The Guild of Berkshire Artists opens new show at Colonial Theatre
Pittsfield— On Sunday May 21st from 12:45 to 2 p.m., the Guild of Berkshire Artists (GBA) hosts the opening reception of “The Colonial Theatre Lobby Art Exhibit by Guild of Berkshire Artists 2022”. Following the opening reception, the exhibit is on view Tuesdays through Sundays noon to 5 p.m. through July 9 in the beautiful lobby of the historic Colonial Theatre.
The Guild of Berkshire Artists (GBA) curates art exhibitions for the lobby of Berkshire Theatre Group’s historic Colonial Theatre in South Street in Pittsfield. The Guild of Berkshire Artists chose from over 85 submissions of artwork for this exhibit. Final selections consisted of ten works by seven artists. Media include acrylics, watercolors, mixed media, quilled paper, photography and pastel, and styles range from realistic to the abstract. The lobby exhibit showcases the artistic strength and stylistic diversity of the submissions.
Featured work for this includes the playful imagery of artist Paul Graubard, whose four-foot long painting, “The Wedding”, shows dancers. In stark contrast, Leslie Alfin’s large-scale, dynamic abstract mixed media, “Controlled Burn”, includes google images and bright colors and shapes exploding out of a square. Four images in the exhibit by Thaddeus B. Kubis celebrate the texture and patina of old rusted cars. A complex and colorful quilt by Joan Rooks uses the unusual media of quilled paper. Representational artist, Mark Morgenstein, transforms a well-known railroad bridge in Housatonic to an exquisite study of subtle color in watercolor. Carolyn Newberger uses pastel on toned paper to record another iconic vision of the bounty of the Berkshires: pianist Paul Lewis playing at Tanglewood. A soft and subtle representation of a face by Pattie Lipman uses ink on paper to make a monotype.
The reception is Sunday May 21st from 12:45 to 2 p.m. in the lobby of the Colonial Theater on South Street in Pittsfield. A portion of each sale will support the education efforts of both Berkshire Theatre Group and the Guild of Berkshire Artists. For more information, visit the Guild of Berkshire Artists online.
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Berkshire Immigrant Center’s ‘One World Celebration’
Pittsfield— On Sunday, June 4th at 5:30 p.m., the Berkshire Immigrant Center presents its fourth annual One World Celebration.
The live event returns to Shakespeare & Company in Lenox with a headline performance by the much-loved Wanda Houston Band.
Acclaimed performers Jason Ennis and Natalia Bernal will open the event with songs for voice and guitar. UK native and Berkshire resident James Warwick returns as Master of Ceremonies, with State Representative William “Smitty” Pignatelli as the guest auctioneer for the paddle raise.
The seated event is on Sunday, June 4th at 5:30 p.m. in the outdoor tented area adjacent to the Tina Packer Playhouse on Kemble Street in Lenox. The evening will include complimentary wine donated by Domaney’s Liquors and Fine Wines, and beer donated by Hot Plate Brewing. Tickets also include heavy hors d’oeuvres by KJ Nosh. We are proud to work with Only In My Dreams Events, a local immigrant-owned business, as planners.
Tickets are $100 per person, with sponsorship opportunities also available. All proceeds benefit the life-changing legal and educational services that Berkshire Immigrant Center offers to all members of the region’s immigrant community. For details and tickets, please visit Berkshire Immigrant Center online.
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Lenox Wine Fête in Downtown Lenox
Lenox— On Saturday June 3rd from noon to 4 p.m., the inaugural Lenox Wine Fête will be held at Pizzeria Boema in Lenox. There is a VIP tasting by invitation from 11 a.m. to noon.
The event is to introduce small winemakers who are true to the craft of winemaking to wine lovers. Many of the wines are produced sustainably with the aim to be kind to the earth in their vinification process outside of the large manufacturing machine. These are big wines made by small vintners but with all of the attributes of mainstream wines.
Lenox Wine Fête is a collaboration with Jenn Nacht of JNight Events and Mary and Ben Daire, owners of Dare Bottleshop and Provisions. Jenn and Mary met when they were both working as importer/distributors of natural French wines. They both fell in love with the wines they discovered and in their respective new enterprises want to continue to support small winemakers by introducing them to other wine lovers.
Of the Fête, Nacht says, “In a place where farm to table is a driving philosophy, having a local wine festival to introduce wines that are also produced in earnest seems like a perfect addition to Lenox events. The wines we are featuring are from small winemakers who are dedicated to making wines that are good to the earth and great tasting.”
Some of the vintners who will be offering samples include: La Garagista, RAS Wines, dear native grapes (sp), Glendale Ridge Winery. In addition, there will be importer representation for wines of Georgia, fine Bordeaux and Burgundy estates and independent Italian estates.
Special guests include Katherine Clary, editor of “The Wine Zine” and Valarie Kathawala, author of “Wine, Unfiltered: Buying, Drinking, and Sharing Natural”. A full list of participants with the wines they will be sampling can be found on the website.
Food will be available for purchase and will be offered by Pizzeria Boema and Frankie’s Ristorante, and specialty food vendors such as East Dennis Oyster Farm and Jacuterie, who will be serving oysters and sausage sandwiches.
The fête is on Saturday June 3rd from noon to 4 p.m. at Pizzeria Boema on Main Street in Lenox. Tickets are $75 per person or $85 per person at the door. For tickets and more information, visit Lenox Wine Fête online. Tickets are limited and advanced ticket purchasing is encouraged.
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Becket Arts Center host reception for artist Susan Gail
Becket— On Saturday, May 20th from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., the Becket Arts Center will host the first official exhibition of the season with a reception for artist Susan Gail.
She will be present to discuss her paintings and drawings. Also on display will be the Becket Washington School Art Show, as well as the work of Artist-in-Residence Sean McCusker. The reception is free and open to the public.
Following the reception for Susan Gail, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., authors and storytellers Rick Reiss and Paula Kaplan Reiss will present “Two Stories of Monument Mountain”. Paula Kaplan Reiss will tell “The Unforgettable Story I Can’t Remember,” while her husband’s story is titled “Has Anyone Seen My Wife?” A suggested donation of $10 will be collected at the door.
On Sunday, May 21st from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Cornell Master Gardiner Chris Ferrero will explain the ornamental and environmental value of native plants in a talk entitled “Let’s Go Native: An Introduction for Home Gardeners.” Part of the Berkshire Art Center’s Speaker Series, the presentation is free and open to the public. Donations are always welcome.
All three events will be held at the historic Seminary Hall on Brooker Hill Road in Becket. For more information, please visit Berkshire Arts Center online.
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Berkshire Concert Choir will present ‘Carmina Burana’ by Carl Orff
Pittsfield— On Saturday, May 20, at 3 p.m., Berkshire Concert Choir will present “Carmina Burana” by Carl Orff with soloists, two pianos, and percussion in the Boland Theater at Berkshire Community College.
Artistic Director Matthew O. Thomas selected Carmina Burana, always a crowd pleaser, for its ability to “speak to the soul on a primal level”. Composed in the 20th century, the choral work was based on 24 profane poems written during the 11th and 12th centuries. Its rhythmic and dance-like melodies and texts cover timeless topics like fortune and wealth, drinking, gambling, gluttony, and lust. Says Thomas, “Carmina Burana is a work fraught with regret and release, despair and desiring, and heartbreak and hope.” Many in the audience will recognize the opening movement ‘O Fortuna’ from popular commercials and movie scores.
Berkshire Concert Choir has been presenting fine choral music for 46 years in the Berkshires. The choir, currently directed by Matthew O. Thomas, has 50 singers and a Board of Directors. Tickets and a portion of ticket sales are shared with organizations that serve disadvantaged communities.
The concert is Saturday, May 20, at 3 p.m. in the Boland Theater at Berkshire Community College on West Street in Pittsfield. Tickets are $20 general admission and $15 for students and seniors. Tickets and more information can be found by visiting Berkshire Choir online.
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Massachusetts premiere of new documentary, ‘Las Abogadas: Attorneys on the Front Lines of the Migrant Crisis’
Great Barrington— On Friday, June 2nd at 5:15 p.m., a new documentary about immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, “Las Abogadas: Attorneys on the Front Lines of the Migrant Crisis”, covering the harrowing but hopeful journey of women immigration attorneys at the border, will hold its Massachusetts premiere at the Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF). The film is especially relevant in a time of increased public attention focused on migration across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Las Abogadas (which means “women lawyers” in Spanish) follows a small group of immigration attorneys over a multi-year odyssey as the U.S. government under President Trump upends every law meant to protect asylum seekers fleeing from persecution, violence and war.
Filmmaker Victoria Bruce, who conceived of and directed the film, says, “After learning that attorneys Rebecca Eichler and Charlene D’Cruz had driven a VW bus to intercept five thousand migrants in central Mexico in 2018, I knew that I had to make this movie. By centering the film around brave attorneys often working for non-profits or completely pro bono, we show true modern-day heroes standing up to insurmountable odds.”
From setting up a mobile legal aid clinic in the middle of a migrant caravan, to forcing border guards to follow the law and accept a blind woman into U.S. custody, to crossing the border to counsel African migrants stuck in Tijuana, to standing up to human traffickers in a makeshift refugee camp along the Mexican side of the border, to giving legal advice in the brutally hot Mexican sun to families desperate to see American soil — viewers watch our attorneys’ surreal journeys to try and help.
The film features the stories of several asylum-seeking individuals or families as they try to navigate the U.S. immigration system while stranded on the Mexican side of the U.S.-Mexico border due to U.S. government policies. The asylum seekers were all forced to flee their home countries to avoid persecution and violence at the hands of their governments or of bad actors who those governments were unwilling or unable to control.
The screening will take place at the Triplex Cinema on Railroad Street in Great Barrington. After the screening, there will be a live Q&A with the Director, Producer, and one of the lawyers featured in the film. Tickets are $15 general admission. Tickets and more information can be found by visiting BIFF online.
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Austen Riggs Center patients to stage ‘Julius Caesar’ with local actors
Stockbridge— Each spring, a group of Austen Riggs Center patients and actors from the local community stage a Shakespearian production in the intimate Riggs Theatre 37 in Stockbridge. This year’s production, William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, will be performed nightly at 7:30 p.m. from Tuesday, May 23rd through Sunday, May 28th.
Part of the Activities Program, Riggs Theatre 37 provides an opportunity for patients to explore some of their strengths through involvement in twice-yearly productions (spring and fall). The immersive ten-week process includes reading scripts, selecting a play, working through rehearsals, and staging several performances for the general public.
The play will be performed nightly at 7:30 p.m. from Tuesday, May 23rd through Sunday, May 28th at the Riggs Theatre 37 on Main Street in Stockbridge. Tickets are $20 general admission and $10 for students and seniors. For reservations, call 413-298-5519 extension 5606. For additional information, visit Austen Riggs Center online.
The Austen Riggs Center is a vital therapeutic community, open psychiatric hospital, and institute for education, research, and advocacy in the field of mental health. Located in the Berkshire Hills of Western Massachusetts, Riggs has been serving adults since its founding in 1919.
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Parks Commission Sets public meeting on Grove and Dewey Park improvements
Great Barrington— On Wednesday, May 31st at 5:15 p.m., the Great Barrington Parks Commission will host a public input meeting to seek input for design and playground equipment at the Grove Street and Dewey Court park locations.
The meeting will be held in person at the Great Barrington Town Hall on Main Street in Great Barrington with the option to attend virtually. A Zoom link will be posted on the town website calendar before the meeting.
