Berkshire Museum presents BerkshireNow: Stephen Dietemann
Pittsfield – Through Sunday, May 22, the BerkshireNow gallery space at the Berkshire Museum features an innovative exhibition of the work of architect Stephen Dietemann along with that of Jonathan Hankin, Peter Peirce, and Paul Puiia, three photographers who have documented his work as an architect. A reception and panel discussion will be held on Friday, May 6, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., in conjunction with Pittsfield’s First Fridays Artswalk, when the Museum’s BerkshireNow gallery will be open to the public at no cost.
Stephen Gerard Dietemann, AiA, NCARB, graduated from the Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning in 1976. He settled in the Berkshires in 1996 and started his own architecture practice in 2002. He limited his architectural practice to residential design and construction, focusing on small, energy-conscious, sustainable contemporary houses, with an emphasis on designs for difficult sites. His residential work has been cited for design excellence by the American Institute of Architects and his work and architectural writings have been presented on HGTV and in the New York Times, the Artful Mind, Berkshire Living, Berkshire Magazine, the Berkshire Edge and other publications and media outlets. He has served on the planning board and the design advisory committee in Great Barrington, and presents his work each year through Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.
Jonathan Hankin has a B.A. in English from Yale University and did graduate study in architecture at University of California, Los Angeles. He is a licensed architect as well as a licensed real estate broker and served as a photographer in the Peace Corps in Togo, West Africa. His architectural projects include the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. His photographs have appeared in several local publications as well as the New York Times Lens blog.
Peter Peirce held positions as medical photographer at Rockefeller University, Cornell University, and the New York University School of Medicine through the 1980s and 1990s, and began working with some of the country’s preeminent architectural photographers during that time. His work has appeared in Architectural Digest and Elle Decor, among others, and can be seen on the websites of many hotels.
Paul Puiia’s work explores the urban landscape, and strives to reveal the relationship between the viewer and the built environment. Puiia’s work has been exhibited across the United States and he is a 2015 recipient of a Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship.
For more information, call the Museum at (413) 443-7171.
–E.E.
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Fine Arts Quartet to perform at Hotchkiss School
Lakeville, Conn. — To conclude the 10th anniversary season celebrating the completion of its Esther Eastman Music Center, the Hotchkiss School will present the Fine Arts Quartet with pianists Fabio and Gisele Witkowski on Saturday, May 7, at 7 p.m. in the Center’s Katherine M. Elfers Hall. The all-Brahms program will feature two of the composer’s most beloved chamber works: the Piano Quartet in C minor, op. 60, and the Piano Quintet in F minor, op. 34.
Founded in Chicago in 1946, the Fine Arts Quartet has recorded over 200 works and toured throughout the world. The 33-year membership of violinists Ralph Evans and Efim Boico has created a unity of violin sound. Cellist Robert Cohen brought his musical passion to the group three years ago, followed shortly thereafter by violist Juan-Miguel Hernandez.
Pianists and educators Fabio and Gisele Witkowski are admired for their four-hands and two-piano performances. They have performed in recitals and as chamber players all over the world and both teach at Hotchkiss, where Fabio heads the visual and performing arts department and is director of the music program.
For more information, call (860) 435-4423.
–E.E.
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Poet Richard Blanco to speak at BCC
Pittsfield – On Thursday, May 5, from 12:15 p.m. – 2 p.m., Berkshire Community College (BCC) will host poet and author Richard Blanco in a reading and discussion entitled “Becoming an American: An Inaugural Poet’s Journey” in the Robert Boland Theatre. The event is free and open to the public.
Blanco is the fifth inaugural poet in U.S. history, as well as the youngest and first Latino, immigrant, and gay person to serve in the role. Born in Madrid to Cuban exiled parents and raised in Miami, the negotiation of cultural identity and place characterize his body of work.
The event is the final one in BCC’s “Latino Americans: 500 Years of History” series.
–E.E.
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Junior firefighting academy
Lanesborough — The Lanesborough Volunteer Fire Department will host a Junior Firefighter Academy on Saturday, May 7, at the Lanesborough Fire Station, 180 S. Main St., to prepare the next generation of first responders. The full day of firefighting activities, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., is designed to excite and empower Junior Firefighters and Fire Explorers by providing opportunities to learn about local fire, rescue, and emergency medical services in a safe, controlled, educational, and fun way.
In partnership with the Massachusetts Call Volunteer Firefighter Association and the Berkshire County Fire Chiefs Association, the Fire Department has planned an extensive schedule of events. Teens will participate at hands-on stations that will include information and activities related to vehicle extrication, helicopters, technical rescue crews, an air pack maze with the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy air pack trailer, the Adams Fire Department ladder truck, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation’s forest fire work, and rural water evolution.
For more information, contact Deputy Fire Chief Butch Garrity at (413) 684-4405 or butchgarrity@gmail.com.
–E.E.
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Congregation Ahavath Sholom to host tribute to Jewish American music
Great Barrington — The story of a family’s effort to recover long-lost Jewish children’s and liturgical music by the composer of “I Have a Little Dreidel” will be told in words, music, and images on Friday, May 6 at 5:30 p.m. at Congregation Ahavath Sholom. The event is free and the public is welcome.
Following a brief Shabbat service, the one-hour program will consist of a talk and multimedia presentation and discussion with Dr. Tamar Gordon of Great Barrington, who is the granddaughter of the song’s composer, and her father, Dr. Myron Gordon, who, at age 95, recently executive-produced “Dreidel I Shall Play,” a 16-song album of tunes composed in the 1920s by his father, Samuel E. Goldfarb. Produced in Los Angeles by Craig Taubman, the album is dedicated to the memory of singer and activist Theodore Bikel. Other performers on the album include Neshama Carlebach, Rick Recht, Laurence Juber, Rena Strober, and others.
For more information, contact Congregation Ahavath Sholom at (413) 528-4197 or info@ahavathsholom.com.
–E.E.
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Boys & Girls Club to hold 5K race
Richmond — The Boys & Girls Club of the Berkshires’ recreational therapy program will hold its inaugural “Run for Success” 5K race at Camp Russell on Boys’ Club Road on Saturday, May 7, at 10 a.m.
The Berkshire Running Center will sponsor and coordinate the event, which will start at Camp Russell and finish at Richmond Pond. Online registration is available; paper registration forms are available at the Boys & Girls Club and should be mailed to Race Coordinator and Planner John Bassi, 39 Allen St., Pittsfield, MA 01201.
Donations and funds raised from sponsors will support existing programs for students with special needs and be used to start new programming. Individuals and businesses who would like to be sponsors or make a donation should contact Jim Mazzer at (413) 446-6465. Those wishing to sponsor a runner should call Nathan Backer at (413) 822-0649.
–E.E.
