It is a pleasure this season to see an exhibition of paintings in which the subject is a serious exploration of an artist’s personal landscape. The show of paintings by Sherrill Blalock opening tonight with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Louisa Gould Gallery is such an exhibition. Appropriately named Cabinet of Curiosities, the paintings represent a complex psychological story of the artist’s view of the world.

Lori, Jonas and Rabbi Joshua Plaut are hosting two special summer art happenings featuring a new photography show entitled Sparks of Splendor: Portraits of Jewish Women From East to West. Exhibition and artist’s receptions occur on Sunday, August 3 and Sunday August 10, from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. in West Tisbury.

Alison Shaw Gallery Fine are photography of Alison Shaw. Open Wednesday through Sunday from 2 to 6 p.m., or by appointment at 88 Dukes County avenue, Oak Bluffs, tel. 508-696-7429 or alisonshaw.com.

Current exhibit: Black and White continues through August 8.

Abode Gallery and Shop Paintings, photography and sculpture. Open by appointment at 224 Oak Lane, West Tisbury, tel. 914-830-9288 or vineyardabode.com.

By JACK SHEA

Echoes of the Roaring Twenties (think Cotton Club meets The Great Gatsby) will surface this Sunday, August 3, at the Starbuck’s Neck home of Susan and Jim Swartz when Vince Giordano and his 11-piece Nighthawks jazz band serenade at Sunday Brunch And All That Jazz, an inspired fund-raising idea from noon to 4 p.m. to benefit the YMCA.

On a sunny August morning in 1990, a retired lawyer living on the Vineyard was setting up his presentation for that year’s All Island Art Show at the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs.

“I’m getting back into the spirit of Martha’s Vineyard,” he told a Gazette reporter at the time. It was a comment the reporter said reflected the atmosphere of the day. And it’s a sentiment, according to Gazette records, that has marked the last half-century for the All Island Art Show, which opens for its 50th year Monday at the Tabernacle.

What do windsurfing, fashion design and the YMCA of Martha’s Vineyard have in common? Water. Nevin and Stina Sayre of Vineyard Haven have a lot of experience in and around the water, and their belief in its importance to the Island population has inspired them to host a fundraising party for the YMCA on Wednesday, August 6.

“Summer in a dish,” Christian Thornton says of the Seared George’s Bank Scallops and Summer Heirloom Tomatoes dish he and his team prepare, a variation of the seared scallop dish on the menu at Atria on Main street, Edgartown. The restaurant’s chef and owner says this dish is all about simplicity, “You want to let the tomatoes speak for themselves. It sounds corny, but it’s about paying homage to what it is,” chef Thornton explains.

A plan to allow the developers of the upscale Field Club in Katama to pay $1.8 million to the Edgartown affordable housing committee instead of designating three lots on their property for the housing, as required by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, hit a snag this past week.

Although the plan has the backing of the town affordable housing committee, the commission at its regular meeting on Thursday decided the plan needed further discussion, voting 6-4 to schedule a public hearing on the matter.

The Island Affordable Housing Fund raised more than $1 million this weekend with its Housing on the Tube telethon, breaking all Vineyard records for money banked from a single event.

Volunteers has expected to greet each other with hugs and tears Sunday night as the three-day fundraiser drew to a close. They did not expect to find they had tallied nearly double the goal the fund had set: $1,037,800.

In every sense, last Tuesday was a perfect day for baseball on the Vineyard.

The sun shone brightly over the new baseball diamond at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, as a tangle of wispy clouds stubbornly refused to give way fully to the brilliant blue behind. The smell of hot dogs and hamburgers hung thick in the air, while dust kicked up on the infield floated by on a slight ocean breeze.

Last Tuesday marked the first-ever Cape Cod League baseball league played on the Vineyard. By any measure, the game was a runaway success.