Three opportunities tonight to stretch your mind before you check out for the holiday weekend:

Greg Brown from the Dallas Center for Architecture sends word that there are still slots available for this evening’s installment of Appetite for Architecture. Meet up at the Mason Bar, and after appetizers and a cocktail, learn more about it – (it used to be a church, then a Masonic lodge, the first integrated one in Texas.) Brandt Wood will talk about the restaurant’s history. And historian Judy Hearst will lead a discussion about the State-Thomas neighborhood, once a thriving African American community. $30.

You may recall Stephen’s story about Erica Felicella’s project Visible Shell in Oak Cliff. She was silent inside that cube for 48 hours, but now she’s talking about the experience, what she accomplished and what’s next for the project. Got questions? She’ll answer them tonight at Kettle Art. Free.

Finally, if there’s one thing that sparks a conversation in this town, it’s the state of the local visual arts scene. Tonight’s new twist: artists under 40 discussing their take on the positive things that are happening in the arts community in a panel called  1.2 Million Stories: State of the Emerging Arts. Panelists include W.A.A.S. gallery director Brandy Michele Adams,  Jerod Alexander Davies, multi-discplinary artist and founder of Just-Us league, Bryan Embry, gallery owner, founder of the artist residency at the Fairmont Hotel (i’ve heard Bryan is spending much of his time in Los Angeles so it’ll be nice to see him back in Dallas); performance and video artist Danielle Georgiou, who frequently guest blogs for Art&Seek, and Kevin Ruben Jacobs, owner of Oliver Francis Gallery and Exhibitions manager at Goss Michael Foundation. At CentralTrak. Free.