"Dog Star"? You Can't Be Sirius!

City Hall shows its commitment to the arts with displays of painting, sculpture and ceramics throughout the structure, but never more so than right now. For those science fiction and fantasy-minded among you, the second floor gallery is hosting an exhibit titled Little Green Men, which invited 18 different artists to examine themes of alien contact. The evocative pieces range from moody to nostalgic to playful, among the latter being a display case filled with ceramic teapot-sized steampunkish alien creatures and/or robots, "Dog Star" (which puts a decidedly Schultzian spin on the Russian mania for Laika figures), and an extraterrestrial reworking of "Dogs Playing Poker." Sci-fi fans, fear not: Pulp cover art of lascivious BEMs is represented. The show runs through July 14. 


Meanwhile, the lobby is home to a second show, Oneiric: The Language of Dreams, through July 17, with paintings and sculptures from 15 artists plumbing our favorite rapid-eye-movement state. Again, the theme called forth images reminiscent of fantasy art, and there's some overlap between the artists represented. Elsewhere in the building, you can find the Earth Day Youth Art Exhibition, and a 150:1 scale model of the Stratosphere tower courtesy of ITT. Don't forget to stop off at the Cultural Affairs office on the fourth floor and get your parking ticket validated; that'll cover two hours of free parking at the City Hall parking garage across the street. That affordsyou a lot of perusing time.