Hancock Shaker Village opens for the season with the Baby Animals Festival
Hancock— From April 13th through May 5th, Hancock Shaker Village (HSV) opens its season with the Baby Animals Festival, an annual signal of spring for many Berkshire residents.
A family favorite for more than twenty years, visitors are invited to experience the ritual of renewal by welcoming this year’s baby animals and the newest arrivals, lambs, piglets, calves, chicks, and kids, and enjoy a wide variety of events and activities.
“Baby Animals kicks-off a very special year in the Shaker community as we commemorate the 250th anniversary of Mother Ann Lee and the Shakers’ arrival in America. Throughout the season, Hancock Shaker Village will celebrate this significant milestone with a robust program of new exhibits, installations, and events to honor the many contributions of Shaker leader Mother Ann Lee and her followers, and the many women who have brought the Shaker story to life since Hancock’s inception as a museum in 1961,” said Director and CEO, Carrie Holland.
Baby Animals runs April 13th through May 5th at Hancock Shaker Village on Lebanon Mountain Road in Hancock. More information can be found online.
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Shakespeare & Company presents special local, open-captioned performances of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’
Lenox— During April vacation week, from April 17th through the 20th, Shakespeare & Company presents special local, open-captioned performances of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” from its Northeast Regional Tour of Shakespeare.
These shows are family-friendly and all types of patrons are welcome to attend; open-captioned shows are also ideal for audience members with hearing disabilities, and feature a large projection screen above the stage, displaying the text actors recite via “super captions.”
The performances are Wednesday, April 17th at 2 p.m., Thursday, April 18th at 7 p.m., Friday, April 19th at 7 p.m., and Saturday, April 20th at 2 p.m. The final performance will be followed by a birthday celebration for William Shakespeare. Tickets are $20, $10 for students, and $5 for Card to Culture holders. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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The Clark Art Institute offers April school vacation week activities
Williamstown— From Monday, April 15th through Friday, April 19th, The Clark Art Institute offers children and families fun activities and opportunities to see great art as part of April school vacation week.
Visitors can pick up a set of “Looking Carefully Cards,” drawing pads, and complimentary colored pencils at the Clark Center Admissions desk to use while exploring the galleries and the grounds. Museum goers are also encouraged to stop by the Clark’s postcard station to create a unique postcard to send to a friend – drop it in the Clark’s post box, and the Clark will stamp and mail it!
Special activities include a Sprouting with Seeds Art-Making Workshop, an Earth Walk with Dogs, and a Dogs and Nature Print Room Pop-Up.
The special events run from Monday, April 15th through Friday, April 19th at The Clark Art Institute on South Street in Pittsfield. All April school vacation week activities are free. Admission is always free for students of all ages and anyone aged 21 and under. More information can be found online.
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Downtown Pittsfield celebrates ‘Spring Week’
Pittsfield— During school vacation week from April 13th through the 21st, Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. (DPI) will host the second annual Downtown Celebrates Spring Week, offering free and low-cost programming to individuals and families with children of all ages.
The featured event for the week will be “Where’s Winston?”, a spring scavenger hunt for images of Officer Winston, the Pittsfield Police Department’s comfort dog, at a dozen downtown locations. The first five children to bring their completed game card to the Children’s Library at the Berkshire Athenaeum will win a Winston plushie! Game Cards will be available at the following locations beginning April 13th: Children’s Library at the Berkshire Athenaeum, Bottomless Bricks, Dory & Ginger, Dottie’s Coffee Lounge, Hot Harry’s, Kidding Around Consignment, Mana Crypt Gaming Center, Marketplace Café, Otto’s Kitchen & Comfort, The Plant Connector, Thistle ‘n Thorn Floral, and Witch Slapped.
Other events include a tea party, a kid’s paint and sip, a spring beach party and scavenger hunt, seed bomb and terrarium making, family swim, an indoor triathlon, experimental art, a Taylor Swift party, mosaic collage making, a Nintendo Switch tournament, Lego Minifigure® Trading, and more. For a complete schedule and list of event locations, visit downtownpittsfield.com.
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The Bennington College Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion welcomes St. Clair Detrick-Jules, author of ‘My Beautiful Black Hair’
Bennington, V.T.— On Tuesday, April 16th at 7 p.m., the Bennington College Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion welcomes author, filmmaker, photographer, and activist St. Clair Detrick-Jules who will present “Black Hair + Storytelling as a Form of Social Activism.”
The author will discuss what she has learned through her years-long journey photographing and interviewing Black women with natural hair for her photojournalism book, “My Beautiful Black Hair: 101 Natural Hair Stories from the Sisterhood,” a large-scale visual anthropology exploring the deep, complex relationships across generations between Black women and their hair.
From the impact of historical anti-Blackness in the Dominican Republic to discussions about the politicization of the afro and its relationship to the Black Lives Matter movement, the presentation challenges attendees to think about the ways in which they can use hair as an entry-point into conversations about self-love, anti-Blackness, healing from racial trauma, feminism, and community relationships. The talk provides an opportunity for students and others to engage in thought-provoking discussions about beauty standards, gender, race, and identity.
The presentation is on Tuesday, April 16th at 7 p.m. at CAPA Symposium at the Bennington College on College Drive in Bennington, V.T. A Q&A will follow. More information can be found online.
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Lenox Library to host multimedia presentation by Mark Ameigh on the ‘Birds of Kennedy Park’
Lenox— On Saturday, April 13th at 1 p.m., Lenox Library will host a multimedia presentation by Mark Ameigh on the “Birds of Kennedy Park.”
The program will highlight roughly 50 birds that can be found in Kennedy Park, most of which are summer-only residents that arrive in late April and are gone by early August. These include warblers, vireos, fly-catchers, Grosbeaks, and other migratory species, each staking out a territory in their favored habitats. Using drawings and a copy of the trail map displayed on kiosks throughout the park, Mark Ameigh will show where he encountered various birds in the summer of 2023.
Mark Ameigh is a self-described ‘amateur naturalist’ who has spent years scouting the nature reserves of the region in search of birds, butterflies, wildflowers, and other wildlife that make the highlands of Western Massachusetts and the Berkshires so special. In the spring of 2023, he began to maintain a daily journal of bird species he encountered, primarily in Kennedy Park and Mass Audubon’s Pleasant Valley and Canoe Meadows wildlife reserves.
The program is on Saturday, April 13th at 1 p.m. in the Welles Gallery at the Lenox Library on Main Street in Lenox. It is free and open to the public. More information can be found online.
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Berkshire Environmental Action Team presents ‘Bringing Pollinators Home: Native Plants & Pollinators’
Pittsfield— On Wednesday, April 17th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT) presents “Bringing Pollinators Home: Native Plants & Pollinators,” a “No Mow May” event.
Join BEAT for an enlightening evening dedicated to exploring ways to promote sustainable biodiversity through intentional gardening and the cultivation of native plants that support native pollinators and wildlife.
Starting with a social gathering, the event will feature a recorded presentation by Doug Tallamy, an esteemed entomologist, ecologist, and author, where he discusses his book “Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens,” which will be followed by Jim McGrath, the Open Space and Natural Resource Program Manager of Pittsfield’s Parks, who will outline plans for native plantings in downtown Pittsfield. Bruce Winn, a Berkshire Community College (BCC) Professor and BEAT board member, will discuss ongoing efforts to transform BCC into a “pollinator campus,” and Terri Stiffler, also a BEAT board member, will lead a discussion on “No Mow May.” The evening will conclude with a giveaway of prizes, which include gift certificates from local businesses.
The event is on Wednesday, April 17th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Berkshire Athenaeum on Wendell Avenue in Pittsfield. It is free and open to the public. Registration and more information can be found online.
