The Mahaiwe presents multi-Grammy Award-winning jazz musician Paquito D’Rivera
Great Barrington— On Saturday, April 5th at 8 p.m., the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, coordinated in part by the Mahaiwe’s Spanish-language Community Advisory Network, presents multi-Grammy Award-winning jazz musician Paquito D’Rivera.
Jazz Master Paquito D’Rivera brings to life the eclectic fusion of his extensive travels with unparalleled improvisations, multinational rhythms, and original orchestrations. He has won a combined 16 Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards (5 Grammy and 11 Latin Grammys). D’Rivera is celebrated both for his artistry in Latin jazz and his achievements as a classical composer. His numerous recordings include more than 30 solo albums. He was a founding member of the United Nation Orchestra, a 15-piece ensemble organized by Dizzy Gillespie to showcase the fusion of Latin and Caribbean influences with jazz. D’Rivera continues to appear as guest conductor. United Nation Orchestra won a Grammy in 1991, the same year D’Rivera received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Carnegie Hall for his contributions to Latin music. D’Rivera’s highly acclaimed ensembles – the Chamber Jazz Ensemble, the Paquito D’Rivera Big Band, and the Paquito D’Rivera Quintet – are in great demand worldwide.
The concert is on Saturday, April 5th at 8 p.m. at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, located at 14 Castle Street in Great Barrington. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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Norman Rockwell Museum will celebrate International Women’s Day with special programs and talks
Stockbridge— On Saturday, March 8th, the Norman Rockwell Museum will celebrate International Women’s Day with special programs and talks highlighting the contributions and stories of remarkable women featured in “Anita Kunz: Original Sisters: Portraits of Tenacity and Courage,” on view through May 26th.
Visitors are invited to participate in an inspiring writing workshop and engaging gallery talks led by renowned scholar and activist Jennifer Browdy, Ph.D. and award-winning illustrator Anita Kunz. Fill the galleries and inspire daughters, mothers, aunties, scientists, artists, sisters, activists, writers, and well, everyone to celebrate the day and enjoy Anita Kunz’s exhibition. It could not be timelier, and Kunz herself will be at the Museum, visiting from Canada.
At 11 a.m., noon, and 1 p.m., there is a spotlight talk, “Original Heroines: Stories of Courageous Women.” Browdy will guide visitors through the lives of extraordinary women portrayed in “Original Sisters” by Anita Kunz. This discussion will explore how a heroine’s journey differs from the traditional male hero’s narrative and celebrate the resilience, courage, and impact of women throughout history and in our current time.
At 2 p.m., there is a writing workshop, “I Stand on Your Shoulders… Letters of Love & Gratitude to the Women Who Inspire Us” led by Browdy and Kunz. Kunz describes her series as “a love story. It’s a thank you to women on whose shoulders I stand.” Following the artist’s lead, participants will write letters of love and gratitude to women who have inspired them, whether historical figures such as those included in the exhibition, or personal “sheroes” who have had a positive impact on their lives. Registration and more information can be found online.
The events take place on Saturday, March 8th at Norman Rockwell Museum, located at 9 Glendale Road in Stockbridge. They are free with museum admission. More information can be found online.
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Mad Rose Gallery presents ‘Three Perspectives in Expressionism,’ works by Ginny Howsam-Friedman, John Lawson, and Mark Harari
Millerton, N.Y.— Opening on March 13th, Mad Rose Gallery presents “Three Perspectives in Expressionism,” an exhibition that brings together the unique yet interconnected visions of three artists, Ginny Howsam-Friedman, John Lawson, and Mark Harari.
Ginny Howsam-Friedman translates the layered complexities of nature into abstract compositions, revealing an interplay of geometry and organic forms. Her work draws from both surface and subterranean landscapes, casting familiar environments in a striking new light. With exhibitions at notable venues such as the Carter Burden Gallery and Pleiades Gallery in New York City, her work continues to challenge perspectives on the natural world.
John Lawson’s Meditations in Movement captures the shifting dynamics of light and migration along the Hudson River and New York Valley. Through a process of layering and erasure, his paintings evoke the rhythmic pulse of nature—migrating birds, spawning fish, and the transient glow of the northern lights—blending expressionism with the meditative quality of living in the moment.
Mark Harari approaches art as an act of place-making, where past and future intersect through fearless imagination. His work is a study in balance—between invention and tradition, the man-made and the natural, the fleeting and the eternal. In his process, experience becomes form, and form becomes a story, inviting viewers into the “glorious in-between” of artistic discovery.
Through distinct approaches to expressionism, each artist explores themes of nature, movement, and place, offering an evocative dialogue between chaos and order, past and present, the seen and the felt, offering a powerful exploration of expressionism, each perspective a unique reflection of movement, memory, and transformation.
The exhibit opens on March 13th at Mad Rose Gallery, located at 5916 North Elm Avenue in Millerton, N.Y. There is an opening reception on Saturday, March 15th at 3 p.m. and an artist talk on Friday, April 18th at 3 p.m. Registration and more information can be found online.
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OLLI Distinguished Speakers Series presents ‘Jazz Diplomacy: America’s Conversation with the World’ with James Ketterer at BCC
Pittsfield— On Tuesday, March 11th at 1 p.m., OLLI Distinguished Speakers Series presents ‘Jazz Diplomacy: America’s Conversation with the World’ with James Ketterer at Berkshire Community College (BCC).
The talk explores the use of one of America’s great cultural creations – jazz – as a diplomatic tool. Starting in the 1950s, jazz was used as a way to counter Soviet propaganda, highlighting the contribution of great musicians like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Dizzy Gillespie. But how did those musicians reconcile their status as global ambassadors of American culture with the challenges of the Civil Rights movement at home?
James Ketterer is Senior Fellow at the Center for Civic Engagement at Bard College in New York state. At Bard, he previously served as Dean of International Studies and Director of the Bard Globalization and International Studies program in New York City. Ketterer also served as Dean of the School of Continuing Education at the American University in Cairo and as Egypt Country Director for AMIDEAST, a large educational NGO represented across the Middle East and North Africa. While in Egypt he worked on several public diplomacy projects with the U.S. Embassy, including cultural exchange programs and jazz diplomacy. He was at the State University of New York for several years, serving as Vice Chancellor for Policy and Planning, Deputy Provost, and Director of the Center for International Development, where he implemented large capacity building projects supported by the US Agency for International Development USAID). These projects worked with parliaments and other institutions in many countries across Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Europe. He has also worked in government, including at the National Security Council, the New York Senate, and the New York Commission on Higher Education.
The talk is on Tuesday, March 11th at 1 p.m., at Berkshire Community College, located at 1350 West Street in Pittsfield. Registration and more information can be found online.
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Berkshire Green Drinks presents ‘A Tale of Two Butterflies,’ a discussion of two rare butterfly species of the Berkshires with Jessica Duffy
Pittsfield— On Wednesday, March 12th at 6 p.m., Berkshire Green Drinks presents “A Tale of Two Butterflies,” a discussion of two rare butterfly species of the Berkshires with Jessica Duffy.
Duffy will discuss two rare butterfly species found in the Berkshires, the Veined White (Pieris napi oleracea) and the West Virginia White (Pieris virginiensis,) reviewing the natural history of the butterflies and discussing the plants they rely on and the pressures they face due to two species of parasitoid wasps, which were released to help combat the invasive Cabbage Butterfly (Pieris rapae.) Additionally, Duffy will talk about the threat that invasive garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) poses to the West Virginia White population by crowding out its native spring host plant and potentially acting as an “egg sink.”
In early spring 2025, Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT) will ask for volunteers to join Jessica Duffy in surveying the study area for these butterflies. The environmental nonprofit will also start organizing volunteer garlic mustard pulls in the study area. This volunteer work will aid Duffy’s research on these two rare butterfly species by monitoring whether butterfly populations change from year to year as they bring down the garlic mustard concentrations from spring pulling.
Jessica Duffy has her Master’s degree in Entomology from UMass-Amherst, where her thesis focused on the Veined White and the West Virginia White butterflies, specifically on threats they face from the two parasitoids mentioned above.
The hybrid event is on Wednesday, March 12th at 6 p.m. at Hot Plate Brewing Company, located at 1 School Street in Pittsfield and on Zoom. The in-person social gathering will begin at 5:15 p.m. It is free and open to everyone with environmental interest. Registration and more information can be found online.
