Pop-up dining, a tribute to Clifford Brown, and new exhibits at PAFA and Penn in this week’s ‘Things to Do’

Restaurants reopened for indoor dining in Philadelphia last weekend, a sign of hope that restrictions are easing and that the pandemic is showing signs of receding. However, indoor capacity is still limited and reservations are required at most places.

Pop-Up in the park

The folks who brought you Parks on Tap have a new offering – the Parks Pop-Up. Starting on Friday, the Fairmont Horticultural Center Arboretum will be the first site, featuring indoor dining and when weather permits, outdoor dining as well. With over 30,000 feet of indoor space, social distancing shouldn’t be a problem, and guests are also limited to four to a table from the same household or quarantine pod. It’s more beer garden than fine dining with barbeque, sandwiches and craft beers on the menu, but you can’t beat the ambiance of dining in a greenhouse. Masks and reservations required.

Parks Pop-Up
Fairmont Horticultural Center Arboretum, 100 N. Horticultural Dr.
Wednesday – Friday 4 p.m. – 10 – p.m., Saturday, noon – 10 p.m. Sunday, noon to 9 p.m., pay as you go.

Green exploration

If exploring the bountiful parkland in the area is more your thing, make sure you’re up early this weekend and head to the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education to get your nature explorer kit. The kits will be handed out on Saturday to encourage exploring the area, with the themes of movement and sunlight. Despite the nippy temperatures currently forecast, hopefully both will be prevalent. The kits, with family-friendly activities inside, are available for all ages and they’re free, so you and the family have the tools to explore to your heart’s content in one of the region’s most beautiful public spaces.

Schuylkill Saturdays
Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, 8480 Hagy’s Mill Road
Saturday, Jan. 23, 10 a.m. – noon, free.

Winter garden

The ever-popular Longwood Gardens begins its Winter Wonder event on Saturday. Instead of their usual orchid display, the Gardens will provide a more tranquil winter landscape that suits the season. That includes hanging baskets with flowers, including jasmine and cape primrose, and a colorful array of tropical flowers on display. Voices in the Landscape, which can be accessed both in person and virtually, hosted by Charlotte Blake Alston, is a ten-part ‘audio experience’ that shares stories of African Americans and their relationship to horticulture.

Winter Wonder 
Longwood Gardens, 1001 Longwood Rd. Kennett Square, Pa.
Through March 21, $2 – $25 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., closed Tuesdays

Delaware jazz affair

Jazz trumpeter Clifford Brown died young and tragically – he was just 25 when he perished in a car crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in 1956. But as a native son of Wilmington, Del. and the most prolific jazz musician to hail from the Queen City, his life and career have been celebrated ever since. This weekend, the Clifford Brown Year Round monthly jazz series features the group Ipcontrio from Salerno, Italy playing a live set. Pianist Bruno Salicone, double bass player Francesco Galatro, and drummer Armando Luongo won the European Jazz Contest in 2009, recording their debut album “The Beginning of a Love Affair” in 2011.

Clifford Brown Year Round jazz series presents: Jazz: Born in America, Experienced Worldwide featuring Ipcontrio
virtual, Friday, Jan. 22, 7 p.m. $10

Ladies first

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts debuts three exhibits this week, but one is of particular interest to those who appreciate the work of female artists. “Taking Space: Contemporary Women Artists and the Politics of Scale” opens Thursday, the day the academy reopens to the public after a COVID-mandated citywide museum shutdown. The exhibit celebrates last year’s 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, and includes the work of more than 50 female artists from varying disciplines. Also opening: Only Tony: Portraits by Gilbert Lewis and Roll, Press Pull: Contemporary Works from the Brandywine Workshop and Archives.

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts 
118-128 North Broad St.
Thursday and Friday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. $8 – $15

Penn tech

The Penn Museum’s new exhibit “Invisible Beauty: The Art of Archaeological Science” wants to bring attendees closer to the technology that has helped archeologists gain more insight into the artifacts they study. More than 25 images reveal what is usually invisible to the naked eye, via high-powered microscopes and multimodal imaging that uses infrared light. Through that technology, archaeologists can better assess items without having to dig for them. The insider’s view of the museum’s scientific labs gives the public a better idea of the meticulous process of collecting, studying and drawing conclusions from artifacts.

“Invisible Beauty: the Art of Archeological Science”  
Penn Museum, 3260 South St.
through Monday, June 21, $13-18

Keep checking with “Things To Do” as we continue to provide our picks for entertainment during the industry’s COVID-19 recovery. Please consult our coronavirus updates to keep up with the latest information regionally.