Chesterwood to host ‘Lincoln Speaks’
Stockbridge — Art and history as recalled in the public oratory and private thoughts of Abraham Lincoln will come alive at Chesterwood on Wednesday, Aug. 9, at 5 p.m. with the return of “Lincoln Speaks,” a program of dramatic readings held alongside Daniel Chester French’s six-foot-high plaster model of the seated figure of Abraham Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial.
Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer, who wrote the program’s script, will serve as moderator. The program features readings by actors including two-time Tony Award nominee Jayne Atkinson, Michel Gill, Shakespeare & Company founding artistic director Tina Packer, Shakespeare & Company director of training Dennis Krausnick and Chris Tucci, who will recite the 16th president’s least- and best-known private and public words about love, life and the country he worked to unite. The performance will also include several surprise guests. Performers will recreate portions of Lincoln’s ever-timely speeches such as the “new birth of freedom” Gettysburg Address, the “malice toward none” second inaugural speech, the “right makes might” Cooper Union Address and the still timely warning from his 1858 announcement for the U.S. Senate: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Lincoln will be also be heard in words from a rare surviving letter to his wife, Mary, who had left Washington during her husband’s brief Congressional term after failing to adjust to life in a crowded Washington boarding house.
Tickets are $40 for Chesterwood members and $50 for nonmembers. The program will be followed by a wine and cheese reception on the studio piazza. Seating is limited. For reservations, contact Lisa Reynolds at (413) 298-2034 or lreynolds@savingplaces.org.
–E.E.
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OLLI to present University Day
Pittsfield — The subject of difference will be explored by a professor, an attorney and an artist on Wednesday, Aug. 9, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Berkshire Community College when the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College presents University Day.
Williams College professor Charles Dew is an expert in slavery, the Civil War and Reconstruction and his talk will center around his recent memoir, “The Making of a Racist: A Southerner Reflects on Family, History, and the Slave Trade.” He will be joined by attorney and advocate Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, and artist and former journalist Setsuko Winchester, the founder of the Freedom from Fear/Yellow Bowl Project currently on view at the Mount in Lenox.
Registration is $40 for OLLI members and $55 for nonmembers of the public, and includes lunch. For more information or to register, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact OLLI at (413) 236-2190 or olli@berkshirecc.edu.
–E.E.
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Author Bob Reiss to speak at Lee Library
Lee — On Monday, Aug. 7, at 6:30 p.m., the Lee Library will host author Bob Reiss for a talk and signing of his new book, “Vector.”
“Vector” is the fourth novel in the series written by best-selling local author Bob Reiss under the pen name of James Abel and starring former Marine bio-terror expert Joe Rush. The story takes place in the Amazon rainforest and the U.S. and, like the other novels in the series, is based on Reiss’ experiences covering remote areas of the earth as a journalist. Reiss will discuss how the novel came together as well as how to use fact to create fiction. A question-and-answer session and book signing will follow the talk and several of Reiss’ books will be available for sale.
For more information, contact the Lee Library at (413) 243-0385 or lee@cwmars.org.
–E.E.
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Spencertown Academy calls for art for annual juried show
Spencertown, N.Y. — Spencertown Academy Arts Center has announced a call for area artists’ submissions to its annual juried arts show, which will run Saturday, Oct. 7, through Sunday, Oct. 22. The theme of the exhibition is “Inspiration and Influences” and the entry deadline is Sunday, Aug. 20. This year’s guest juror is Lauren Clark, a partner in the Housatonic, Massachusetts-based Tokonoma Gallery from 1992 to 2006 and currently the owner of Lauren Clark Fine Art in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Clark will curate the show and bestow first, second and honorable mention places before the opening.
Up to four images may be submitted. Work created in the last three years is preferred. The artworks will be for sale, with a portion of the proceeds benefitting the academy. The entry fee is $35 for academy members and $45 for nonmembers. Online submission guidelines are available. For more information, contact art@spencertownacademy.org.
–E.E.
