Community Calendar

Saturday, May 16, 10 am – Noon
Meet: Auditorium

Steve Brown of Kalamazoo is a poet who writes with “the eye of a reporter, the touch of a painter and the heart of a storyteller.”

Steve will be reading from his latest book, News of Need (2025), capturing more than 40 portraits of people and natural landscapes that have been left out, looked over, or worked to the bone, but not without the hope of revelation or redemption.

Steve has staged his work internationally, been awarded residencies at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology and has been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes. Since 2016 Brown has been co-founding and leading a foundation in Kalamazoo, Michigan. His books will be available for purchase during the event.

Fee: Included in regular KNC admission; KNC Members free! Drop in program.

Foraging the Edible Wilderness
Thursday 5/14 5:00-6:30pm; Saturday 5/16 10:00-11:30am
Meet: Visitor Center Main Parking Lot Sundial

Join KNC staff to learn some foraging basics of spring. Grab your basket and enjoy finding the edible treasures around us on a guided hike. Dress for the weather as this program will be entirely outdoors.

Register for May 14

Register for May 16

Fee: Members $14, Non-Members $20. Please register.

Inspired by the innovation and history of sneakers, we will provide origami paper to fold your own mini shoe! A variety of styles and difficulty levels will be provided. Check out the exhibition Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting-Edge Kicks for inspiration and then drop by the library to try your hand at this detailed paper project.

Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting-Edge Kicks is co-organized by the American Federation of Arts and the Bata Shoe Museum, and curated by Elizabeth Semmelhack, Director and Senior Curator of the Bata Shoe Museum.

Please note that this event will not be livestreamed or posted on YouTube.

All aboard, sisters! The hysterical sequel to the smash-hit Menopause The Musical® is finally here! Five years after their chance encounter in a department store, we set sail with our beloved ladies for more high jinks on the high seas. Menopause The Musical 2: Cruising Through ‘The Change’® is a hilarious and heartfelt look at the joys of menopause and friendship—plus hot flashes, mood swings, and memory lapses! Join us on a trip of self-discovery, backed by a new soundtrack of toe-tapping parodied hits from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. For these four ladies, menopause was not the end, but the beginning of a beautiful friendship where love conquers all, and friendships never fail.

Saturday, May 16, 2-3 pm
Meet: Auditorium

Join WMU professors Jacklyn Brickman and Sharon Gill for a discussion of the ways that art and science overlap and strengthen one another. We’ll talk about ecology, expression, and the ways we can use art to connect with our ecosystems.

Fee: Included in regular KNC admission; KNC Members free! Drop in program.

The Kalamazoo Civic Theatre’s production of The Producers: A Mel Brook Musical runs May 1 – 17, in the Civic Auditorium.
It’s non-stop laughs when a down-on-his-luck Broadway producer and his mild-mannered accountant come up with a scheme to produce the most notorious flop in history, thereby hustling their backers out of millions of dollars. Mel Brooks’ laugh-out-loud spectacle The Producers sets the standard for modern, outrageous, in-your-face humor.

Tickets on sale now: https://bit.ly/TheProducersTickets-KCT

Performance Dates:
• Friday, May 1 at 7:30 PM
• Saturday, May 2 at 7:30 PM*^
• Sunday, May 3 at 2:00 PM
• Friday, May 8 at 7:30 PM
• Saturday, May 9 at 7:30 PM
• Sunday, May 10 at 2:00 PM
• Friday, May 15 at 7:30 PM
• Saturday, May 16 at 7:30 PM
• Sunday, May 17 at 2:00 PM
* ASL Interpreted and Audio Description Services Available
^Theme Night: “Tony Night” at the Civic - come dressed in your favorite Tony Award attire.

Book by MEL BROOKS & THOMAS MEEHAN Music and Lyrics by MEL BROOKS
Original direction and choreography by Susan Stroman
By special arrangement with StudioCanal
THE PRODUCERS is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.mtishows.com

May 1 - May 31 / Join us for a month-long celebration of new vegan dishes all over Kalamazoo!

Back by popular demand for the fourth year in a row, businesses across Kalamazoo will showcase exciting special vegan menu items for an entire month, giving everyone the opportunity to explore creative plant-based dishes crafted by talented local chefs.

How It Works:

1- Visit participating restaurants across Kalamazoo.
2- Try their exclusive vegan offerings.
3- Share your experience: Rate and review the dishes you try, comment, post photos of your favorite meals, and tag us at @KalamazooVeganChefChallenge.

This event is open to everyone, not just vegans! It’s about bringing our community together to celebrate incredible food and support our area's chefs.

Get Involved: Looking for ways to connect? Volunteer with us! We’re seeking passionate individuals to help with outreach, event promotion, and community building throughout the month. It's a great way to meet like-minded people and make a difference! Volunteer using this link: TinyURL.com/VOLVCC.

Join us in making Kalamazoo an even more inclusive, vibrant, and compassionate community. For details on participating businesses, menus, partners, and more, visit our website at veganchefchallenge.org/Kalamazoo.

The Kalamazoo Vegan Chef Challenge is hosted by Vegan Outreach and in collaboration with Vegan Kalamazoo.

The Kalamazoo Civic Theatre’s production of The Producers: A Mel Brook Musical runs May 1 – 17, in the Civic Auditorium.
It’s non-stop laughs when a down-on-his-luck Broadway producer and his mild-mannered accountant come up with a scheme to produce the most notorious flop in history, thereby hustling their backers out of millions of dollars. Mel Brooks’ laugh-out-loud spectacle The Producers sets the standard for modern, outrageous, in-your-face humor.

Tickets on sale now: https://bit.ly/TheProducersTickets-KCT

Performance Dates:
• Friday, May 1 at 7:30 PM
• Saturday, May 2 at 7:30 PM*^
• Sunday, May 3 at 2:00 PM
• Friday, May 8 at 7:30 PM
• Saturday, May 9 at 7:30 PM
• Sunday, May 10 at 2:00 PM
• Friday, May 15 at 7:30 PM
• Saturday, May 16 at 7:30 PM
• Sunday, May 17 at 2:00 PM
* ASL Interpreted and Audio Description Services Available
^Theme Night: “Tony Night” at the Civic - come dressed in your favorite Tony Award attire.

Book by MEL BROOKS & THOMAS MEEHAN Music and Lyrics by MEL BROOKS
Original direction and choreography by Susan Stroman
By special arrangement with StudioCanal
THE PRODUCERS is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.mtishows.com

In partnership with America250MI, the Kalamazoo Recorder Players will present a concert featuring American music from 1770 to the present in celebration of our nation's Semiquincentennial. The concert will include world premieres of new arrangements by John Webber of American folk tunes. Pieces will be performed on five sizes of recorders: sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. All are welcome. Admission is free. Donations will be accepted and will be used for continuing the activities of the Kalamazoo Recorder Players.

May 1 - May 31 / Join us for a month-long celebration of new vegan dishes all over Kalamazoo!

Back by popular demand for the fourth year in a row, businesses across Kalamazoo will showcase exciting special vegan menu items for an entire month, giving everyone the opportunity to explore creative plant-based dishes crafted by talented local chefs.

How It Works:

1- Visit participating restaurants across Kalamazoo.
2- Try their exclusive vegan offerings.
3- Share your experience: Rate and review the dishes you try, comment, post photos of your favorite meals, and tag us at @KalamazooVeganChefChallenge.

This event is open to everyone, not just vegans! It’s about bringing our community together to celebrate incredible food and support our area's chefs.

Get Involved: Looking for ways to connect? Volunteer with us! We’re seeking passionate individuals to help with outreach, event promotion, and community building throughout the month. It's a great way to meet like-minded people and make a difference! Volunteer using this link: TinyURL.com/VOLVCC.

Join us in making Kalamazoo an even more inclusive, vibrant, and compassionate community. For details on participating businesses, menus, partners, and more, visit our website at veganchefchallenge.org/Kalamazoo.

The Kalamazoo Vegan Chef Challenge is hosted by Vegan Outreach and in collaboration with Vegan Kalamazoo.