CATA exhibit at No. Six Depot
West Stockbridge — Community Access to the Arts (CATA) is the featured exhibitor in the No. Six Depot Roastery and Café gallery through November 30. An informal “Meet the Artist” event will take place on Monday, November 23 at 10:30 a.m.
The exhibit includes framed paintings, drawings, and pastels created by artists with disabilities in CATA visual arts workshops throughout the year. All artwork is for sale, with CATA artists earning 50 percent commission on work sold.
Executive Director Margaret Keller said, “Shining a light on the artistry of people with disabilities is key to CATA’s mission. We are thrilled to partner with No. Six Depot, and we look forward to sharing the powerful work of our artists with the larger community.” CATA provides hundreds of visual arts workshops to people with disabilities across Berkshire County, in addition to workshops in other genres including dance, theater, yoga, creative writing, and juggling.
–E.E.
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Comedians to host screening of The Found Footage Festival
Pittsfield — The Found Footage Festival, the acclaimed touring showcase of odd and hilarious found videos, will bring its new show to the Berkshires. Host Nick Prueher will show off the special “Salute to Weirdos” program in a one-night-only appearance on Saturday, November 21 at 8 p.m. at the Berkshire Museum’s Little Cinema.
The Found Footage Festival is a one-of-a-kind event showcasing videos found at garage sales and thrift stores and in warehouses and dumpsters throughout North America. Curators Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher take audiences on a guided tour of their latest and greatest VHS finds, providing live commentary and where-are-they-now updates on the people in these videotaped obscurities. From the curiously-produced industrial training video to the forsaken home movie donated to Goodwill, The Found Footage Festival resurrects these forgotten treasures and serves them up in a lively celebration of all things found.
Tickets to The Found Footage Festival are $10. Refreshments from Wandering Star Brewery will be available beginning at 7 p.m. Contact the Berkshire Museum for more information at (413) 443-7171.
–E.E.
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Thanksgiving at the Mahaiwe: Arlo Guthrie, ‘The Wizard of Oz’
Great Barrington — The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center and the Guthrie Center will co-present an on-stage conversation with Arlo Guthrie, moderated by WAMC’s Alan Chartock, on Wednesday, November 25 at 7 p.m. followed by a screening of Arthur Penn’s “Alice’s Restaurant (1969).”
This year marks the 50th reunion of that fateful Thanksgiving Day in 1965 when Arlo Guthrie, then age 18, drove to the Berkshires to have Thanksgiving dinner with friends Alice and Ray Brock at their Great Barrington home in the Trinity Church on Division Street. The Trinity Church is where the song “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” began and where the movie “Alice’s Restaurant” was filmed. It continues to serve the local and international community as the home to the Guthrie Center and the Guthrie Foundation.
The Mahaiwe will also present its annual Thanksgiving weekend screenings of “The Wizard of Oz (1939)” on Saturday, November 28 at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.The Mahaiwe’s Thanksgiving tradition of screening “The Wizard of Oz” stretches back 35 years.
The Mahaiwe is partnering with the People’s Pantry and the Berkshire Community Diaper Project to help provide for families in need this holiday season, including accepting pet food donations. From now until the end of the year, donation boxes will be available in the lobby between the hours of noon and 6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Non-perishable food items as well as paper/cleaning products and disposable diapers can be dropped off.
Tickets to Arlo Guthrie’s conversation with Alan Chartock and the screening of “Alice’s Restaurant” are $10. Please note that Arlo Guthrie will not be performing and that the event is not a concert. Tickets to “The Wizard of Oz” are $7. Contact the Mahaiwe box office for more information at (413) 528-0100.
–E.E.
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Soldier On executives to offer information session
Pittsfield — On Monday, November 23 at 10:45 a.m., the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires’ Connecting With Community program will host local representatives of Soldier On, a provider of comprehensive services and permanent affordable housing for homeless and at-risk veterans in five states. The free program will take place at Congregation Knesset Israel.
With housing in Leeds, Mass., and Pittsfield, Soldier On provides emergency and transitional housing to 250 veterans, as well as case management, mental health treatment, addiction counseling, transportation, and other assistance. On hand to explain the group’s mission will be Chief Executive Officer John F. Downing, Community Life Manager Michael McMahon, and director of Soldier On’s women’s program Sara Scoco.
For more information, please call the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires at (413) 442-4360 x10.
–E.E.
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Thanksgiving meal for LGBTQ seniors
Pittsfield — Elder Services of Berkshire County and Out and About in Berkshire County will present a Thanksgiving meal for LGBTQ seniors at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Tuesday, November 24 at 12:30 p.m.
The event will feature a traditional Thanksgiving meal. There is a suggested donation of $2 for seniors and $7 for those under age 60. All donations are discretionary and no senior will be denied a meal if a donation is not made.
Seating is limited and an RSVP is required. Call Mark Amero at (413) 236-1726 with questions or to reserve a space.
–E.E.
