As the first family’s vacation nears its end over the weekend, I truly hope the Obama family has enjoyed their time on the Vineyard. The road closure was not that much of an inconvenience. On my way home on Monday evening, I joined a few friends in front of Howes House to wave to the motorcade as they drove through West Tisbury.

Mark Leibovich’s new book This Town, a critical expose of the Washington power structure and New York Times best seller this summer, is as popular with the right as it is with the left. Or with anyone who believes that government is broken.

Fred Waitzkin, whose memoir Searching for Bobby Fischer inspired the movie by the same name, has been waiting his whole life to write a novel. A seasoned journalist and seasonal resident of the Vineyard, Mr. Waitzkin said that his nonfiction books had progressively begun to resemble novels. He finally decided it was now or never.

The Gay Head Gallery is nestled amid a stand of scrub oak along State Road in Aquinnah. An electric vehicle charges in the driveway and inside the cozy home/gallery artwork hangs on every wall. The art depicts scenes from around the Island — a thunderstorm rolls in over the south shore, a stiff wind blows through a green pasture. But the art, while beautiful, doesn’t just please the eye. The current show is called Changing Coastlines, and the art details the way that erosion is shaping, re-shaping and, in some cases, destroying the Martha’s Vineyard coastline.

On Friday evenings during August, Vineyard Gardens in West Tisbury is transformed into a community art gallery. Works of art are arranged among the plants and paintings are hung from benches turned on end.

“The idea came from wanting to support the local artists and knowing that our flowers would complement their work and their artwork would complement our flower plant displays,” said Christine Wiley, who owns Vineyard Gardens with her husband, Chuck Wiley.

Julian Wise sits examining a series of photographs in his new store Island Images located in Oak Bluffs.

“Out of all of them, these four are good enough,” he says. “I could use them professionally in the gallery.”

The pair of photographers nod as Mr. Wise explains to them what works about their pictures. He encourages the artists to go with their gut, bring in a few more photographs and he will sell the work in the gallery.

Sabine and Simone Geary, aged 15 and 13 respectively, gather their portfolios and head out.

Glenn Tunstull treats an art exhibition like a fashion show.

Whereas fabrics and patterns decorate a model, swatches and brush strokes dress his canvas.

“Each painting represents where I am today,” Mr. Tunstull said.

Chicken Alley is the place to be, rain or shine this weekend. The annual Art and Collectable Sale is preceded this year by a new event, the Needle Book Fashion Show Community Couture. Both events raise funds for Martha’s Vineyard Community Services.

In 1981, attorney and civil rights activist Vernon Jordan gave the Commencement Address at the University of Pennsylvania. His daughter Vicky was in the graduating class and Mr. Jordan was awarded an honorary degree by Penn president Sheldon Hackney.

Grace Burton-Sundman, age 25, set off on a Rwandan adventure at the end of last year, a journey she was able to make with the support of her family and the Martha’s Vineyard community where she grew up. Grace, a 2006 graduate of Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, is home for a visit and provided a glimpse into her life in Rwanda during a presentation, The New Rwanda, at the Vineyard Haven Library on August 6.