Race Brook Lodge presents ‘Talking Plants,’ and evening with Michael Stuart Ani
Sheffield— On Sunday, September 8th from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., Race Brook Lodge presents ‘Talking Plants,’ and evening with Michael Stuart Ani.
Is it possible to have a true vision without taking a chemical, entheogenic sacrament, or enduring extreme conditions? The answer is yes, if your guide is the legendary Amazon jungle scout and one of the very last explorers on earth to have actually participated in rituals with previously uncontacted tribes, Michael Stuart Ani.
Ani has spent the last fifty-five years among tribes throughout the Americas and deep into the Amazon. He will share stories of his life with the last uncontacted tribes of the Amazon, unveiling secrets of the Talking Plants and describe their rituals.
In this multimedia experience you will follow the lost steps of the Ghost Dance, America’s first ritual, to learn about what may be the hidden key to human survival: re-weaving the thread of our communication with nature through Talking Plants. These steps led Michael to the Sierra Mazateca of Oaxaca, famous for its sacred mushrooms. From the 1960s through 1970s, Ani lived in the Mazateca’s most remote cloud forests in Mexico and then in the 80’s and 90’s worked with the Yanomami tribes, the last uncontacted, wild and free tribes of the Americas. He became the only outsider who was ever allowed to collect the sacred mushroom species of the region, Desheto.
The event is on Sunday, September 8th from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the Barnspace at Race Brook Lodge at 864 South Undermountain Road in Sheffield. There will be a post-show Q&A and a book signing. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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Let It Shine! mural by Shelsy Rodriguez to debut during First Fridays at Five
Pittsfield— On Friday, September 6th at 5 p.m., the Pittsfield Let It Shine! Public Art Partnership will unveil a mural by Shelsy Rodriguez during First Fridays at Five.
Local artist Shelsy Rodriguez co-created a new mural located at the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority Intermodal Center at 1 Columbus Avenue in Pittsfield. Shelsy Rodriguez worked alongside mentor artist, Jesse Tobin McCauley, to develop and execute a transit-themed mural.
Shelsy Rodriguez (Stephx), a visual artist focused on painting and photography, is a student of environmental sciences. She is from Colombia, a place full of color, tradition, diversity, and life. Her artistic work is based on the expression of the beauty she observes around her, the beauty found in everyday life in those small details that make us feel that nature is part of us.
She uses painting to bring awareness, so that when people see what she does, they take away the idea of the importance of connecting with nature and being grateful to the past, to their roots, to unite with the present and to be aware of how we can improve the future of the environment.
For more information on the Pittsfield Let It Shine! Public Art Partnership, email Artist in Residence Huck Elling at huckelling@gmail.com or call the City of Pittsfield’s Office of Cultural Development at 413-499-9348.
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Ancram Center for the Arts presents ‘La Musica Deuxiéme’
Ancram, N.Y.— On Saturday, September 7th at 7 p.m. and Sunday, September 8th at 2 p.m., the Ancram Center for the Arts presents “La Musica Deuxiéme,” written by renowned novelist, playwright, radical, and feminist Marguerite Duras.
“La Musica Deuxiéme” explores love, passion, betrayal, and the complexities of human relationships. Directed by Jessica Burr and featuring Heather Benton and Taylor Valentine, this intense and theatrical production captures the charged dialogue of two lovers reuniting after a separation, revealing the depths of their past. It is a compelling look at the raw, tumultuous nature of love.
The performances are on Saturday, September 7th at 7 p.m. and Sunday, September 8th at 2 p.m. at the Ancram Center for the Arts at 1330 County Route 7 in Ancram, N.Y. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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The Foundry present a writers work group with Jayne Benjulian
West Stockbridge— Beginning on September 10th, on alternate Tuesday evenings from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., The Foundry presents a writers work group with Jayne Benjulian.
Developmental Editor Jayne Benjulian guides authors writing memoir, fiction, essays, and art books. She also works with academic writers to imagine and revise their projects for general audiences. Her track record is sterling: all of the projects by authors she’s worked with have been (or are scheduled to be) published or produced. Her own essays and poems appear widely, including her collection of poetry, “Five Sextillion Atoms.” She is an inspired coach for artists and writers. She founded the Berkshire Writers Project ®, where she helps artists develop their book projects, coaches poets and prose writers, and teaches the writing and performance of poetry and monologue.
This working group is for prose writers, offering writers an opportunity to work with an experienced developmental editor. Fiction and non-fiction writers are welcome. At each meeting, the work of two participating writers will be discussed and issues of the writing craft that present opportunities relevant to your work will be addressed. The group, composed of writers with serious intent, will be developing stories, essays, or novels, and learning how to structure a manuscript to illuminate its subject.
The meetings begin on September 10th, on alternate Tuesday evenings from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at The Foundry at 2 Harris Street in West Stockbridge. Registration deadline is September 7th; writers are asked to submit 10 to 20 pages of a draft by September 7th. More information can be found online.
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22nd Annual Housatonic Heritage Walks
Berkshire and Litchfield— The 22nd annual Housatonic Heritage Walks in the Berkshires and Litchfield County, Conn. have been announced on the following dates:
- September 7th and 8th
- September 14th and 15th
- September 21st and 22nnd
- September 28th and 29th
- October 5th and 6th
This 22nd annual event, the 2024 Housatonic Heritage Walks program offers more than 70 free, guided walks to the most interesting historic, cultural, and natural sites in Berkshire County and Litchfield County, Conn. All types of heritage walks are offered, ranging from tours of historic buildings, cemeteries, town centers, and more. Download a PDF of the schedule online.
