Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art presents ‘Sprites, Spells, and Splashes: Magical Beings in Picture Book Art,’ an enchanting exhibition
Amherst— From November 22nd though April 26th, the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art presents “Sprites, Spells, and Splashes: Magical Beings in Picture Book Art,” an enchanting exhibition exploring the rich visual traditions of fairies, mermaids, wizards, and other supernatural beings through beloved picture book illustrations.
Curated by The Carle’s associate curator Isabel Ruiz Cano and features more than 40 classic and contemporary works. “From the brownies of the British Isles to the djinns of the Middle East, magical beings abound in folklore. These creatures exist in a parallel world within and alongside humans,” said Cano. “Picture book art can be a powerful bridge between cultures, a keeper of stories, and a source of wonder that allows us to see the invisible.”
“We have many supernatural creatures hiding within our vast collection, causing mischief and magic at the Museum,” said The Carle’s Executive Director Jennifer Schantz. “Sprites, Spells, and Splashes will open our eyes to the fantastical world that is hiding in plain sight, captured in the pages of picture books.”
The exhibit is on view from November 22nd though April 26th at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, located at 125 West Bay Road in Amherst. More information can be found online.
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Clark Art Institute presents ‘Raffaella della Olga: Typescripts,’ the first solo museum exhibition of artist Raffaella della Olga
Williamstown— From November 22nd through May 31st, the Clark Art Institute presents “Raffaella della Olga: Typescripts,” the first solo museum exhibition of artist Raffaella della Olga.
Della Olga makes unique artists’ books using modified typewriters and multicolor ink ribbons, printing on a wide range of materials. The exhibition assembles new and existing artists’ books alongside della Olga’s typewritten paintings and cut fabric wall-hanging works. A portion of the exhibition is devoted to comparative materials from the Clark library’s collections to illustrate the rich history of typewriter art while also suggesting the artist’s unique contribution to the field.
Della Olga thinks of herself as a sculptor, typing on surfaces ranging from silk to sandpaper and embossing them with forceful keystrokes before binding them into three-dimensional form. With her manual interventions, della Olga also draws, smearing her sheets by pressing the ink ribbons with one hand while dragging the paper with the other.
“Using what are essentially office supplies, Raffaella della Olga creates works with the presence and preciousness of illuminated manuscripts,” said Robert Wiesenberger, the Clark’s curator of contemporary projects. “With each new book, and each turn of each page, the artist never fails to surprise and delight, reinventing the book as we know it.”
The exhibit is on view from November 22nd through May 31st at the Clark Art Institute, located at 225 South Street in Williamstown. There is an opening conversation and a one-of-a-kind improvisational typewriter performance on Saturday, November 22nd at 11 a.m. More information can be found online.
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Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center presents a live broadcast of The Met Opera’s production of Strauss’s ‘Arabella,’ live in HD
Great Barrington— On Saturday, November 22nd at 1 p.m., the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center presents a live broadcast of The Met Opera’s production of Strauss’s “Arabella,” live in HD.
Strauss’s elegant romance brings the glamour and enchantment of 19th-century Vienna to cinemas worldwide in a sumptuous production by legendary director Otto Schenk that The New York Times called “as beautiful as one could hope.”
Soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen stars as the title heroine, a young noblewoman in search of love on her own terms. Radiant soprano Louise Alder is her sister, Zdenka, and bass-baritone Tomasz Konieczny is the dashing count who sweeps Arabella off her feet.
The broadcast is on Saturday, November 22nd at 1 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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Race Brook Lodge presents master sabar percussionist Aba Diop and the Yermande Family
Sheffield— On Sunday, November 23rd from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., Race Brook Lodge presents master sabar percussionist Aba Diop and the Yermande Family.
At first glance, master sabar percussionist Aba Diop may seem like a “new arrival” on the global music stage—an unknown name out of Senegal suddenly appearing alongside luminaries like John Medeski and Yussef Dayes. But to call Aba new is to overlook an extraordinary lifetime of tradition, mastery, and devotion to the sabar drum. Born into an unbroken lineage of griots in Dakar, Senegal, Aba carries centuries of sacred musical knowledge in his hands.
Now joined by a powerhouse ensemble of fellow griot artists and global collaborators, Aba Diop & the Yermande Family’s full-length release “Family” doesn’t just introduce their sound, it affirms sabar as a rhythmic language that has shaped music across continents and centuries, and continues to shape what comes next. The group takes its name from the Wolof word “Yermande,” which means compassion, care for others, and deep respect for community. It pervades the music and performances in a tangible way: this music is medicine for our times.
The concert is on Sunday, November 23rd from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Race Brook Lodge, located at 864 South Undermountain Road in Sheffield. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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Berkshire International Film Festival presents journalist Jim Brook with award-winning author and journalist Elizabeth Becker for a book discussion and film screening
Stockbridge— On Saturday, November 22nd at 3 p.m., Berkshire International Film Festival presents journalist and Berkshire native Jim Brook in conversation with award-winning author and journalist Elizabeth Becker for a book discussion and film screening.
The afternoon will feature a discussion of her book “You Don’t Belong Here: How 3 Women Rewrote the Story of the War” followed by a screening of “Rendezvous with Pol Pot,” the film based on Becker’s first book “When the War Was Over: a modern history of Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge,” which premiered at Cannes in 2024.
Elizabeth Becker, an award-winning author and journalist, has covered national and international affairs as a Washington correspondent at The New York Times, the Senior Foreign Editor at National Public Radio, and a Washington Post correspondent. She began her career as a war reporter in Cambodia in 1972, interviewed Pol Pot and is an expert on the Khmer Rouge and modern Cambodia.
Jim Brooke is a Berkshires native and lifelong foreign correspondent. He worked as a journalist for eight years in Moscow, first as Bloomberg Bureau Chief, then as the Voice of America correspondent for the former Soviet Union.
The event is on Saturday, November 22nd at 3 p.m. at the Stockbridge Library, located at 46 Main Street in Stockbridge. Admission is free. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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Schumacher Center presents the 45th annual E.F. Schumacher Lecture
Great Barrington— On Saturday, November 22nd at 3 p.m., the Schumacher Center presents the 45th annual E.F. Schumacher Lecture.
Key leaders of the contemporary bioregional movement will gather to discuss strategies for financing the new economy. Samantha Power and Tyler Wakefield, Co-Founders of BioFi Project, will engage in a conversation led by Schumacher Center board member, Alex Forrester, around the “Promise of Bioregional Economies.”
Samantha Power is a Co-Founder and the Director of The BioFi Project. A regenerative economist, systems futurist, and bioregionalist, she co-authored the book “Bioregional Financing Facilities: Reimagining Finance to Regenerate Our Planet.” Her work focuses on building a new layer of global financial architecture: place-based institutions designed to serve rapid, radical regeneration. For over a decade, Samantha has pursued one central question: “How do we change where money flows so it supports, rather than destroys, life?”
Tyler Wakefield is a Co-founder and Co-steward of The BioFi Project, a think-and-do tank supporting bioregions to design, build, and implement Bioregional Financing Facilities that connect financial resources with the regenerators implementing community-determined strategies for long-term economic transformation and resilience. He is also a fellow at The Nectary, an ongoing series of extended residential research and teaching gatherings aimed at restoring our human capacity for intimacy, cooperation, and interdependence with the broader web of Life.
The lecture is on Saturday, November 22nd at 3 p.m. at St. James Place, located at 352 Main Street in Great Barrington. Tickets and more information can be found online.
