use glow-in-the-dark paint. All supplies provided. Registration required; call (417) 623-7963 to register. Free and open to the public.

October 26: Art In the Twenty-First Century: Bodies of Knowledge – Screening + Discussion, 7:00pm at Neosho Newton County Library (201 W Spring St, Neosho, MO). A free screening of the award-winning documentary series Art In the Twenty-First Century: Bodies of Knowledge with Neosho Arts Council! Viewers will have the opportunity to experience an in-the- moment Guerrilla Girls intervention staged in front of major New York City museums; the creative process behind Hank Willis Thomas’ new public sculpture, The Embrace; Anicka Yi’s flying, AI-controlled “aerobe” machines at the Tate’s Turbine Hall in London; and Tauba Auerbach’s two-person, interdependent pump organ, Auerglass. Then, stick around after the film for a discussion. Free and open to the public.

October 26: Open Mic Night, 7:00–9:30pm at Joplin Avenue Coffee Company (506 S Joplin Ave). Musicians, singers, poets! Looking to showcase your talent? Look no further than Joplin Avenue Coffee Company’s Open Mic Nights. Performers are each allotted five to eight minutes per set. Two vocal mics, a quarter inch plug in for guitar/piano, and an aux cable will be available. To sign up early, message them at facebook.com/joplinavecoffeeco/. All ages welcome! Free and open to the public.

October 27: Read and Play Toddler (Ages 0-2), 9:30–10:00am & 10:30–11:00am at Joplin Public Library (1901 E 20th St). Join the Joplin Public Library’s Children’s Department for toddler storytime on Friday mornings to sing, read, talk, and play together! Free and open to the public.

October 27: Typhoid Mary: Public Health Versus Civil Liberties – The Questionable Pursuit of an Irish-Born Cook and the Beginning of Investigative Epidemiology, 10:00am at Missouri Southern State University, Webster Hall (3950 E Newman Rd). Join Dr. Rachel Bechtold, assistant professor of biology and environmental health and safety at Missouri Southern State University, to learn about Mary Mallon, an Irish-born American cook assumed to have infected dozens to hundreds of people with typhoid fever, of which some cases ended in death. Known to the media as Typhoid Mary, she became the first recorded case of an asymptomatic carrier of the pathogen Salmonella typhi. Despite warnings from a tenacious health instructor, she persisted in working as a cook and continued to spread the pathogen to wealthy families. Public health concerns and the ethics of pursuit and quarantine are still contended topics regarding her life story. Notably, she was twice forcibly quarantined by authorities (escaped once!) but eventually was kept isolated in her final 30 years of life, much to her dismay and protest. This event is part of MSSU’s Ireland Semester. Free and open to the public.

October 27: Opening Receptions: 76th Annual Joy Spiva Cragin Membership Show & Chit Chat by Mark Cowardin, 5:30–7:30pm at Harry M. Cornell Arts & Entertainment Complex, Spiva Center for the Arts (212 W 7th St). Admire the artwork of nearly 100 area artists featured in Spiva’s 76th Annual Joy Spiva Cragin Membership Show and the artwork featured in Mark Cowardin’s exhibit Chit Chat! Halloween costumes encouraged. Cost: Non-Members $10, Spiva Members admitted for free.

October 27: Little Acorns: Spooky Spiders (Ages 3-7), 10:30–11:00am at Shoal Creek Conservation Education Center (201 Riviera Dr). Spiders are often considered to be scary and spooky, but these arachnids actually play an important role in our everyday lives! Learn more about these spooky spiders and make a spider craft of your very own. Registration required; register online. Free and open to the public.

October 28: Super Saturday: Monster Madness (Ages 2-5), 10:00–11:15am at Joplin Public Library (1901 E 20th St). Little monsters everywhere are invited to this roaringly fun event focused on learning through play! Explore and learn with your little one through fun, sensory activities, stories brought to life, and art. Free and open to the public.

October 28: Raptors Program, 1:00pm at George Washington Carver National Monument (5646 Carver Rd, Diamond, MO). Featuring live raptors, Pittsburg State University’s Nature Reach will explain some of the adaptations that help raptors survive and will discuss the importance of these birds to the natural world. Free and open to the public.

October 28: Fall Pipes, 3:00–5:00pm at Byers Avenue United Methodist (1730 Byers Ave). Join the Joplin Area Organists Association for an opportunity to enjoy the wonderful, almost 100-year-old Himmers Pipe Organ! Hear organists create unique sounds on this beautiful instrument. Free and open to the public; donations appreciated.

October 28–December 23: Chit Chat by Mark Cowardin at the Harry M. Cornell Arts & Entertainment Complex, Spiva Center for the Arts (212 W 7th St). Inspired by his personal history of growing up surrounded by mining remnants and chat piles near his childhood home in rural Joplin, Mark Cowardin’s Chit Chat series is a modern sculptural marvel for viewers. These locations once served as his magical playgrounds and regular destinations for youthful imagination. Simultaneously enchanting and horrific, these remnants of lead and zinc extraction expose the need for more thoughtful and careful balance of interactions with nature. Most of Mark’s Chit Chat works began with the molding of actual rocks from these playground/chat piles, and then cast into ceramic. Defying gravity and implying various functions of extraction and consumption, these works are playful illustrations of not only our dependence on nature, but also the impact of our presence. Free and open to the public; donations appreciated.

October 28–December 16: 76th Annual Joy Spiva Cragin Membership Show at the Harry M. Cornell Arts & Entertainment Complex, Spiva Center for the Arts (212 W 7th St). Back for its 76th year, the Joy Spiva Cragin Membership Show showcases the artistic excellence of the region! Any creative member of Spiva is welcome and invited to take part in the exhibit. With nearly 100 artists participating, this exhibit honors the wide range of passions and creativity Spiva’s members channel into their work. Free and open to the public; donations appreciated.

October 28: Beginning Photography with Sarah Clements (Ages 13+), 11:00am–1:00pm at the Harry M. Cornell Arts & Entertainment Complex, Spiva Center for the Arts (212 W 7th St). Bring your DSLR and learn how to shoot professional-quality photos using manual mode. Students will also take a photo walk through the downtown area, putting their new skills to use! Registration required; register online.

October 28: Contemporary Gothic Art with Jordan Murdock-Thompson (Ages 12-17), 1:00–3:00pm at the Harry M. Cornell Arts & Entertainment Complex, Spiva Center for the Arts (212 W 7th St). For those artists with a taste for the unsettling! Explore the history of gothic art from its beginning to its development as a cultural movement in the 21st century. Learn how artists have utilized the movement’s dual elements of beauty and horror to create powerful work while exploring various mediums and creating your own modern gothic artwork. Registration required; register online. Cost: $25.

October 28: Twisted Metal Class, 3:00–5:00pm at Local Color Art Gallery & Studio (1027 S Main St). Join artist April Davis-Brunner for a special twisted metal class! Registration required; register by visiting the gallery in person or by calling (417) 553-0835. Cost: $35.

October 29: Casting a Legacy – Art Walk, 1:00pm at George Washington Carver National Monument (5646 Carver Rd, Diamond, MO). Meet with a George Washington Carver National Monument ranger for a walk near the visitor center and explore the commemorative artwork along the trail! Free and open to the public.

October 29: Open Mic Comedy Night, 9:00pm (Sign-Up 8:30pm) at Blackthorn Pizza & Pub (510 S Joplin Ave). Join Joplin Comedy and try out your latest stand-up routine or take in the acts of local comedians, all while enjoying tasty pizza from Blackthorn Pizza & Pub. Age restrictions: 18+ until 10:00pm. 21+ from 10:00pm until close. Free and open to the public.