For a good decade and a half, Magnífico sponsored a juried exhibit designed to showcase the best contemporary artists the Albuquerque area has to offer. Yeah, the event had its share of detractors, but, for my own part, I usually enjoyed it. The show was a messy grab bag of disparate art, but that was always the biggest part of its appeal.

A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Rodey Theatre

Every year when the weather turns warm, Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream seems to sprout up everywhere. Like bright yellow dandelion heads in a green spring lawn, it's one of the surest signs that we've finally put winter behind us.

“Floating Zooid #1” by Lea Anderson

Trevor Lucero Studio

Lea Anderson, a graduate student in the art program at UNM, recently took a leap away from rectangular canvasses. A new show at Trevor Lucero Studio (500 Second Street SW) incorporates a series of round canvasses ranging from 12 inches to four or five feet in diameter. The show also includes a series of three-dimensional sculpture paintings that will hang from the ceiling, along with an organic work that will be painted directly on the studio wall. They Grew opens this Friday, April 22, with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m. Runs through April 30. 244-0730.

Linda Lerner

Albuquerque Press Club

New Yorker Linda Lerner says she's got a problem with authority, but don't let that stop you from coming by the Albuquerque Press Club (201 Highland Park Circle SE) this Friday, April 22, to hear some of her blistering rebel poetry. Lerner is the author of nine collections of poetry. Her essay on the state of American poetry, "Poems from the Crypt Don't Speak to Living People," is in the current issue of the New York Quarterly. Lerner will be joined by local poets Lisa Gill, Todd Moore and Mitch Rayes. The event, which starts at 7:30 p.m., will also include an open mic. 243-8476.

Since the early 20^th century, formal education has been America's panacea against inequality. It's a strange cure, though, as we have an equally vital tradition of anti-intellectualism.

Long before America elected its first born-again president and religious discussions wound up on the cover of Time magazine again, there was a tradition of measured and soulful introspection in the Midwest.

Maribeth Batcha received her MFA from Columbia University in 1990, and has worked in magazine circulation for more than 12 years. With Atlantic Monthly alumna Hannah Tinti as editor, Maribeth launched the literary magazine One Story in 2002.