Carrie Chen Gallery announces Anton Ginzburg and Christina Kruse exhibit
GREAT BARRINGTON — The Carrie Chen Gallery will present the exhibition “The buildings, piled so casually” from March 5–April 3. This exhibition unites Anton Ginzburg’s abstract paintings with Christina Kruse’s imaginary worlds and layered constructions under the poetic title taken from the late poet laureate John Ashbery of Hudson, New York. A public reception will be held Saturday, March 5 from 3–5 p.m. A series of poetry readings by Massachusetts- and New York-based poets will take place throughout the month of March.
In conceiving of this exhibition, Ginzburg and Kruse refer to Ashbery, whose unharnessed approach to style and composition inspired them and is reflected in their work. The show borrows its title from the first line of Ashbery’s poem “Spring Light,” an example of the poet’s fractured style and fluid approach to constructing prose. Each coming from a European Modernist tradition, the artists share Ashbery’s aesthetic and describe their formal interest in construction, balance, and composition itself as central to their practice. Anton Ginzburg’s paintings are from his recent “Translucent Series” (2020–21), a collection of views of New York City and the Berkshires that collectively read as a pictorial montage of the landscape. Christina Kruse’s sculpture explores the ever-present dichotomies in human existence, the limits of balance, and the facets of consciousness and perception.
Chief Curator and Gallery Owner Carrie Chen said, “I find the relationship between Anton and Christina’s work striking and unexpected, it emerges through their imaginative engagement with space, objects, and form. Anton’s use of color and composition draws the viewer into a contained, but deeply evocative, interpretation of landscape and architecture. Christina invites us to openly explore without boundaries while still grounding the viewer with detail and a sense of place.”
—A.K.
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Next Distinguished Lecture to feature Williams College professor Lois Banta
LENOX — The Lenox Library’s 15th annual Distinguished Lecture Series will continue Sunday, Feb. 20 at 4 p.m. Lois Banta, chair and Halvorsen Professor for Distinguished Teaching and Research of Biology at Williams College, will discuss “COVID-19 Today and Tomorrow.” Due to COVID directives, this event will take place via Zoom. The event is free and open to the public.
In her lecture, Professor Banta will talk about the current thinking on the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, herd immunity, how boosters work, viral variants, why some of the variants can be more or less transmissible and/or cause fewer or more severe symptoms, and potential scenarios for the pandemic going forward.
Professor Banta specializes in microbiology, genomics, and molecular/cell biology. Her research explores the ways in which plants protect themselves from diseases. Her work has been published in the Journal of Bacteriology and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science and has received major grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Fulbright Commission, and the Teagle Foundation. She teaches courses in microbiology; bioinformatics, genomics, and proteomics; cellular regulatory mechanisms; genetics; and environment, immunity, and infectious disease. She received her B.A. from the Johns Hopkins University and her Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology.
—A.K.
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1Berkshire extends Youth Leadership Program application deadline
PITTSFIELD — 1Berkshire’s Berkshire Youth Leadership Program (YLP) is extending the deadline for applications to the YLP Class of 2022–23 to 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 18. Until the deadline, sophomores from any school in the Berkshires, and equivalent-aged home-schooled students, are encouraged to submit an application for the program.
“Students and school staff have faced unprecedented challenges to the normal course of life throughout the pandemic, but especially over the last few months,” said Ben Lamb, 1Berkshire’s director of economic development and YLP program coordinator. “In order to ensure that as many current sophomores as possible have an opportunity to apply to participate in the Youth Leadership Program, we wanted to provide interested students an additional week to prepare and submit their applications.”
The 1Berkshire Youth Leadership Program, open to all current sophomores in the Berkshires, selects a cohort of up to 30 motivated students from all backgrounds for a 10-month experience that will allow them to explore the regional economy and develop their leadership skills. Once selected, students will begin the program with a 3-day, 3-night retreat, June 9–12, at the conclusion of their sophomore year. At the retreat, students will meet for the first time, begin to build deep connections, and learn about and advance their individual leadership skills.
Over the following 10 months, students will reconvene for one full day each month, held at various locations across the Berkshires (or virtually, in the case of severe weather conditions). During these sessions, students will meet with business leaders and community members to learn about sectors and careers in the regional economy, including but not limited to advanced manufacturing, healthcare, nonprofits and community service, the creative economy, and hospitality and tourism. Students will develop leadership competencies through activities within the sessions and, as a class, develop and execute a collective community impact project.
—A.K.
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Berkshire Concert Choir welcomes singers for spring semester
PITTSFIELD — The Berkshire Concert Choir, approaching its 45th year and under the direction of Artistic Director Matthew O. Thomas, welcomes all singers for its spring 2022 season. The choir is collaborating with Vocalis, a young person’s choir, to perform John Rutter’s “Mass of the Children” with orchestra and soloists. Concerts will be held June 3 at St. Ann Church in Lenox and June 4 at Saint James Place in Great Barrington.
Singers should register on Eventbrite by February 19, as rehearsals start March 1 in the St. Ann Family Center, 134 Main St. in Lenox. All singers are welcome; no audition required. Dues are $40. Call Marilyn Gerhard at 413-442-6120 for more information or visit the Berkshire Concert Choir website.
Note: Singers must be fully vaccinated, and face masks are required. Send dues to Berkshire Concert Choir, Inc., P.O. Box 452, Pittsfield, MA 01202-0452. Checks can be made out to Berkshire Concert Choir, Inc.
—A.K.
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Sen. Hinds calls for spending remaining $2.3B in ARPA funds on racial equity
BOSTON — The Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Revenue, Senator Adam Hinds, today called for the remaining $2.3 billion in ARPA funds to be spent on closing gaps by race in housing, education, wealth and business capital investment.
“The smartest investment for a strong recovery is racial equity. Using this money to move towards racial equity is not only just, it contributes to our economic recovery, investments to close gaps by race reduce vulnerabilities ahead of future pandemics and economic downturns, and results in a boost to our Gateway Cities,” Hinds said.
Recent analysis, including by the Massachusetts Taxpayer Foundation, show that closing racial gaps in key areas would result in increasing Massachusetts’ gross state product by $25 billion over five years. According to the same report, leveling college graduation rates of Black and Latinx students to that of white students in Massachusetts would result in an additional $22 billion in state revenues over 10 years.
“Massachusetts is in search of strategic one-time investments for ARPA dollars, especially allocations that put the economy on stable footing and pay dividends for years to come. Closing the racial divide in wages, housing, investments, and wealth does just that,” Hinds said.
The MA legislature is continuing the process of allocating ARPA funds, the Bilateral Infrastructure Law, state surpluses, and more related to recovery funds.
—A.K.
