Second-annual One Book, One Community read to focus on street harassment
BERKSHIRE COUNTY – The Berkshire Domestic and Sexual Violence Task Force invites the community to join its second-annual One Book, One Community county-wide read. Last April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, 41 Berkshire County organizations participated in a discussion of “No Visible Bruises.” This year’s book is “Stop Telling Women to Smile: Stories of Street Harassment and How We’re Taking Back Our Power” by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh. The discussion group will be held virtually, via Zoom, throughout March and April, with a moderator and counselor available. In April, the author will participate in a candid discussion about street harassment.
—A.K.
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Massachusetts Town Hall on Anti-Asian Racism to be held March 25
BOSTON — The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled xenophobia and anti-Asian racism, but Asian Americans have experienced violence long before the pandemic. Massachusetts’ Asian American Resource Workshop is hosting a town hall to highlight how the Asian American community in the state is organizing against racism and to share how to support the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community during the pandemic. To register for the town hall, held Thursday, March 25 at 6 p.m., follow this link.
—A.K.
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Egremont Democratic Committee to hold nominating caucus
EGREMONT — The Egremont Democratic Committee will hold a nominating caucus on Wednesday, March 24, at 7 p.m., via Zoom. The meeting will be open for one hour. The purpose of the event is to choose candidates to endorse for the following town offices, for which elections will be held on Tuesday, May 11:
Moderator (1 year), Town Clerk (1 year), Selectman (3 years), Library Trustee (3 years), Cemetery Commissioner (3 years), Planning Board member (5 years), Tree Warden (1 year), Assessor (3 years).
All Egremont residents who are registered Democrats are encouraged to vote at this caucus. Details of caucus rules can be found at www.massdems.org. Contact Chair Alyson Slutzky at gummo18@gmail.com for information about the caucus or the Egremont Democratic Committee, to receive the Zoom link for the caucus, or to be added to the Egremont Democratic Committee’s email list.
Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4135286957
Meeting ID: 413 528 6957
One tap mobile: +13126266799,,4135286957# US (Chicago)
+16465588656,,4135286957# US (New York)
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcqPQL5REP
—A.K.
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Hancock Shaker Village announces new staff appointed to key positions
PITTSFIELD — Hancock Shaker Village recently announced the appointments of Dr. Linda Johnson as curator and Brenda Lynch as director of development, a newly created position.
Johnson will oversee the 22,000-object collection, 20 historic buildings, archives, library, and curatorial program. Johnson is currently a professor in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Michigan and an adjunct professor in art history and material culture at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. Previously, she held curatorial positions in the Department of American Paintings and Sculpture at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Johnson received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Oakland University and a Master of Arts and Doctorate in American Studies and Art History from Michigan State University.
Johnson is a consulting editor to the Journal of Animal Ethics and serves on the editorial board of Paragone: Past & Present, an interdisciplinary journal dedicated to rivalry in the arts. She is a senior fellow in the visual arts at the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, based in England. Her publications include “Increase Mather: A Pre-Millennial Portrait During the Revocation of the Massachusetts Charter” (2018) and the forthcoming book “Art and Animal Ethics in the Western World 1600-1900,” to be released this year.
“Creating a better world begins with reaching into our American past and seeing how we can learn to cultivate a more just society for all,” said Johnson. “That starts when one steps onto the grounds to learn the lasting legacy of Hancock Shaker Village.”
Brenda Lynch comes to Hancock Shaker Village from Poughkeepsie, New York, where she was director of museum advancement for the Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum. A fundraising professional bringing more than 20 years of experience to her new role, Lynch has led fundraising teams in fields including the arts, education, and medicine. Past positions include director of development at The Kildonan School, Indian Mountain School, and Vassar Brothers Medical Center.
Leading a team of four, she will oversee external relations for the museum, with the goal of raising visibility, enhancing brand awareness, increasing engagement, and expanding audiences. Her work in marketing includes implementing marketing programs and strategic planning at Clinique, Chanel, and Steuben, a division of Corning.
—A.K.
