Built on Stilts is the Vineyard’s homegrown dance festival and it takes root this summer from August 8 through the 11 and again from August 17 through the 20 at Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs. Choreographers from Martha’s Vineyard and visiting artists from off-Island join creative forces to bring the performances to life. The program is always free and changes each night. Each night begins with a drum circle starting at 7:30 p.m. The Dance program follows at 8 p.m.

Join National Public Radio host Tom Ashbrook and guest Nicholas Negroponte, founder of One Laptop Per Child and MIT Media Lab, for a discussion of the future of media at the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown on Friday, July 26 at 5:30 p.m. The free event will explore how we will get our news in the future and other issues surrounding media trends.

In past years the Martha’sVineyard Book Festival was a one-day event taking place at the Chilmark Community Center. This year the organizers have added a second day at the Harbor View Hotel in Edgartown.

Walter Cronkite was the honorary chairperson of the Stone Soup Leadership Institute for many years. His influence in preparing youth as future leaders led to the Walter Cronkite Awards, which are presented to those who use the power of the media to create positive social change. A recipient this year is the Vineyard’s own filmmaker Liz Witham, who created Film-Truth Productions with her filmmaking partner Ken Wentworth.

Artist Josh Yates has spent decades painting on Martha’s Vineyard and he brings fresh offerings with his exhibit titled Off Season Work. A reception to kick off the exhibit is from 5 to 9 p.m. on Friday, July 26 at Gallery 13b, Beach Road Extension at 5 Corners in Vineyard Haven. His seascapes and landscapes are created in oil, charcoal, pastel and watercolor.

The Martha’s Vineyard Film Center hosts a filmmaker-in-residence event with photographer/filmmaker Lauren Greenfield. Her work chronicles the youth culture, gender and consumerism in acclaimed works including Girl Culture, Fast Forward, THIN and her documentary, The Queen of Versailles. Ms. Greenfield will lead a workshop-style presentation on Thursday, August 1 at 7:30 p.m. at the film center in the Tisbury Marketplace in Vineyard Haven. A screening of two of her films will follow on Friday and Saturday.

If you stand in the A Gallery this week, you may notice that you are being watched. Eyes seem to pierce through the glass frames of 30 black and white photographs on the charcoal-colored walls of the newly-opened gallery on Uncas avenue in Oak Bluffs. The eyes follow you as you walk around the room. It’s a signature of the photography of Mariana Cook’s, whose show Justice opens this weekend.

As temperatures peaked at 90 degrees on the Vineyard last week, Blackwater Farm owner Debbie Farber worried about her chickens.

“Have you ever seen a chicken pant?” she said. “Chickens are not happy in this weather. I’m just trying to keep them cool and give them plenty of water. That’s all you can do.”

Micah Agnoli of Edgartown and Julie Pringle of Vineyard Haven have been named to the dean’s list at Tufts University for the spring 2013 semester.

In an unusual incident, 13 swimmers were pulled from the water off Wasque Wednesday afternoon after several people were caught in the current and carried offshore.

The swimmers were rescued by the Edgartown fire department boat and a town shellfish department boat. There were at least three separate groups of people involved.