Mark your calendars: This year’s summer block party at the Toledo Museum of Art is set for July 8, and will have a Greek-themed focus around the opening of an exhibition of ancient Athenian painted vases by a 5th century B.C. artist.

This will be the fourth year for the outside party, which will bring back food, art, and entertainment that spills out of the museum and along the main Monroe Street thoroughfare in front of the museum.

“We will have Greek food, and we are in conversation with people in the Greek community about doing programming here,” said Mike Deetsch, TMA’s director of education and engagement. “We are going to focus again on local talent, whether it be performances or musical entertainment.”

Opening the morning of July 8 is The Berlin Painter and His World, a show of 84 vessels and statues that depict the anonymous artist’s method of red figure painting to celebrate ancient Greek mythology and society.

“We have no idea what his name is, we don’t know anything about him but we know the most important pot by him is in Berlin,”  TMA director Brian Kennedy said.

The show is running through June 11 at the Princeton University Art Museum. TMA is the only other venue to install the antique masterpieces loaned from 15 museums and two private collections. It will be on display in the Toledo museum’s Canaday Gallery through Oct. 1.

In past years, the museum announced a main attraction that helped draw crowds of more than 3,000 people. Deetsch said that museum officials are in discussions with a large local program to be the draw this year.

Last year, crowds flocked to the party to see the large outdoor sculptures of Barcelona artist Jaume Plensa, and a variety of performances by Birds Eye View Circus. In 2015, the party celebrated the museum’s popular Play Time exhibition, and an audience watched performers from the Redmoon Theater play instruments from atop a grand piano suspended in the air by a crane.

Several events will return this year, including an updated, interactive play space for kids, food trucks, and a scavenger hunt that will be more family focused this year, Deetsch said. About 80 teams of between four or five people each, registered last year to do the hunt.

“People were posting photographs and posting to social media. It was a real hoot so we are really excited to bring something like that back this summer,” Deetsch said.

The block party will be from 6 to 10 p.m., and there will be more details on the event as it draws closer. Check toledomuseum.org for updates.

■ The Arts Commission of Greater Toledo will announce the details of two new artist initiatives at a gathering from 6 to 8 p.m. April 21, at Handmade Toledo, 1717 Adams St.

The informal event will include information on the reactivation of an individual artist grant program, said Michelle Carlson, programs coordinator for the Arts Commission.

Carlson declined to release details about the pilot grant program before the artists’ meeting, but said artists who attend will learn about funding distribution and how to apply. More than a decade ago, the organization offered a grant program that was partially funded by the city of Toledo, Carlson said.

This pilot program is  supported by ProMedica and the Arts Commission hopes to make it an ongoing program, she said. The grants will be offered monthly.

Arts Commission staff will also make remarks at the gathering about a formalized mentoring program in which artists seeking assistance with a career-related goal can schedule meetings with staff to move forward in achieving that goal, Carlson said.

Artists will have an opportunity to ask questions and network with Arts Commission staffers after remarks about the two programs.

For more information, call 419-254-2787, or go to theartscommission.org.

■ Several Bowling Green State University master of fine arts students are displaying their thesis exhibitions over the next few weeks at the university’s Fine Arts Center, Dorothy Uber Bryan and Willard Wankelman galleries.

The shows are free.

Through Tuesday, visitors can view the work of artists Aaron Brandy, Justin Gerace, Matthew Cook, and Yusuf Lateef.

A second installation showcases the work of artists Amanda Bergman, Rebecca List, Alli Billmeyer, Dinu Gavris, Dan Molyneux, and Xaio (Nana) Yang, and opens with a reception from 7 to 9 p.m. April 22. 

The second show runs through May 4.

The artists concentrate on a variety of media, including ceramics, performance, jewelry, painting, and digital work.

For more information and gallery hours, go to bgsu.edu/​arts-and-sciences/​school-of-art/​galleries.html.

Contact Roberta Gedert at: rgedert@theblade.com or 419-724-6075 or on Twitter @RoGedert.

First Published April 13, 2017, 4:00 a.m.