Center Stage

Urban Gardens: Growing Chicago's Communities, through December 31. Capturing the transformation of vacant lots into blooming gardens, these photographs explore urban gardening's impact on Chicago neighborhoods. School of Social Service Administration; 773/702-1250.

Sacred Fragments: Magic, Mystery, and Religion in the Ancient World, through March 16. This exhibit of Greco-Roman and early Christian antiquities illustrates ancient Mediterranean religious ideas and practices, highlighting the challenges of accurately interpreting those practices. Smart Museum; 773/702-0200.

Of Poems and Prophesies, January 12-February 23. Filmmaker Amar Kanwar delves into India's regional diversity and the conflict between modernity and tradition. Renaissance Society; 773/702-8670.

Spanish Chant and Polyphony, January 19, 3 p.m. El Coro de Canto Gregoriano, the Motet Choir, and the Rockefeller Chapel Choir perform Tomas Luis de Victoria's Missa O Magnum Mysterium. Rockefeller Chapel, 773/702-7059.

Egypt's Last Royal Pyramid: The Monuments of King Ahmose and His Family at Abydos, January 22. Assistant professor in Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations Stephen P. Harvey discusses new findings about Ahmose, who expelled the Hyksos dynasty from Egypt. Oriental Institute; 773/702-9520.

Chamber Music Series, February 14. The Zehetmair Quartet plays Schumann, Cage, and Bartók in its Chicago debut. The University of Chicago Presents; 773/702-8068.

The Misanthrope, February 24-29. College student Ann Marie Lonsdale directs Moliere's account of Alceste, a man who decides brutal honesty is the cure for society's superficiality. University Theater; 773/702-3414.