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Worth a look

Art

Andy Muonio

People are larger than life in Andy Muonio's paintings, even his own children and loved ones, who often make appearances in his oversized portraits.

The colors themselves are also giant in a way. As the Mountain View artist put it in a press release, "I want to achieve a fluid, instantaneous feel to the paint, to maintain a certain optical mix of colors with blends that are not all soft transitions but maintain a raw mark and many hard edges."

Starting today, Muonio's paintings and prints are being spotlighted at the Community School of Music and Arts, on display at the school's Mohr Gallery. A reception and artist talk are set for Friday, June 25, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the gallery at 230 San Antonio Circle in Mountain View.

Muonio teaches drawing and painting at CSMA and is a lecturer in pictorial art at San Jose State University. His free show can be seen weekdays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 to 3. For more information, go to www.arts4all.org or call 650-917-6800, extension 306.

Music

Concerts at Hidden Villa

Summer is perhaps best celebrated in the open air, with lawn chairs, blankets and live music. Amongst the greenery of Los Altos Hills, Hidden Villa is marking the season with two family concerts.

This Saturday, June 19, the choral group Schola Cantorum comes to Hidden Villa for a pre-concert reception at 6 p.m. and a performance of "favorite tunes" from 7 to 7:45 p.m. Folding chairs will be provided, but it's likely many families will bring their own blankets and seats for the show, which is on the Dana Center Deck overlooking the fields. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door.

On Sunday, June 20, the concert's theme is Father's Day, with music by ZunZun from 6 to 7 p.m., following picnicking (bring your own) from 5 p.m. The kid-friendly music of ZunZun incorporates many folkloric instruments, and some made from recycled objects. Tickets are $10 (free for kids ages 2 and under), and the concert is on the Dana Center Lawn.

Hidden Villa is at 26870 Moody Road in Los Altos Hills. For more information, call 650-949-8650 or go to www.hiddenvilla.org.

Drama

Gerald Hiken

Longtime local actor Gerald Hiken has everything from a Tony Award nomination to living-room theater in his Palo Alto home on his resume. This Sunday, he's giving bookstore monologues.

Starting at 8 p.m. at Know Knew Books at 415 California Ave. in Palo Alto, Hiken will present two monologues that, fittingly, incorporate a book as a prop. Ruth Draper's "The Italian Lesson" is about a society woman studying Dante whilst planning a dinner. And in Hiken's own "The Other Lear," he portrays a man carrying a copy of "King Lear" when he goes to meet with a therapist for the first time.

Other free events coming up at Know Knew Books include a June 21 reading by Gabriel Boyer from his book "A Survey of My Failures This Far," a collection of narratives. The 7:30 p.m. reading will be followed by Boyer performing with his band Normal Feelings.

For more about the bookstore and its events, call 650-326-9355 or go to knowknewbooks.com.

Benefit

Nature Gallery

Tonight, June 18, Nature Gallery owner Carol Garsten hosts a preview reception for her summer collection, which includes money clips with fossils and meteorites and metal purses with stones.

The collection will be on display indefinitely, with a special feature for the weekend: Garsten is donating 10 percent of her gallery's sales this weekend to Peninsula Healthcare Connection (formerly Opportunity Health Center), a Palo Alto free clinic where Garsten chairs the board of directors.

The reception is planned from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Nature Gallery, at 87 Town & Country Village in Palo Alto. The gallery specializes in minerals, fossils, jewelry and other pieces, and is open Mondays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sundays from noon to 5.

Call 650-327-8700 or go to nature-gallery.com. More about the clinic is at opportunityhealthcenter.org.