CATA’S annual art show opens in Pittsfield and Williamstown
PITTSFIELD & WILLIAMSTOWN – Community Access to the Arts (CATA) presents its annual art show, I Am a Part of Art, featuring a vibrant collection of paintings, drawings, and sculptures by more than 150 artists with disabilities. The exhibit takes place in partnership with the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA, and the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts in Pittsfield, MA.
This annual exhibition is the culmination of hundreds of visual arts workshops that CATA holds throughout the year for teens, adults, and elders with disabilities across Berkshire County, Massachusetts and Columbia County, New York. Through these year-round workshops, CATA artists with disabilities grow creatively, learn new techniques, and build community. Works in the exhibit are professionally matted and framed, and all pieces are available for sale, with proceeds providing commissions to the individual artists.
CATA’s exhibit at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts runs from July 1-28. A free opening celebration will be held on Wednesday, July 13 from 5-7 p.m. with many of the artists in attendance.
CATA’s exhibit at the Clark Art Institute’s Lunder Center at Stone Hill runs from July 2 through September 5. A free “Meet the Artists” and Community Art Making event will be held on Wednesday, July 20 from 1-4 p.m. with CATA artists in attendance. Art supplies will be available for visitors to create their own work of art inspired by the exhibit. Admission to both galleries is free.
— A.J.
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Golf tournament to benefit Roe Jan Library
COPAKE, N.Y. – The annual Roeliff Jansen Community Library Benefit Golf Tournament will be held Sunday July 17 at Undermountain Golf Course in Copake, N.Y. Two-person teams will compete in a dual shotgun, 18-hole scramble, with the top prize being a round of golf for four at Copake Country Club. Entry forms must be received by July 10.
Prizes will be given for men’s, women’s, and mixed teams, and for closest-to-the-pin. Those not playing in the tournament can still participate in the putting contest any time during the day, for a donation of $5.
The entry fee of $85 per person, or $70 for Undermountain members, includes 18 holes of golf, homemade breakfast goodies, snacks, and a chicken BBQ after the tournament. Non-golfers may attend the BBQ for $25. Carts are available for $10 per person and must be booked in advance. A portion of every entry fee will be donated to the operating fund for the Roe Jan Community Library.
Entry forms for the tournament are available on the Roe Jan Library website, at the library, and at the course. On the 24th, golfers should register at 8 a.m. for the 8:30 a.m. tee off. For more information contact Undermountain Golf Course at (518) 329-4444.
— A.J.
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Two Barrington Stage Company shows open in July
PITTSFIELD – Barrington Stage Company (BSC) will stage Nilo Cruz’s 2003 Pulitzer Prize-winning play Anna in the Tropics on the Boyd-Quinson Stage July 16-30, and the world premiere of ABCD by May Treuhaft-Ali, on the St. Germain Stage July 1-23.
Anna in the Tropics will feature multiple Broadway alums including Tony Award winner Wilson Jermaine Heredia as Paloma/Eliades.
In the play, set in 1929, a handsome lector arrives at one of the last Cuban cigar factories in Tampa. The lector intends to entertain the workers while they hand-roll cigars. But when the lector begins reading Anna Karenina, the passionate, frustrated lives of the characters in the book begin to parallel those of the listeners, leading to jealousy, betrayal and sexual awakening.
Cuban American playwright Nilo Cruz was the first Latino to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for this wonderfully sensual and evocative play. The BSC production is directed by Elena Araoz (Havana Music Hall, The Manic Monologues).
ABCD will features actors with Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Shakespeare in the Park credits. It tells the story of two very different public schools in the same city — an underserved school on the verge of shutdown, and an elite magnet program nearby. Both are pressured to perform well on standardized tests, driving students and teachers to compromise their integrity.
This new play from May Treuhaft-Ali (Associate Director for Atlantic Theater Company’s SHHHH) is a brutal dissection of the inequities in our public school system. When the joys and challenges of learning are reduced to a multiple-choice test, is cheating the only option?
The Boyd-Quinson Stage season also includes the 1978 Tony Award-winning Best Musical, Ain’t Misbehavin’, The Fats Waller Musical Show (now-July 9); Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s exquisite 1973 Tony Award-winning musical, A Little Night Music (August 6-28); and the world premiere of the Burman New Play Award-winner All of Me (September 21-October 9), a new play by Laura Winters.
At the Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center, the St. Germain Stage season also includes the world premiere of Andy Warhol in Iran (now-June 25); the world premiere staging of the new Youth Theatre musical The Supadupa Kid (July 29-August 13), based on local Pittsfield author Ty Allan Jackson’s popular children’s book series; and a revival of Waiting for Godot (August 19-September 4).
Pricing for the 2022 summer season is $25–85 for the Boyd-Quinson Stage and $25–59 for the St. Germain Stage. Preview performance tickets for musicals are $45 and all other previews are $35. Passes are for 3+ shows in BSC’s 2022 season — pick any show, any theatre, any time, matinee or evening, and save up to 29% off of single ticket pricing. Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased by calling 413-236-8888 or visiting barringtonstageco.org/Tickets.
— A.J.
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Future Lab(s) Gallery opens in North Adams
NORTH ADAMS – Future Lab(s) Gallery is joining the burgeoning gallery scene of downtown North Adams, and will open on July 1. The gallery is focused on contemporary art both from local and national artists and is the brainchild of three recent transplants to North Adams.
Future Lab(s) Gallery occupies a gorgeous large space at 43 Eagle Street. The first exhibition is a group show, running from July 1-30. There will be a reception on July 1 from 6-8 p.m. As part of North Adams First Fridays, the gallery will host a reception on July 1 from 6-8 p.m. A Grand Opening reception will be held on July 2 from 6-8 pm. In addition, there will be an Artist Fiesta on July 16 from 7-9 p.m. as part of the Eagle Street Beach Party, and a closing reception on July 30 from 6-8 p.m. All events are free and open to the public.
The owners, Sonia Domkarova, Bo Petran, and Anna Salmeron are all long-time artists fulfilling a lifelong dream to run their own artist-centered art space. Anna and Bo are founding members of East Boston’s Atlantic Works Gallery, an artist-run gallery showcasing artists from New England and beyond. They are also the driving force behind The Biennial Project, a conceptual art project which has organized large events at venues including the Venice Biennale and the Whitney Biennial.
This opening show will show the work of more than 20 artists, more than half of whom live and work in the North Adams area. Exhibiting artists will include Stephanie Arnett, Justin Augspurg, Richard Criddle, Sonia Domkarova, Leni Fried, Marjorie Kaye, Henry Kunkel, Nate Massari, Dawn Nelson, Bo Petran, Carolina Porras Monroy, Anna Salmeron, Jess Stambaugh, Kelly Slater, Michael St.Germain, Stefanie St.Germain, Ivan Stojakovic, Carissa Toomey, Eric Wallen, and XBonnie Woods.
Gallery hours are Fridays 4-8 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays 12-6 p.m. For more information, contact Anna Salmeron at futurelabsgallery@gmail.com, or 617-913-1871.
— A.J.
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The WPA in the Berkshires exhibit opens
PITTSFIELD – A new exhibit at the Berkshire County Historical Society will examine the history of the Works Progress Administration (1935-1943), the largest of President Roosevelt’s New Deal programs. The WPA in the Berkshires examines the impact these programs had on Berkshire residents and the ways in which they shaped the county we know today. The exhibit will run from July 2 – October 31.
The exhibit will look primarily at the Federal One projects (the Federal Art, Music, Theater, and Writer’s Projects, and the Historical Records Survey), along with adjacent New Deal programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Historic American Building Survey. Photographs, documents, and objects from the collection of the Berkshire County Historical Society will illustrate the rich history of these programs.
The exhibit is free, and visitors are welcome Thursdays through Mondays 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
— A.J.
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Berkshire Theatre Group presents sensory-friendly performances
PITTSFIELD – Berkshire Theatre Group (BTG) has expanded sensory-friendly programming and will offer a sensory-friendly performance for many of its summer season shows.
A “sensory-friendly” performance is a production that is slightly modified to accommodate individuals with sensory-input disorders, such as people on the autism spectrum. At a sensory-friendly performance, the “house rules” are relaxed. People are invited to get up, move around, and leave the theatre during the performance; theatre lighting will remain at half for the duration of the performance; and sound may be modified. The goal is to create an environment where people with sensory needs, along with their families, can enjoy coming to the theatre together. BTG hopes their audience will feel comfortable, supported. and free to be themselves.
The sensory-friendly performance dates are:
- B.R.O.K.E.N code B.I.R.D switching: Tuesday, July 5 at 7 p.m.
- Once: Tuesday, July 12 at 7 p.m.
- Songs For a New World: Tuesday, August 2 at 7 p.m.
- Edward Albee’s Seascape: Thursday, October 13 at 7 p.m.
Tickets for all of BTG’s summer season productions are on sale now. To purchase tickets, visit www.BerkshireTheatreGroup.org or contact the Colonial Ticket Office by calling 413-997-4444.
— A.J.
