Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. and Framework presents ‘Art of Food’ exhibit and food drive kick-off
Pittsfield— From November 1st through the 27th, Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. and Framework will feature a new exhibition entitled “Art of Food” at Framework.
“Art of Food” features paintings, mixed media, photography, and even a LEGO® sculpture that fit the broad theme of “food.” The exhibit is being held to benefit the Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. Thankful Food Drive. Artists include Christian Barry, Diane Firtell, Erin Laundry, Jenifer Fuore, Keith Emerling, Kristen Tool, Lisa Ostellino, Michael Coyne, Peter Vacchina, Ronan Chris Murphy, Sally Tiska Rice, Sharon Wallerius, Susan Geller, Tatyana Lisser, and Xyl Lasersohn.
The exhibit runs from November 1st through the 27th at Framework at 431 North Street. There will be an opening reception on Friday, November 1st from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Attendees who bring a non-perishable food or cash donation to kick off the Thankful Food Drive will receive a free gift. More information can be found online.
***
Ancram Center for the Arts presents ‘Centuries,’ a world premiere theatrical concert
Ancram, N.Y.— From October 25th through November 3rd, Ancram Center for the Arts presents “Centuries,” a world premiere theatrical concert.
Following a Summer Play Lab residency, musical collaborators Kate Douglas, Matthew Dean Marsh, and Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez return to the Ancram Center in the world premiere of “Centuries,” their theatrical concert that follows an Ohio family over two generations as a son retrieves and pieces together fragments from his mother’s life, told entirely through innovative choral music that weaves together folk and jazz.
“In Centuries, the creators have woven a harmonic canvas against which a multigenerational story is told entirely through song,” said Paul Ricciardi, Ancram Center Co-Director. “It’s unique; we’ve never heard anything quite like it.”
The performances run from October 25th through November 3rd at the Ancram Center for the Arts, located at 1330 County Route 7 in Ancram, N.Y. Tickets and more information can be found online.
***
OLLI presents a staged reading of ‘Calendar Girls’
Pittsfield— On Monday, October 28th from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., OLLI presents a staged reading of Tim Firth’s ‘Calendar Girls’ by the students of the Fall 2024 OLLI Acting Class and instructors Dan Woods and Jeannie Marlin Woods.
Based on the Miramax motion picture by Juliette Towhidi and Tim Firth, this wonderful, heartwarming play is based on the true story of members of a women’s club in England. When Annie’s husband dies of leukemia, she and her best friend, Chris, resolve to find some good from their sadness. When they convince four fellow members of the club to forego the usual boring calendar the group produces each year to raise money for a good cause, they decide instead to pose nude becoming an international media sensation. With hordes of press descending on their small Yorkshire village, Chris and Annie’s friendship is put to the test by their newfound fame as they discover just how far a great idea can take you.
The free reading is on Monday, October 28th from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Berkshire Community College at 1350 West Street in Pittsfield. Registration and more information can be found online.
***
Berkshire International Film Festival presents ‘Food, Inc. 2’ at the Triplex Cinema
Great Barrington— On Sunday, October 27th at 3 p.m., as part of their seventh annual Environmental Film Focus Series, Berkshire International Film Festival presents “Food, Inc. 2” in partnership with Triplex Cinema.
The groundbreaking Oscar®-nominated documentary “Food, Inc. 2,” which was screened at BIFF in 2008, ignited a cultural conversation about the multinational corporations that control our food system at enormous cost to our planet, workforce, and health. In the well-timed sequel, FOOD INC. 2, comes “back for seconds” to reveal how corporate consolidation has gone unchecked by our government, leaving us with a highly efficient yet shockingly vulnerable food system dedicated only towards increasing profits.
A panel discussion with Director of the Center for Food and Resilience at Bard College at Simon’s Rock Maryann Tebben, Dan Carr of Berkshire Agricultural Ventures, and BIFF’s Lillian Lennox will follow the screening.
The event is on Sunday, October 27th at 3 p.m. at The Triplex Cinema, located at 70 Railroad Street in Great Barrington. Tickets and more information can be found online.
***
Seth Rogovoy will read and sign his new George Harrison book at The Bookstore in Lenox
Lenox— On Sunday, October 27th at 4 p.m., longtime Berkshire author and cultural critic Seth Rogovoy will read from and sign copies of his new book, “Within You Without You: Listening to George Harrison,” at The Bookstore.
Rock critic and historian Seth Rogovoy offers a highly personal exploration of George Harrison’s essential contributions to the Beatles and the musical world in “Within You Without You.” Through close examination of Harrison’s guitar playing, as well as insights from expert observers, Rogovoy guides readers through how Harrison shaped the sound of The Beatles and carried that sound forward into his solo career. “Within You Without You” changes how listeners hear the Beatles, while enhancing appreciation of Harrison as a cultural figure above and beyond his work as a musician.
Seth Rogovoy is the author of “Bob Dylan: Prophet Mystic Poet” and “The Essential Klezmer: A Music Lover’s Guide to Jewish Roots and Soul Music.” A longtime music critic, his weekly cultural commentary is heard on WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
The event is on Sunday, October 27th at 4 p.m. at The Bookstore, located at 11 Housatonic Street in Lenox. More information can be found online.
***
Clark Art Institute presents lecture on radical art and mass print media in Cold War Brazil
Williamstown— On Tuesday, October 29th at 5:30 p.m., the Clark Art Institute’s Research and Academic Program presents a lecture by Williams College Associate Professor Mari Rodriguez Binnie, who will discusses her new book, “The São Paulo Neo-Avant-Garde,” in which she examines how artists challenged a military dictatorship through mass print technologies in the 1970s and 1980s in São Paulo, Brazil.
Often working collaboratively, these artists established alternative networks of exchange locally and internationally to circulate their work. In this first English-language book to focus entirely on conceptual practices in São Paulo in this period, Binnie examines these artworks and their engagement with politics and mainstream art institutions and practices, unearthing a scene critical to the development of contemporary Brazilian art. Binnie will be in conversation with Brynn Hatton, the Kindler Family Assistant Professor of Global Contemporary Art at Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y. Hatton’s research explores how global art workers from the mid-1960s to the early 2000s have differently imagined Vietnam as an idea rather than a place, and a crucible around which various political identities were and continue to be forged.
The free lecture is on Tuesday, October 29th at 5:30 p.m. at the Clark Art Institute, located at 225 South Street in Williamstown. More information can be found online.
