Jewish Museum

She was born Judith Sylvia Cohen in 1939, but the world knows her as the pioneering feminist artist Judy Chicago, whose installation The Dinner Party (1974-79), which celebrated important women throughout history, became a leader of the women's movement. Now a new exhibition at the Jewish Museum of Maryland explores how Chicago's secular Jewish upbringing shaped her artistic vision and her compassionate identification with the plight of oppressed people the world over. Judy Chicago: Jewish Identity presents artworks from throughout her career that challenge injustice and express the artist's long-standing aspiration for universal tolerance, understanding and peace.

Arena Players, Four Queens, No Jacks, a visit with four friends who, in the course of their weekly card game, discuss the challenges of modern dating. 8 p.m. Oct. 26, 801 McCulloh St. Reservations required; arenaplayersinc.org or 410-728-6500. Baltimore Public Works Museum, "Heavy Metal: Big Truck Day," featuring the city's fleet of big trucks. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Oct. 6, 751 Eastern Ave. ci.baltimore.md.us/government/dpw/museum/ or 410-396-5565. Baltimore School for the Arts, open house featuring workshops in dance, music, acting, stage production and visual arts.

DOWN ON THE FARM Enjoy the fun side of farming life Saturday in Annapolis when the Maryland Department of Agriculture holds its annual open house. Shop the Maryland food and craft market, make slime in the state chemist's laboratory, practice hog-calling, milk a cow and more. It's a hands-on way to learn how food gets to the table and about the farmer's role in protecting the environment. .................... The open house will be held 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, rain or shine, at the Maryland Department of Agriculture headquarters, 50 Harry S. Truman Parkway, Annapolis.

Over her 64 years of life, Mervin Savoy has heard both familiar and unfamiliar tales of history, from George Washington's military triumphs to the struggles of her native people, the Piscataway Conoy tribe on Maryland's Western Shore. What she hasn't heard, at least not to her satisfaction, are the twists and turns of history as told by women. Whether in war, politics, business - the events of the day as told in newspapers and books - too often women seemed left out of the story lines.

All of the family and holiday activities coming up this weekend can leave you yearning for some nightlife. Here's a rundown of some parties and other area events happening in the next few days. Five comedians will go on a three-day holiday performance run at the Baltimore Comedy Factory's Christmas Party this weekend. The comics, Joe Robinson, Tim Hall, John Mumma, Larry XL and Rob Mayer, are some of the area's funniest. Tickets are $17, and there is a two-drink minimum. Showtimes are 8 tonight, 8 p.m., 10 p.m. and midnight tomorrow and 7 p.m., 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. Saturday.

Out of the past Downtown's Jewish-owned department stores were an institution. Folks today still fondly recall memories of noshing in the Hutzler's lunchroom or shopping at the old Hoschild-Kohn's or Hecht Co. What must it have been like from the inside, for the owners of these popular shopping institutions? Visitors to the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion can learn about life behind-the-scenes at one of these stores - Hutzler's - at a living history program Sunday. Harriet Lynn of the Heritage Theatre Artists' Consortium will portray Ella Gutman Hutzler (1855-1942)

Drink two glasses of Madeira wine, and take a cold bath every morning. Ride a horse for 10 to 12 miles, and hit the hay by 9 p.m. Develop good reading habits, and don't waste time on frivolity. Those were the words of advice from Charles Carroll of Carrollton, signer of the Declaration of Independence, as he led a group of visitors through his home. Follow those guidelines, and you too might live a long life, said Louis Collins, a restorationist and self-described scholar with a passion for history, who assumed the role of Maryland's "last aristocrat" yesterday at the Carroll Mansion on Lombard Street.

Historical exhibit -- The United Jewish Council of Anne Arundel County presents We Call This Place Home: Jewish Life in Maryland's Small Towns through Nov. 15 in the President's Conference Center West II, Miller Senate Office Building, 11 Bladen St., Annapolis. It is a traveling exhibit produced by the Jewish Museum of Maryland that interprets Jewish life in towns throughout Maryland. Hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 410-732-6400, ext. 14.

In his 1972 novel, Enemies, A Love Story, Isaac Bashevis Singer's protagonist Herman Broder happens upon a boisterous scene in a social hall at a Jewish resort in the Catskills. World War II has just ended, and yet the hall resounds with laughter. Even refugees from Hitler have joined in the revelry. "Why is it all so painful to me?" asks Broder, a Holocaust survivor himself. The scene, he decides, "shamed the agony of the Holocaust." At the end of Singer's tale, it is those who are still able to laugh who ultimately survive their horrific experience at the hands of the Nazis and go on to construct a new, Jewish-American identity.

THEATRICAL CONCERT HALF-DOZEN DIVAS Although the show's title is 3 Mo' Divas!, there are six chanteuses performing -- three at a time -- at Washington's Arena Stage. Created, directed and choreographed by Marion J. Caffey (who served the same functions with Three Mo' Tenors), this theatrical concert is so demanding vocally, Caffey hired two casts. Gretha Boston, Jamet Pittman and N'Kenge will alternate with Andrea Jones-Sojola, Nina Negri and Vivian Reed performing four centuries of song, from Johann Sebastian Bach to the Supremes.