Whale and carols on the menu this week

'The Whale as a Dish'

The International Gallery of Contemporary Art explores the subsistence whaling culture of the North Slope this month with work by Herman Ahsoak and David Pettibone. Ahsoak is an Inupiaq whaling captain from the town currently known as Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow). Pettibone is a UAA art professor who quit his previous job in the town currently known as New York (formerly New Amsterdam) to move to Utqiagvik with the idea of making paintings and photographs of the whaling practice there. The show will remain on display through the end of the month.

Local legends

Four well-respected Alaska architects will present a moderated panel discussion on the challenges and opportunities involved in designing buildings appropriate for the northern environment in the next presentation by the Alaska Design Forum. Charles Bettisworth, Larry Cash, Wayne Jensen and John McCool have decades of Alaska experience between them. Discussions will take place at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 12, at the Anchorage Museum (use the Seventh Avenue entrance), at 6 p.m. on Dec. 13 at the Blue Loon in Fairbanks and at 6 p.m. on Dec. 14 at 360 North in Juneau. Admission is $15; $5 for students.

Festive fluting

The Fair Weather Flutes will present a holiday concert at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11, with original music for flute choir, classical transcriptions and Christmas favorites. The program will include a setting of "The Night Before Christmas" with narrator Rick Goodfellow, a jazz arrangement of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" by John Damberg, a world premiere by Arizona composer Richard McQuillan and a holiday sing-along. The concert takes place at Anchorage Lutheran Church, 1420 N St. Admission is free, but donations are accepted to help keep these community concerts coming.

Alaska Chamber Singers

The Alaska Chamber Singers' annual holiday concert will include "A Ceremony of Carols" by Benjamin Britten and "Carols and Lullabies: Christmas in the Southwest" by Conrad Susa. Guest instrumentalists will include harpist Megan Bledsoe Ward, guitarist Armin Abdihodzic and marimba man Brady Byers. Traditional songs of the season will also be prominently featured. Concerts take place at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Dec. 9 and 10, at St. Patrick's Parish, 2111 Muldoon Road, and at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11, at St. Andrew Church, 16300 Domain Lane in Eagle River. Tickets are available at centertix.net.