September First Fridays Artswalk in Pittsfield
Pittsfield — The September 4th First Fridays Artswalk will encompass 17 different art shows featuring work by more than 25 regional and international artists in Pittsfield’s Upstreet Cultural District. The Artswalk will kick off with opening receptions from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. There will be a guided walking tour beginning at 5 p.m. at the Intermodal Center at BRTA. The evening will culminate with an Afterwalk dance party from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Whitney Center for the Arts.
The “Who Am I?” art exhibition celebrating the work and artistry of Lift Ev’ry Voice’s Project eLEVate participants will be on display at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts. Home Instead Senior Care will host “Memories in the Making,” featuring 20 Berkshire artists living with dementia and residing in assisted living communities and nursing homes. “Memories in the Making” is an art program of the Alzheimer’s Association designed to give individuals living with dementia a creative outlet and a unique way for self-expression. Bagels Too will host a show in support of the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes theme of the upcoming Third Thursday. Artists include Roselle Chartock, Phillip Pryjma, Wendy Rabinowitz, Rosemary Starace, and 17 girls from the graduating class of Morris Elementary School in Lenox. New shows from local artists will also be displayed at the Marketplace Café, Berkshire Medical Center, Dottie’s Coffee Lounge, the Berkshire Museum, Unusual Wedding Rings & More, Berkshire Paint and Sip, Steven Valenti’s Clothing for Men, Deidre’s Special Day, Shire City Sanctuary, The Kinderhook Group Real Estate, and the Whitney Center for the Arts.
First Fridays Artswalk is presented by Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. Most art exhibits are on display in participating venues throughout the month. For more information on First Fridays Artswalk, call (413) 443-6501.
–E.E.
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Women architects Tea & Talk at Ventfort Hall
Lenox — “A Girl is a Fellow Here: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Women Architects” is the title of a talk that covers two films and background material by architect and philanthropist Beverly Willis on Tuesday, September 1 at 4 p.m. to be presented at Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum and followed by a Victorian tea.
At a time when women architects could find little work, Wright unhesitatingly employed women, providing them with both training and practice. Ultimately, more than 100 women architects, designers, and artisans worked with Wright, creating foundations for remarkable careers of their own.
Upon graduation from the University of Hawaii, Beverly Willis founded the Willis Atelier in Waikiki for mural and fresco painting. In 1958, she opened Beverly Willis Architects in San Francisco with retail stores among the first clients. Willis and her firm have been recipients of many awards and honors and her philanthropic efforts include her work as a founding trustee of the National Building Museum; creating the Architecture Institute in New York; co-founding R.Dot (Rebuild Downtown Our Town), which developed after the destruction of the World Trade Center on 9/11; and establishing the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation.
Tickets for the Tea & Talk are $22 for advance reservations and $27 on the day of the event. Reservations are recommended as seating is limited. For more information or reservations, call Ventfort Hall at (413) 637-3206 or email info@gildedage.org.
–E.E.
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Artful Hike at Olana with musician David Rothenberg
Hudson, N.Y. — On September 5 (rain date September 6) at 4 p.m., the Olana Partnership will host musician, composer, and philosopher-naturalist David Rothenberg on on Artful Hike through Olana. The hike will begin at the Wagon House Education Center and go to the top of Crown Hill and back (about 1.5 miles of easy, gentle walking appropriate for all ages). There will be rests along the way and crisp apples and ice water at the end.
Artful Hikes is a new program at Olana designed to move artists into the landscape as actors and interpreters. David Rothenberg is the author of Why Birds Sing: A Journey into the Mystery of Birdsong, which has been published in England, Italy, Spain, Taiwan, China, Korea, and Germany, and has been turned into a CD and a feature-length BBC TV documentary. He was also the editor of the MIT Press journal Terra Nova: Nature and Culture, and his articles have appeared in such publications as The Nation, The New York Times, Kyoto Journal, and Wired. As a trained clarinetist, he has performed and recorded with a variety of artists, including Peter Gabriel, Hamid Drake, and Marilyn Crispell, and has released seven CDs under his own name.
The cost of the hike is $10. More information and tickets are available at the Berkshire Edge calendar and by calling Olana education director Amy Hufnagel at (518) 828-1872.
–E.E.
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Maintaining healthy eating habits
Pittsfield — On Thursday, September 3, at 10:45 a.m., nutritionist Deb Phillips will speak about maintaining healthy eating habits. Focusing on summer in the Berkshires, Phillips will show how local residents are fortunate to have opportunities to eat locally, support sustainable agriculture, and to buy foods from local farm markets that are situated throughout the county. The lecture at Congregation Knesset Israel is part of the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires’ Connecting With Community series.
Deb Phillips is a licensed dietetic nutritionist and certified health education specialist. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Nutrition from Cornell University and a master’s degree from Russell Sage College. She has additional training in functional and integrative medicine through the Institute for Functional Medicine.
For more information, call the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires at (413) 442-4360 x10.
–E.E.
