February is always a huge month for the arts calendar, but March has arrived and no let up is in sight. Today being a First Friday, we can count on an abundance of art shows to compete with an impressive variety of theater and music.

As I mentioned last week, the 567 Center for Renewal will be celebrating Youth Art Month with an exhibition of work selected by art teachers in Bibb elementary, middle and high schools. The opening reception is slated for 6-9 p.m. Friday.

At the Museum of Arts and Sciences, this is the weekend for the “Protege” juried exhibition and competition for high school students from around the midstate, with the opening reception set for Saturday. At the museum on Sunday is the annual Instrument Petting Zoo, a delightful way to introduce kids to the world of music.

Although I am notorious for my soft spot for news of talented youth, I have to confess that the big art event tonight is “Kirk West’s Playlist,” an exhibition of music photography at the Macon Arts Alliance Gallery.

You may have seen the recent news item about the opening of “Frida & Diego: Passion, Politics and Painting” at the High Museum in Atlanta. This exhibition of 140 works by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera is the largest ever to showcase the works of this pair, who play such an important role in the history of modern art. It’s well worth the drive.

Theater and opera

We don’t get too many opportunities for live opera in the midstate, so it’s big news that the Grand Opera House will be hosting the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Theatre for a Sunday matinee of “The Mikado.” That group will arrive on the heels of “Hot on Broadway,” running Friday and Saturday nights. Meanwhile, the Youth Actors Company is opening “Little Shop of Horrors” on Saturday at Theatre Macon.

The final two performances of CenterStage for Christ’s ecumenical comedy “Sigma Nuts” is slated for this weekend in Perry, while also in Houston County, the Perry Players will be opening the family-friendly melodrama “The Picture That Was Turned to the Wall.” Coming up, Warner Robins Little Theatre will present a benefit performance (for HODAC and the V-Day Foundation) of “The Vagina Monologues” beginning Thursday and running through March 9.

Contact Larry Fennelly at LarryFennelly@AvantGuild.com.