Local Color, a co-op gallery of women artists, announced:

• The first Friday gallery walk exhibit, "Figuratively Speaking," opens May 2. The pieces, produced by Margaret Griffin and Rebecca Toy, use raku and acryllics styles.
• The ninth annual "plein air paint out" takes place May 3. The event is in conjunction with the Raleigh vintage car, hot rod and motorcycle show.

Emerging graphic designers hosted a senior exhibition in the Frankie G. Weems Art Gallery at Meredith College, in Raleigh. The display showcased the work of Karen Baltimore, Meredith Cox, Laura Jennette, Schuyler Mobley, Paula Pope, Emily Rose, Kat Schneider, Taylar Thomas, Leia Trotter, Abbie Wieland and Cassondra Wilson. Studio artists also presented their work at the exhibition. They included Lizz Alfano, Adriana Burkins, Barbara Cherry, Holly Demyan, Kayla Garcia, Janelle Piotrowski and Pauline Ro.

The exhibit "Novel Ideas, Book Treasures and Illusions," featuring artists Pamela Poole and Lynn Patton, runs through May 27 at the Cary Gallery of Artists. The works include a hand-painted porcelain decanteur.

Luna Lee Ray, Cathy Kiffney, Jean LeCluyse and Miranda Kossoff host a show and sale at Luna Lee Ray's home studio and garden, in Chapel Hill, May 10-11 from 10 a.m. -5 p.m. Saturday and 12-5 p.m. Sunday. The display offers a selection of paintings, drawings, ceramics, prints and jewelry. All the artists show work at Frank Gallery and in numerous other venues.

Art in the Garden, a sculpture invitational in Hillsborough, takes place May 3 and 10 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and May 4 from 12-5 p.m. The show contains work by Carmen Elliot, Virginia Gibbons, Tinka Jordy and Susan Moffatt.

The English Garden Florists of Raleigh teach hands-on classes for women to learn, ask questions and leave with a bouquet of their own design. May courses include "One Hot Mama," for crafting hot pink and magenta bouquets for mom, and "Derby Dandy," in which students create colorful garden hats.

UNC-Chapel Hill announced:

• Three women from UNC-Chapel Hill received awards for the advancement of women. The recognition goes to one faculty member, one staffer and one graduate or postdoctoral student. This year's honorees included Audrey Rose Verde, a graduate student from Durham; Donna M. Bickford, the associate director of the office for undergraduate research in the College of Arts and Sciences; and Karen Booth, a professor in the women's and gender studies department.
• At the 2014 public service awards, UNC-Chapel Hill honored students, faculty, staff and community partners for their work. Some of those recognized included Kathryn Hunter-Williams, a lecturer in the department of dramatic art, for her project "None of the Above." Sarah van der Horst, a physical therapy doctoral student, and Kelly Hogan, a senior lecturer in the biology department, both received the Robert E. Bryan public service award.

Duke University, in Durham, recognized faculty and staff members for their outstanding service in 2013. Candy Durant, supervisor of Duke Eye Center sterile processing, received the president's award. Other meritorious service award winners included Kathy Buarotti, Tanya Exum Coston, Jennifer Lynn Horan, Jacqueline Looney and Ilene Farkas.

Junior Achievement of Eastern North Carolina elected four new members to its board of directors. The additions include Nicole Reginelli, senior community relations manager of Fidelity Investments, and Joelle Weltzin, senior vice president and division general counsel with BB&T.

Vietri, the largest U.S. importer of fine Italian handcrafted dinnerware, partners with Wine + Design to host a Mothers' Day celebration on May 11, in Raleigh. The event includes Italian appetizers, prosecco and a Vietri gift. The Hillsborough-based company was founded and is owned by Triangle women.

Colleen Payne was promoted to business travel sales manager of the Washington Duke Inn and Golf Club, in Durham. Payne joined the inn's sales and marketing team.

Patricia Taborn Modeling and Talent Agency hosts Durham's first youth entrepreneur expo showcase. The event brings Durham's young business owners together to inspire other youth in the community to become business owners. The showcase takes place at the Hayti Heritage Center on May 24.

Aspiring chefs competed for scholarships at The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Raleigh-Durham. Timara Creekmur from Bunn High School took a silver medal in the institute's best teen chef competition for high school seniors. Samantha DeHart, from Wilmingon, won the gold medal in the culinary scholarship competition.

The N.C. Hospitality Education Foundation and N.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association, in Raleigh, announced:

• Shelley Harper, of Swansboro High School, was the recipient of the 2014 N.C. ProStart educator excellence award. Harper is in her 17th year of teaching, seven of which have been as a ProStart educator.
• The winners of the inaugural N.C. ProStart Invitational, an event in which culinary and hospitality students compete for scholarship money, were from Davie County High School. They include Zulema Martinez, Kathryn Bradshaw, Samone Gibson and Sabrina Dulaney. The second place finishers, from Swansboro High School, were Courtney Hart, Mercedes Widdows, Brianna Jackson and Brittany Carr. The third place winners, from Leesville Road High School, included Erin Hutchinson and Kara Ness.

Sharon Decker, Secretary of the N.C. Department of Commerce, named the winners and finalists in two contests that engaged North Carolinians in working to develop a new brand for marketing the state:

• Sara Cowell, of Greenville, won first prize in the "What N.C. Stands For" contest. The people's choice award within the creative expression contest was awarded to Marie Clements and Ivy Palas from Chapel Hill.
• The Cardinal Marketing Group, a team of N.C. State University students, won top honors and $5,000 in the "BrandNC Case Competition." Team members included Annie Bishop, Christie Montague, Meagan Sams and Lauren Wright.

The N.C. Press Club and National Federation of Press Women named Christina Motley, of Raleigh, as the winner of 11 first place communication awards. The categories included writing and editing on the web, speech writing, report writing, headline writing, blogging, community relations and social media campaigns.

Meals on Wheels, of Durham, hosts a music festival May 17 from 5-8 p.m. at the pavilion of Durham Central Park. Entertainment is provided by two live bands, Bag of Llamas and the Durham Jazz Messenger. Local food trucks are dishing dinner. Gale Singer Adland, executive director of the organization, notes that the event is to raise awareness of senior hunger and to enable the organization to feed more home-bound seniors in Durham.

A Toast to the Triangle, benefitting the Tammy Lynn Memorial Foundation, raised a record-breaking $215,000 at this year's event. One thousand attendees participated and enjoyed cuisine from across the Triangle. Holly Richard is the president and CEO of the foundation.

Junior League of Raleigh presents its Empowering Women of the Community conference on Saturday, May 10. The event includes food trucks, local vendors, breakout sessions and keynote speakers such as: Janet Cowell, N.C. treasurer; Trish Healy, principal and co-founder of Hyde Street Holdings; and Jackie Craig and Beth Smoot, co-founders of the Green Chair Project.

Robin Hammond, founder of the Friends of Wake Soil and Water Conservation District, received the 2013 "friend of conservation" award from the National Association of Conservation Districts.

Relay for Life, an event benefiting the American Cancer Society, takes place for the Leesville, Brier Creek and Research Triangle Park region May 30-31 at Leesville Road High School, in Raleigh.

The Lucy Daniels Center, of Cary, received a portion of a capacity building grant from the John Rex Endowment that totaled more than $675,000 to support the physical, mental and emotional well-being of children in Wake County. The center will receive $42,780 of the overall grant to implement an integrated electronic medical records system in all of its clinical programs.

The Green Chair Project, a Raleigh nonprofit that sells donated furniture at low-cost to families recovering from homelessness, crisis or disaster, announced its fundraiser gala, Comforts of Home. The main event takes place on Saturday, May 3, from 7-10 p.m. at 1853 Capital Blvd., in Raleigh. The Green Chair Project was founded by Jackie Craig and Beth Smoot in April 2010.

Shelley Day, the executive director of the Ronald McDonald House of Chapel Hill, announced expansions that will nearly double the current size of the space to 40,000 square feet. Five new buildings, including 24 guest rooms, an additional kitchen, laundry facilities and two new playgrounds are planned for the expansion. The build officially launched at the groundbreaking ceremony on April 22.

The Wake Forest Garden Club hosts the annual Mad Hatters' garden party on May 10 at the Wake Forest Historical Museum on 414 N. Main St., in Wake Forest. The event includes a tea, garden seminars, art and garden market, classic car show and raffle.

The Magnolia Klezmer Band and the Triangle Jewish Chorale join together for a performance of Yiddish and Ladino. The show takes place on Sunday, May 11, at 3 p.m. in the community hall of the Levin Jewish Community Center, in Durham.

The N.C. Opera hosts Opera in the Pines at Koka Booth Amphitheatre, in Cary, on May 17. The performance features vocal soloists Hailey Clark and Kate Farrar.

Deep Dish Theater Company presents "Life Is a Dream," May 9-31. The play is set in a Spanish castle. Actresses include Amber Wood and Anne-Caitlin Donohue.

Fonville Morisey Realty, in Raleigh, announced:

• Dana Epps joined as a full-time sales associate in the Inside the Beltline office.
• Cynthia M. Levesque joined the company as a full-time sales associate in the Stonehenge office.
• Vanessa Mouton was named sales manager of the Cary-Searstone office of Allen Tate Company. Mouton helps manage day-to-day operations as well as coaches and trains agents.

Zankhna Parekh, a Raleigh resident, premiered her new spring and summer fashion line for 2014. The styles are geared toward on-the-go mothers, featuring accessible yet fashionable pieces. Parekh's pieces can be purchased online.

Linda Kutzer returned to Raleigh to teach cosmetology classes at Troutman's College of Continuing Education. Kutzer is also managing the Regis Salon at Triangle Towne Center.

Researchers at the UNC School of Medicine, in Chapel Hill, announced:

• Scientists have pinpointed a viral protein that plays a major role in making respiratory syncytial virus the most common cause of hospitalization in children under 1-year-old. The discovery is the first step toward better diagnostics and treatments for the infection. Rachael Liesman, a UNC graduate student, led experiments for the work.
• Cynthia Bulik, Ph.D., was awarded $7.2 million to conduct the largest and most rigorous genetic initiative in eating disorders ever undertaken. She will collect DNA samples from more than 8,000 people with anorexia nervosa to detect genes that contribute to this life-threatening disease.

Researchers at N.C. State University, in Raleigh, found that online social behavior is not replacing offline social behavior in the gaming community. Rather, scientists say that online gaming is expanding players' social lives. Jennifer Jenson, Ph.D., of York University and Suzanne de Castell, Ph.D., from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, co-authored a paper on the study.

TyraTech, a life sciences company focusing on nature-derived insect and parasite control products, in Morrisville, announced its non-pesticide head lice treatment called Vamousse. The product has proven effective against pesticide-resistant "super lice" strains and is a non-toxic formula.

Hospice of Wake County elected three new members to its board of directors. They include Rhonda Gillespie Raney, the principal attorney with Mediation Solutions and an adjunct professor at N.C. Central University, in Durham.

Barnes and Noble, in Durham, is hosting a series of happenings in May. On May 2 at 7:30 p.m., Tracy Banghart is doing a signing event for her book "Shattered Veil." Suzetta Perkins does a signing for her novel "Silver Bullets" May 24 from 12-3 p.m.

Krista Bremers, of Carrboro, released her first book, "My Accidental Jihad." The nonfiction work is published by Algonquin Books, of Chapel Hill. Bremers is the keynote speaker at the Chatham County Literary Council luncheon on May 6 and talks at McIntyre's Books on May 31.