The holidays can have a tendency to wear you out. Amid this season of lake effect white-outs, egg-nog-soaked holiday parties and last-minute shopping excursions to malls and tchotchke shops, most Western New Yorkers are no doubt ready to curl up next to the yule log and bask in the warmth of our many static holiday traditions.

The somewhat more adventurous may free themselves from the firm grip of hearth and home to sample the veritable overload of holiday arts offerings in the area (see our calendar section), from "Cirque Dreams Holidaze" at Shea's Performing Arts Center to Alleyway Theatre's annual production of "A Christmas Carol."

But there are others for whom the old-time holiday traditions of yore — say, the 400th lifetime viewing of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," yet another recitation of Dickens' classic, or, as Shea's would have it, a quasi-theatrical holiday circus extravaganza — have lost their erstwhile charm. For these humbugged few, an escape from the seemingly endless string of homebound holiday activities might be in order.

For that, all that is required is a bit of creativity, and maybe a jaunt away from Western New York's cultural centers and into the hinterlands. If it's refuge from the holiday storm you seek, this guide's for you:

"Mingus and Metal: E.G. Smith and Mark Weld," through Jan. 14 at Shawn's Gate Art Studio and Gallery, 409 Main St., Medina; (585) 733-2153.

Shortly before his death in 1979, the legendary jazz bassist Charles Mingus tapped songwriter and performer Joni Mitchell to put lyrics to some of his music for the first time. The resulting collaboration, "Mingus," was released after the bassist's death in 1979. Local painter Mark Weld, inspired by the pair's project, has produced 17 paintings as a tribute to that seminal album.

Weld's enamel and watercolor painting — "It's off the charts, it's so beautiful," said gallery owner Barbara Gray — makes up half of a show that opened on Dec. 11 at Shawn's Gate Gallery in sleepy downtown Medina. The gallery, named after the late artist Shawn Fintak, was the brainchild of Gray. It recently relocated to Medina from its original home in Lockport. "We've been called the little gallery that can," Gray said. "The gallery is kind of lifting this town up. It's really given it some excitement."

Niagara County residents already may be familiar with the work of Emil Smith, whose three cruciform sculptures occupy a hill on Route 63, south of Medina. Several of his large metal sculptures, dubbed "Primitive Rustys," will be on view in this show. Smith's sculpture is marked by references to the natural world and a rough-hewn construction.

The show runs through Jan. 14. The gallery is open noon to 9:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, or Sundays through Tuesdays by appointment.

"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," through Sunday at Queen Street Theatre, 4624 Queen St., Niagara Falls, Ont.; (905) 871-4407 or www.gypsytheatre.com.

In Narnia, C.S. Lewis' land of danger and fantasy, Christmas has actually been outlawed by an evil White Witch, who presides over a kingdom in the icy midst of a century-long winter. And you thought Buffalo's politics and weather were tough.

This family-friendly musical, with a book by Jules Tasca, music by Thomas Tierney and lyrics by Ted Drachman, marks the first show ever in the new Queen Street Theatre in Niagara Falls, Ont. It's produced by the Fort Erie-based Gypsy Theatre, an outfit that recently celebrated its 20th anniversary.

Lewis' beloved tale begins in wartime London and soon transports audiences to a land of talking beavers and leonine kings, where four adventure-seeking children get themselves tied up in a tale of courage, peril and eventual triumph.

Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum, 180 Thompson St., North Tonawanda; 693-1885 or www.carrouselmuseum.com.

Carousels: not just for summer carnivals any more. In addition to housing two functioning carousels within its walls, the Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum ranks as one of Niagara County's most fascinating repositories of local — and national — history. It occupies the very building where the Allan Herschell Company produced some of the world's first handcarved wooden carousels, and where later such popular carnival rides as the Sky Wheel, Twister, Hurricane and other favorites were invented and first produced.

Exhibits include an extensive collection of handcarved animals and a photo exhibition documenting the production of carousels. There's also the Wurlitzer Music Roll Shop, which provides a glimpse into the equally fascinating history of the North Tonawanda's Rudoph Wurlitzer Company. But the main attractions, of course, are the carousels. The first, the museum's Web site says, whirs at 6.5 revolutions per minute and "was intended as a thrill ride for adults." The second is for kids.

The museum is open noon to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays.

Eye Candy Burlesque's holiday show, 9 p.m. Saturday, Riviera Theatre, 67 Webster St., North Tonawanda; 692-2113 or www.rivieratheatre.org.

For those with an appetite for the risque, nothing hits the spot like a little bit of tongue-in-cheek gender critique delivered by Buffalo's Eye Candy Burlesque troupe. The outfit, which has been making waves around town for the past two years with its unique riff on the classic burlesque style, presents a show of scantily clad holiday classics at North Tonawanda's Riviera Theatre. Perhaps needless to say: Though Eye Candy's performance is more of a takeoff on burlesque than a prurient indulgence, this event is aimed squarely at adults.

"Flora Foci: Works by Lukia Costello and Dorothy Markert," through Jan. 16 at the Charles E. Burchfield Nature and Art Center, 2001 Union Road, West Seneca; 677-4843 or www.thebnac.org

If it's a contemplative vibe you're after, you can't do much better than this exhibition in West Seneca's Charles E. Burchfield Nature and Art Center. Named for the prolific Western New York artist whose fantastical watercolors embody the sacred relationship between nature and art, the center is currently featuring an exhibition of work by local photographer Lukia Costello and print-maker Dorothy Markert.

Markert works in the long tradition of the Arts and Crafts movement, producing still-life prints of garden and field flowers — a refreshing bit of spring in the midst of deepening winter. Costello's work, in this show, features photographs of flowers and other plants that the artist made on visits to the center earlier this year. Her images, by finding strange patterns in plants that sometimes mimic architecture, seem to make a statement about the connection between the natural and artificial worlds.

The center also boasts 29 acres of trails and woods, parts of which are open through spring. The trails, especially after a fresh snow, are perfect for city-dwellers seeking a bit of winter solace.