The Artist's Vineyard in Noblesville features entertainment in a setting congenial to the visual arts, too. (Joe Vitti / The Star)

Everett Greene will sing romantic ballads at the Indianapolis Artsgarden. (Kelly Wilkinson / The Star)

Models Mark and Dionne Castelli enjoy a Toulouse-Lautrec work at the Indianapolis Museum of Art exhibition "Paris Posters: The Art of the Streets." (Michelle Pemberton / Star photo illustration)

Look at "The Kiss," by Gustav Klimt. Listen to "You Make Me Feel So Young" by Ol' Blue Eyes. Read "Romeo and Juliet."

Love inspires.

You don't have to be an aesthete to know that creativity, when combined with that most powerful of emotions, has produced amazingly amorous art for millennia. So why not get out there this Valentine's Day and let a sonnet, a song or a work of art express what you cannot?

Surely a glimpse at a masterpiece, a few refrains from a skilled musician or an emotional soliloquy played out by an actor onstage -- in the company of your best guy or gal -- is a damn sight better than the clumsy affectations you had planned.

With that in mind, we give you 10 arts-related events happening in Indianapolis on Feb. 14:

American Cabaret Theatre: 'An Evening of Romance'

Join the 17-member Indianapolis Jazz Orchestra, with featured vocalists Rick Vale and Lydia McAdams, for its annual Valentine's concert and "an evening of romance" at the American Cabaret Theatre. This performance is exclusively dedicated to big-band music concerning love, romance and matters of the heart, with songs from the "Great American Songbook" and composers like George Gershwin, Cole Porter and Richard Rodgers.

Where: 401 East Michigan St.
When: 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Tickets: $20 in advance ($25 at the door), $10 students in advance ($15 at the door).
Info: (317) 631-0334, ext. 115, or www.actindy.org.

Art & Soul at the Artsgarden: Everett Greene

If you're looking for something to do on a shared lunch break Downtown, look no further than Emmy Award-winning jazz and pop singer Everett Greene and his trio performing romantic standards. For a glimpse of Indiana's romantic history with music, the Artsgarden is also hosting an exhibition by photographer and painter Donald Burlock, featuring icons of black art within Central Indiana (focusing on some of the great lost venues from the city's jazz era).

When: 12:15 p.m.
Where: Indianapolis Artsgarden, above the intersection of Illinois and Washington streets.
Tickets: Free.
Info: (317) 631-3301 or www.indyarts.org.

'Valentine's Day Love Songs & Lunch'

At the Mansion at Oak Hill, lunch will be an elegant affair, followed by the sound of romance. Guests will enjoy the Actors Theatre of Indiana as they celebrate Valentine's Day with the enchanting sounds of Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney and Cole Porter. Hear some of the greatest music written from the heart: "Tenderly," "That Old Black Magic," "Embraceable You," "De Lovely," "You Go to My Head," "All of Me" and many more.

When: Doors open at 11:15, with lunch at noon followed by the performance.
Where: 5801 E. 116th St., Carmel.
Tickets: $45 (tables of 8, $40 per person).
Info: (317) 913-0387 or www.interludetours.com.

Valentine Wine Dinner: Art of Romance

The Artist's Vineyard in Noblesville is hosting a five-course gourmet meal with wine pairings and live music. Picture it: Brie with a sparkling white, bisque with Riesling, salad with a rose, then beef with a Cab Sav or fish with a Chardonnay, capped off with a finishing flourish of cake and sparkling Shiraz. Music by Don Smith and Deb Farmer, playing muted trumpet and piano respectively, completes the indulgence. The visual part of this Valentine's Day celebration can be found in the exhibit on the walls.

When: 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Where: 68 N. Ninth St., Noblesville.
Tickets: $80, plus tax and gratuity (reservation only).
Info: (317) 219-3481 or www.theartistsvineyard.com.

Indianapolis Museum of Art: 'Paris Posters -- The Art of the Streets'

Of course, there are many works on view at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, including current exhibitions featuring Adrian Schiess, Ingrid Calame, Kenneth Tyler and the ever-present permanent collection. But why not stop in for a look at 20 posters produced in the Belle Epoque era by the likes of Toulouse-Lautrec and Mucha? Created in Paris, these simple and dynamic works just might transport you to la ville de l'amour.

When: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Where: 4000 Michigan Road.
Tickets: Free.
Info: (317) 923-1331 or www.imamuseum.org.

Indianapolis Museum of Art: 'Terrain'

Also at the IMA is artist Julianne Swartz's installation "Terrain," welcoming visitors with an audio installation to the museum through the main Efroymson Entrance Pavilion. Swartz asked her subjects to think of someone they felt tenderness for -- a valentine, perhaps -- and whisper what he or she would utter in that person's ear. The hushed sentiments form an abstract conversation, one that can only be heard fleetingly and is married visually to a colorful rainbow of electrical wires.

When: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Where: 4000 Michigan Road.
Tickets: Free.
Info: (317) 923-1331 or www.imamuseum.org.

In the Company of Shakespeare

If spoken word is your thing, and the hip pocket is tight, then drop by the Lazy Daze Coffee House with a select poem in mind (and the nerve to read it aloud onstage). From 7 to 8 p.m., John Luther will portray Edgar Allan Poe in a performance titled "The Dark Side of Romance," after which stage moderator Ian Rossman will invite people to recite their musings on love. It might not be a midsummer night's dream date, and we shall not compare thee to a summer's day, but why not get up there and bust out your own "Thou art more lovely....."?

When: 7 to 9:30 p.m.
Where: 10 S. Johnson Ave.
Tickets: Free.
Info: (317) 353-0777 or www.lazydazecoffeehouse.com.

Valentine's dinner and concert

Take a night to enjoy the full-blown fancy of a Victorian Valentine's Day, with a dinner of 19th-century recipes served in the Morris-Butler House's formal dining room, followed by a concert of Celtic harp music. The menu includes Parker House rolls, butternut squash bisque, salmon with maple glaze and whipped chocolate cheesecake. So celebrate Valentine's Day like the Victorians, and enjoy sentimentality raised to an art form.

When: 6 to 8 p.m.
Where: 1204 N. Park Ave.
Tickets: $120 per couple, $100 per couple for members of Historic Landmarks Foundation. (Reservation required by Feb. 10.)
Info: (317) 636-5409 or www.historiclandmarks.org.

Bill Lancton: In the Round

So what would Valentine's Day at the Jazz Kitchen be like? You could try the restaurant's signature crab cakes to start, perhaps the paella for two as an entree (a Jazz Kitchen specialty), or maybe the Crescent City crab cakes ("a JK favorite"). But whatever you order, patrons will also have a treat for the ears as guitarist Bill Lancton brings his unique blend of romantic jazz and bossa nova standards to dinner.

When: 6 to 10 p.m. (open for dinner at 5.p.m.)
Where: 5377 N. College Ave.
Tickets: $15.
Info: (317) 253-4900 or www.thejazzkitchen.com.

Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre: 'West Side Story'

Theater buffs, musical lovers, gourmands -- come one, come all, for a Broadway classic based on an enduring Shakespeare tragedy, played out onstage after a buffet dinner with salad bar, no less. Tony and Maria love one another, but will the Sharks and the Jets allow their bond to flourish? For the girls, there is the love story. For the boys, the gang warfare. And for all, there are Leonard Bernstein's immortal music and Stephen Sondheim's timeless lyrics.

When: Doors open at 6 p.m., buffet from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., 8 p.m. show time.
Where: 9301 Michigan Road.
Tickets: $35 to $47.
Info: (317) 872-9664 or www.beefandboards.com.