Last chance, as it closes Friday, to catch Keith Linton's exhibition Evolutions at the Art Academy of Cincinnati (1212 Jackson St., Over-the-Rhine). In photographs, Linton's paintings might look pleasantly two-dimensional and a throwback to Abstract Expressionism, but in actuality these marvelously three-dimensional works are collages protruding from the wall in all sorts of surprising ways and merging seamlessly with his sculpture.  

In a pleasing departure from the usual holiday frou-frou, The Betts House is showing small, uncluttered, abstracted house portraits by Marcia Alscher, who understands the geometry of buildings in a visceral way. The Betts House, built in 1804 and now the oldest brick house in Ohio, is itself small and uncluttered. Alscher's paintings are perfectly at home in its rooms. Regular hours (11 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday) are extended to 12:30-5 p.m. on Saturdays through Dec. 18, with family-friendly craft activities and seasonal refreshments.  

Christmas past is marvelously evoked throughout 'Antique Christmas' at the Taft Museum, with new additions this year to the nostalgic feather trees and old-fashioned toys waiting for Christmas morning. Paper dolls have their own paper dollhouse and Noah's arks fill a display case, along with their attendant animals, two-by-two. There's a German miniature toy shop from the 1890s and a special Keystone Gallery display of printed Christmas cutouts in brilliant chromolithographic colors.  

'Bestiary' sweeps through all three rooms of Manifest Gallery in a lively embodiment of the kind of show the East Walnut Hills gallery has to a degree pioneered and does well. An idea (in this case "animals") is thrown out worldwide thanks to the Internet, and a stringent jury/curatorial process sifts the keepers from what is usually a heady number of submissions.  

Cincinnati photographer Thomas Schiff has turned his panoramic camera on Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in an exhibition on view at the Architectural Foundation on display through Dec.16. The distinctive houses and other buildings by the influential 20th century architect respond well to this unusual photography, in which the camera rotates a full circle to present an all-around view. Both exteriors and interiors of these iconic structures are shown.  

'Bestiary' sweeps through all three rooms of Manifest Gallery in a lively embodiment of the kind of show the East Walnut Hills gallery has to a degree pioneered and does well. An idea (in this case "animals") is thrown out worldwide, thanks to the Internet, and a stringent jury/curatorial process sifts the keepers from what is usually a heady number of submissions. This time, 410 artists submitted images of 985 works. Twenty-five works by 17 artists, from France, Canada, England and the U.S., made the cut.  

Beverly Erschell's paintings of Cincinnati, currently enlivening the Architectural Foundation's new downtown quarters, catch the city in Jazz riffs of color and form. Erschell, based in Kentucky, usually sees downtown from across the river and that's the way she often paints it. She leaves the river to catch views of Covington and further Cincinnati scenes.  

Jarrett Hawkins' soaring sculptures almost stride through the street-level space at the Weston Art Gallery. His show includes works that exude strength and others that seem tethered rather than standing on their bases, as though they might rise on their own if not held back.  

Multi-show openings at the Carnegie Arts Center expand in a new direction Friday with Andrea Kay's performance of 'Flutterby' in the Otto M. Budig Theatre at 8 p.m. Kay combines her drawings, watercolors and a narrative into a dramatic presentation created when her father was dying of Alzheimer’s for "a reflection of how each of us faces the loss of a loved one." Kay’s art works will remain on view through Nov. 23, as will exhibitions by Yvonne van Eijden, Stefan Chinov, Charlie Goering and Petra Krauckova.  

'Modern Masters from the Smithsonian American Art Museum' showcases revolutionary Abstract Expressionists' work that caused a sea change in the way the western world came to view art. The exhibition also includes works created in response to this mid-20th-century American movement's initial impact. On display at the Dayton Art Institute through Oct. 10.