Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art kicks off its 2008-09 season with Mel Finkelstein: Playing a Hunch, a retrospective exhibit of 90 images spanning 40 years of the award-winning photojournalist's career. Finkelstein first began documenting New York City life for the New York Journal-American at age 16 and worked there for more than 20 years before its demise led him to the offices of the New York Daily News, where he spent another two decades before taking a job as photo editor at the New York Post in 1988. His most common subjects were celebrities, politicians and people of public interest. He was also known for his gruesomely-framed death scenes, like a slain mobster under a movie marquee billing Mickey Spillane's My Gun Is Quick, and his shot of China joining the United Nations received a Pulitzer Prize nomination. The opening reception for Playing a Hunch occurs from 7 to 9 p.m. Sat., Aug. 16. Guests enjoy New York deli-inspired hors d'oeuvres, wine and soft drinks, and live entertainment by the David Moore Trio and Dance Evolutions ($10 general/free for members). A Gallery Talk with Newhouse News Service journalist Jonathan Tilove begins at 3 p.m. Sun., Aug. 17. On display through Oct. 19, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. (open to 9 p.m. on Thurs.), 1-5 p.m. Sun., LRMA, SPC-Tarpon Springs Campus, 600 Klosterman Road, Palm Harbor, $5 adults/$4 seniors (free admission for children and students with ID), 727-712-5762, spjc.edu/central/museum.
