Ventfort Hall hosts Zoom talk on the women who influenced French fashion
LENOX — Ventfort Hall will present a virtual talk with Elizabeth L. Block, PhD, author of “Dressing Up: The Women Who Influenced French Fashion,” on Friday, May 13 at 3:30 p.m. Learn how wealthy American women as consumers and as influencers helped shape French couture of the late 19th century.
Block is a senior editor in the Publications and Editorial Department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She earned her PhD in art history at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, with a focus on 19th-century U.S. painting. She also holds an MA in American studies from Columbia University, and a BA in English and art history from The George Washington University. “Dressing Up” (2021), published by MIT Press, is the winner of three publication grants, including the Aileen Ribeiro Grant from the Association of Dress Historians.
Tickets to the online talk are $20. Reservations are required.
—A.K.
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Local police departments participating in National Drug Take-back Day
SOUTH COUNTY — The Great Barrington, Egremont, Lee, Lenox, Monterey, Otis, Sheffield and Stockbridge police departments will participate in National Drug Take-back Day on Saturday, April 30.
Substance abuse often starts with the misuse of prescription drugs found in medicine cabinets. Anyone wishing to safely dispose of unused or expired prescription medications may drop these off at the police departments with no questions asked.
—A.K.
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Restore Renew Rejoice campaign to launch Sunday in Stockbridge
STOCKBRIDGE — On Sunday, May 1 at 11:30 a.m., the First Congregational Church of Stockbridge will launch its Restore Renew Rejoice campaign to raise $1,200,000. This kickoff event will be held at the Stockbridge Golf Club, and consist of a light lunch, a short program, and dessert.
The church buildings, which have graced Main Street in Stockbridge since 1739, are in need of many repairs. Church members have voted to contribute $850,000 and the remaining $350,000 will be raised by grants and other contributions. The Town of Stockbridge has also included a substantial amount of money in its Community Preservation Act, to be voted on at the town meeting.
The church, constructed on Mohican Tribe territory, was provided funds for a school house and a home for the Reverend John Sergeant by the provincial government. Over time, Sergeant would preach to the Mohican people in their own language.
—A.K.
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Berkshire Theatre Group seeks young actors for “Once”
PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Theatre Group seeks young actors to audition for the role of Ivanka, for its upcoming production of “Once,” directed by Gregg Edelman. Roles are open to young actors of all ethnicities. Actors should be able to portray a 3- to 4-year-old, and must be fully vaccinated at the time of the audition. Proof of vaccination will be required. Masks must be worn when in the building.
Auditions will be Monday, May 2 at 5:30 p.m. at The Colonial Theatre, 111 South St. in Pittsfield. Auditionees will be required to sing or recite “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” or any line from their favorite song or poem. Rehearsals begin June 7; the show will run July 1–16.
Appointments are necessary to audition. To schedule an audition time slot or for further information, please email: Allison Bayles, administrative director of education, at allison@berkshiretheatre.org
—A.K.
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Simon’s Rock Professor Peter Filkins awarded Guggenheim, Fulbright
GREAT BARRINGTON — Peter Filkins, Richard B. Fisher Professor of Literature at Bard College at Simon’s Rock, has been awarded a 2022–2023 Guggenheim Fellowship in Biography and a Spring 2023 Fulbright IFK Senior Fellowship in Cultural Studies in support of his writing a biography of Ingeborg Bachmann (1926–1973), one of the most important Austrian writers and poets of the 20th century. Nearly 40 years after Filkins was awarded a student Fulbright to translate Bachmann’s poems, he will return to do research in her archive at the National Library in Vienna, Austria.
Over the course of the next academic year, Filkins will spend seven months in Vienna, part of which he will spend in residence at the IFK International Research Center for Cultural Studies. The focus of his research will be on Bachmann’s unpublished writings and correspondence. At the conclusion of his residency, and as part of the Fulbright, Filkins will deliver a lecture about translating archival materials into a written text, such as a biography.
Filkins’ biography of Ingeborg Bachmann will be published by Yale University Press. He plans to complete it in time for Bachmann’s centenary, in 2026. In 2007, Filkins published a bi-lingual translation of Bachmann’s collected poems, “Darkness Spoken,” which remains the most complete edition of her poems available in English or German. He is also the author of the 2019 biography “H.G. Adler: A Life in Many Worlds.”
—A.K.
