Hevreh to offer rides to the polls
Great Barrington — Hevreh of Southern Berkshire will offer free rides to the polls on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8, for those who want to vote but cannot get to their polling stations.
As a Reform congregation, Hevreh is participating in a campaign called “Nitzavim: Standing Up for Voter Protection and Participation,” part of a non-partisan voting rights initiative coordinated by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. For more information or to arrange to be picked up, driven to the polls, and then returned home, contact Rabbi Neil Hirsch at (413) 645-3153 or nhirsch@hevreh.org.
–E.E.
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Francesca Shanks CD release show
North Adams — Ukulele indie rocker Francesca Shanks’ newest album, “I Am Walking Away,” was released on Sound and Tones Records on Friday, Nov. 4. Sounds and Tones will hold a CD release performance with Shanks and special guests Frank McGinnis and Tyler Gomo on Saturday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m. at Press Gallery, 49 Main St.
Shanks is fond of songs that zoom in and out on a moment. Her songs are short and lyrically dense but layered in a way that nods to artists like Brian Wilson, the Zombies, and 1970s power pop. Shanks worked with producer Lance Monotone on the record, spending a year driving to his Troy, New York, studio on Sundays. The album includes delicately assembled accompaniment and 1960s- and 70s-inspired tunes that circle around themes of nature, death, leaving, loneliness, God and time.
There is a $5 suggested donation for admission to the concert. For more information, contact Sounds and Tones at soundsandtones@gmail.com.
–E.E.
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LAB 102 to open at Berkshire Museum
Pittsfield — On Tuesday, Nov. 8, Berkshire Museum will launch LAB 102, a space dedicated to community engagement and programs that promote curiosity, innovation and invention.
According to Craig Langlois, Berkshire Museum’s chief experience officer, much of the new programming planned for LAB 102 was inspired by Spark!Lab, a temporary exhibition that was developed at the Smithsonian Institution by the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the National Museum of American History. Some of the rotating and changing experiences planned for LAB 102 include a number of self-directed creative play opportunities, an over-sized “exquisite corpse”-style iterative drawing project, a number of science-based activities, and collaborative art-making projects using found objects and recycled materials.
LAB 102 will combine the space previously devoted to Spark!Lab and the adjacent area used for community engagement and the presentation of the Museum’s BerkshireNow series that showcases the work of area creatives.
–E.E.
