Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas to move online
Stockbridge — The annual Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas celebration will begin Friday, Dec. 4.
Due to the COVID-19 situation and the need to maintain health and safety, this year’s celebration will embrace the character of the “Best New England Christmas Town” with virtual events and outdoor, masked-up and socially distanced offerings. Highlights will include virtual readings; a holiday marketplace at Berkshire Botanical Garden; A winter wonderland walkway and StoryWalk at the Stockbridge Library, Museum & Archives; online videos of past holiday concerts and Main Street at Christmas celebrations; outdoor holiday light shows; live theater; and more. Many of the events will run through the end of December.
For more information, and a full schedule of events, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact the Stockbridge Chamber of Commerce at (413) 298-5200.
–E.E.
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Shakespeare & Company to celebrate with virtual gala
Lenox — Shakespeare & Company will celebrate community Saturday, Dec. 5, at 7:30 p.m. with its virtual “New Horizons” gala.
The program will feature video performances by Elizabeth Aspenlieder, Glenn Barrett, David Bertoldi, Ariel Bock, Gregory Boover, Thomas Brazzle, Debra Ann Byrd, Caroline Calkins, MaConnia Chesser, John Douglas Thompson, director of education Kevin G. Coleman, Rory Hammond, Christopher Lloyd, Madeleine Rose Maggio, Annette Miller, Normi Noel, Nick Nudler, Devante Owens, founding artistic director Tina Packer, Kirsten Peacock, Tod Randolph, Ryan Winkles and Finn Wittrock. Also included will be a sneak peek preview of the upcoming Fall Festival documentary, “Speak What We Feel.”
The event is free and open to the public. Donations are encouraged and appreciated by the Company. Registration is required. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact Shakespeare & Company at (413) 637-1199 x105.
–E.E.
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Artist Tim Evatt to discuss Pixar animation
Stockbridge — On Wednesday, Dec. 2, at 7 p.m., the Norman Rockwell Museum will present a virtual talk by Pixar Animation Studios artist Tim Evatt, who will offer a glimpse into his career in animation and how he draws inspiration from Golden Age illustrators, including Dean Cornwell, Mead Schaeffer, J.C Leyendecker and Norman Rockwell. The event will also allow a behind-the-scenes look at how Pixar animated movies are made.
Evatt is a 13-year art design veteran serving as a set and character artist on Pixar releases “Toy Story 3,” “Cars 2,” “The Good Dinosaur,” “Finding Dory,” “Coco,” “The Incredibles 2” and the forthcoming 2020 release “Soul.” He has also been involved in the production of the animated Pixar shorts “Toy Story Toons: Small Fry” and “Toy Story That Time Forgot,” and was the production designer for the 2020 Oscar-nominated animated short “Kitbull.” He is the lead production designer on a major Pixar production that will be released in 2022.
Tickets for members are free, and non members are asked to “Pay what you can” for the program with question-and-answer session. Registration is required. For more information or to register, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact the Norman Rockwell Museum at (413) 298-4100.
–E.E.
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OLLI to present lecture on solar eclipses
Pittsfield — On Tuesday, Dec. 1, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College will present via Zoom the lecture “Solar Eclipses: Sometimes Local and Always Spectacular” with Williams College professor Jay Pasachoff.
In his talk, Pasachoff will discuss his expeditions to view recent solar eclipses, including total eclipses in the United States in 2017 and in Chile in 2019 as well as the annular solar eclipse in India in 2019. He will also discuss the next solar eclipses, including Chile and Argentina on Dec. 14, 2020; Mexico/United States/Canada on April 28, 2024; and the Oct. 14, 2023, annular eclipse, for which the partial-eclipse coverage of the Sun’s diameter from Orange County will be 78%. He will also emphasize current topics of research of current solar eclipses, and how they link with the Sun-Earth connection and our understanding of the coronas of trillions of other stars.
Pasachoff is Field Memorial Professor of Astronomy and director of the Hopkins Observatory at Williams College, and a visiting scientist at Carnegie Observatories. He is chair of the International Astronomical Union’s Working Group on Solar Eclipses and a member of the American Astronomical Society’s Solar Eclipse Task Force. He holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University. He received the 2003 Education Prize of the American Astronomical Society, the 2012 Janssen Prize of the Société Astronomique de France, the 2015 Richtmyer Lecture Award from the American Association of Physics Teachers, and the 2019 Klumpke-Roberts Award from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
The cost of the lecture is $15 for the general public; $10 for members of OLLI at BCC, Massachusetts Village and Berkshire Museum. The lecture is free for BCC students; youth 17 and under; and those holding WIC, EBT/SNAP or ConnectorCare cards. For more information or to register, see the Berkshire Edge calendar, or contact the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College at (413) 236-2190 or olli@berkshirecc.edu.
–E.E.
