Even before it was a Christian holiday, Easter was a time of rebirth. Perhaps in that spirit, though more likely because it’s warming up, there are a lot of vibrant arts events taking place around the Upper Valley over the next few days. Rather than focus on one in some depth, here’s a wider look:

Peep-le get ready

In the empty-calorie economy, there is a special place reserved for marshmallow Peeps. Those nasty little lumps of food coloring, sugar and preservatives are not for eating — no, no — and that makes them fair game for art.

Entries are due by 4 p.m. Thursday for the Newport Library Arts Center’s 12th annual Peeps Diorama Contest. The idea behind the contest is simple: In an Easter tradition started by the Washington Post, in 2007, people create narrative tableaux out of the squishy candy figurines and bring them to the Library Arts Center, where a panel of experts looks them over, chooses winners and puts all of the entries on display. The show opens and the winners are announced at the Peeps Party, a reception from 5 to 6:30 Friday evening. The show stays up through April 22.

In addition, the LAC is displaying a big group show, “Black & White,” featuring work in shades of black, white and gray, through May 31.

(For those keeping score at home, the Post ended its Peeps contest in 2017, but the paper’s TikTok Team revived it in 2021 for a little coronavirus pandemic levity.)

For more information, go to libraryartscenter.org.

Stamp of approval

The U.S. Postal Service announced recently that it plans to honor the celebrated children’s book author and illustrator Tomie dePaola by releasing a stamp bearing the likeness of probably his best-known creation, Strega Nona.

DePaola, who lived in New London from the 1970s until his death in March 2020, had a hand in hundreds of children’s books during a career that began in the 1960s. He was a finalist for the Caldecott Medal in 1976 for “Strega Nona,” which tells the story of the title character (Italian for “Grandma Witch”) and her lummox of an assistant, Big Anthony. It’s become a classic that regularly graces lists of the best children’s books of all-time.

A ceremony honoring dePaola is planned for 11 a.m., on May 5 at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester. Among those expected to be in attendance, according to a news release from the Postal Service, is Susan Lynch, New Hampshire’s former first lady.

Such a drag

While we’re on the subject of children’s literature, the Main Street Museum is devoting its observance of First Friday to counteracting the recent action of the Tennessee Legislature, which banned drag performances in the presence of children. The move was a transparent effort to end the practice of holding drag queen story hours at public libraries.

The museum is holding a Drag Piano Night starting at 6 p.m. Friday. Every Friday night, David Fairbanks Ford and/or Stevie Pomije puts the museum’s player piano through its paces. This Friday, it will sound even better.

Watch out though. In its social media post about the event, the museum warns, “We may even READ A BOOK to a child!” The horror!

Also at First Friday

It’s great year-round, but the return of warmer weather makes White River Junction’s First Friday even better.

Opening receptions are taking place at Two Rivers Printmaking Studio, Long River Gallery and at Zollikofer Gallery, in the lobby of the Hotel Coolidge.

The Coolidge show sounds like fun. In 2015, Olivia Janna Genereaux decided to paint the Connecticut River from the point of view of the Boston Lot, off Route 10 in West Lebanon. There’s a kind of guerrilla energy at work in plein air painting, and judging by her artist’s statement, Genereaux threw herself into it.

“I painted this landscape every day until the cold froze my paint,” she wrote.

A reception is planned for 5 to 7 p.m.

Final curtain

Shaker Bridge Theatre opens its final show in Enfield’s Whitney Hall on Thursday night.

Company founder and artistic director Bill Coons is directing a run of “Slow Food,” Wendy MacLeod’s 2019 comedy that follows a vacationing couple and their waiter as they dine in a Greek restaurant in California. The production features three Shaker Bridge regulars: Mike Backman, as the waiter, and Susan Haefner and David Bonanno as the couple.

For tickets ($20 to $40) and more information, go to shakerbridgetheatre.org or call 603-448-3750.

Alex Hanson can be reached at ahanson@vnews.com or 603-727-3207.

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