Featherstone Center for the Arts offers a different kind of ladies night on the first Monday of the month. Nancy Blank will bring out the still-life painter in you on March 1 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Pebble Gallery at Featherstone.

Featherstone Center for the Arts has openings for its upcoming art shows, beginning with February’s For Pet’s Sake. Pets have unique personalities and capturing them through all mediums is the focus of this show.

The renowned Vineyard painter Allen Whiting set up his easel Saturday at Featherstone Center for the Arts alongside 12 youngters, aged three to 10.

Whatever your favorite — milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate or semi-sweet — the Art of Chocolate Festival will have a treat for you. The 10th annual Art of Chocolate Festival kicks off with a preview party outside under the tent at Featherstone on Friday evening, Oct. 11, from 6 to 8 p.m.

Take to the road on Saturday, Sept. 28, as Featherstone presents its third annual art studio tour event. Sixteen artists open their studios to visitors and showcase their artwork.

Island artists include Jeri Dantzig of Vineyard Haven, Deirdre DeCarion of Edgartown, Ruth Kirchmeier of West Tisbury and Joan LeLacheur of Aquinnah. Visit featherstoneart.org to get a complete list of those participating.

For tickets, which are $30, call 508-693-1850.

Last year, on June 22, the artist Richard Lee died at the age of 79. Mr. Lee was beloved as an artist and as a friend. On Sunday, Sept. 15, from 4 to 6 p.m. there will be a retrospective of his work held at Featherstone Center for the Arts. The exhibit is guest curated by Claudia Cannerdy and Hudson Lee.

Richard Lee was born in 1933 on a farm in Pullman, Wash. He moved east for college and first entered the world of the arts through dance.

What if a deceased dog could talk? What if hippos went on holiday?

Those are some of the questions asked and answered by the former U.S. poet laureate and Island favorite Billy Collins in a reading of new and selected poems at Featherstone Center for the Arts last Friday evening. Among other disparate themes, he explored parenting, animal-human relationships, endearing soap bars and the experience of a traveler who arrives in a foreign place and is immediately told he has arrived too late in the year to witness the peak of the natural beauty.

The Potters Bowl might become your supper bowl at Featherstone Center for the Arts on Sunday, August 25. The special event marks the opening of The Art of Ceramics Show, which runs through September 11.

For $30 attendees can purchase a ceramic bowl made by Vineyard artisans and fill it with soup. Rolls and dessert will be served with the soup. Call 508-693-1850 for advance reservations or visit featherstoneart.org for more information.

To say that Featherstone Center for the Arts is a very special place is not enough to describe what it means to so many people.

For 13 years, nine artists have been meeting to discuss their work and offer constructive criticism. They share a passion for art and the desire to grow as artists. And they’ve continued to grow closer over the years.