Monday, Aug. 21

Artist’s rendition of a total solar eclipse. Image © Canadian Space Agency..

Montrealers interested in (safely) watching today’s partial solar eclipse have a few options with free events at the Planetarium and the McGill campus. Both events will boast professional and/or student astronomers to provide information about the phenomena of eclipses, and free safety viewing goggles on a first-come, first-serve basis. The Planetarium (4801 Pierre-De-Coubertin) will be open free of charge from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. and the McGill lower field will open from 1–6 p.m. The eclipse will begin at 1:20 p.m. and end at 3:50 p.m. with the maximum sun coverage (58 per cent) occurring at 2:38 p.m.

Artists looking to make money from their talents might want to check out YES Montreal’s workshop and individual consultation session. And if you’re an artist in the 18–25 range who’s not in school and not currently employed, check out YES Montreal’s info session about their Business Skills for Creative Youth program. 666 Sherbrooke W., youth info session at 11 a.m., free / artist workshop and consultation 1:30–3:30 p.m., $2

The eighth annual NDG Arts Week kicks off this evening with a 5 à 7 vernissage for photographer Kali Spitzer’s exhibition Exploring Resilience, a collaboration with Never Apart featuring portraits of primarily Indigenous and mixed heritage community members, exploring the ways in which they express their identities, often challenging our notions of race, gender and sexuality. The vernissage will include a musical performance by Paul Cargnello and Ms.Holmes. Métèque (5442 Côte-St-Luc), 5–7 p.m., free

As part of this week’s Festival Mode & Design, a retrospective called New Dawn Fades, of celebrated Montreal photographer John Londono’s work over the past decade, will be held at Plateau gallery Encadrex with a vernissage this evening featuring the artist’s portraits of figures like Beck, Xavier Dolan, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Grimes and Vanessa Paradis. 1830 Marie-Anne E., 6–11 p.m., free

For more music events, see our Event Listings. Art Listings can be found here.