MCLA Physics Department presents NASA Airworthiness Deputy Dr. K. Renee Horton
***This event has been postponed to November 7th.***
North Adams— On Thursday, September 12th at 5 p.m., Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) Physics Department presents “Flying on A Rocket: How I Got There,” a guest lecture by NASA Airworthiness Deputy Dr. K. Renee Horton.
Dr. Horton is a trailblazing advocate for diversity in STEM and the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in Material Science with a concentration in Physics from the University of Alabama. Currently serving as a NASA airworthiness deputy, Dr. Horton has received numerous accolades, including the Black Engineer of the Year Trailblazer Award. She founded Unapologetically Being, Inc., a nonprofit for STEM advocacy and mentoring, and speaks worldwide to promote systemic change in STEM fields. She is also the author of the children’s book series “Dr. H Explores the Universe.”
In 2016, Dr. Horton was elected President of the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP) as the second woman to hold the office. She has served the physics community abroad as a member of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics Women in Physics Working Group. She serves on several advisory boards dedicated to a more diverse inclusion in physics. In 2017, she was elevated to a Fellow in the NSBP – the highest honor bestowed upon a member.
Dr. Horton was named a 2019 Louisianian of the Year featured in the Louisiana Life magazine. She was honored in a group of nine individuals who stand out in their professions, give back, and represent what’s best about Louisiana. In 2021 Dr. Horton was named the Gulf Coast Organization Legacy Award honoree and was inducted into the LSU Alumni Hall of Distinction. In 2022 she served as an Astro Access Ambassador on the Zero G flight.
The lecture is on Thursday, September 12th at 5 p.m. at MCLA’s Feigenbaum Center for Science and Innovation at 375 Church Street in North Adams. It is free and open to the public. There will be a reception in the CSI atrium at 4 p.m. Free parking is available at the corner of Blackinton and Montana Streets. More information can be found online.
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Guild of Berkshire Artists presents ‘ReVision:The Art of Seeing Beyond: Susan Sabino, Marcelene Mosca, and Thom Lipiczky’
West Stockbridge— From September 12th through 22nd, Guild of Berkshire Artists presents “ReVision:The Art of Seeing Beyond: Susan Sabino, Marcelene Mosca, and Thom Lipiczky” at Art on Main Gallery.
Artist Susan Sabino combines natural light with macro photography to capture the harmony between light, color and texture to create an ethereal quality in her abstract botanical images.
Having written and taught poetry for many years, Marcelene I. Mosca strives to translate the sensations and truths that inspire and inform it in her visual work.
Thom Lipiczky said, ”I always try to remember that wood comes from trees, and I try to demonstrate this connection in whatever I’m building in some way. Sometimes it’s highlighting grain or knots, or accentuating a shape like a leaf or branching. Using “salvaged” materials like old beams and floor boards reminds me of the history people have had with wood.”
The exhibit runs from September 12th through 22nd at Art on Main Gallery at 38 Main Street in West Stockbridge. There is an opening reception on Saturday, September 14th from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. More information can be found online.
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Yiddish Book Center presents ‘Finding Home in Hungary, 1945: A Little-Known Postwar Jewish Experience’ with Dean Cycon
Amherst— On Thursday, September 12th at 7 p.m., the Yiddish Book Center presents ‘Finding Home in Hungary, 1945: A Little-Known Postwar Jewish Experience’ with Dean Cycon.
Visit the Yiddish Book Center for the “Finding Home Reading Tour,” a literary and performance experience featuring author Dean Cycon and Jewish music practitioners Bea Carlson (accordion/vocals) and Jason Ditzian (clarinet). This hour-long event takes audiences on a journey through several passages of “Finding Home,” read by Cycon and scored with live klezmer and Hungarian folk music by Carlson and Ditzian.
Cycon’s debut novel, “Finding Home” explores the complex emotional, moral, and economic dynamics facing Jewish concentration camp survivors trying to return to their hometowns after liberation. As the six surviving Jews of Laszlo, Hungary, return home, they seek to restart their lives while struggling to face their former neighbors and friends who became perpetrators, enablers, and bystanders. Their loved ones were all murdered, and their spirits and bodies were brutalized in Auschwitz. Still, they retain the hope of recapturing a semblance of normalcy in the town they called home only to discover that everything they once possessed has been taken from them in their absence.
The free event is on Thursday, September 12th at 7 p.m. at the Yiddish Book Center at 1021 West Street in Amherst and on Zoom. There will be a book signing after the presentation. More information can be found online.
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Clark Art Institute to screen ‘Lethière: Oath of the Ancestors,’ a new French documentary
Williamstown— On Thursday, September 12th at 6 p.m., the Clark Art Institute will screen a new film, “Lethière: Oath of the Ancestors” by French activist, writer, and filmmaker Claude Ribbe.
Ribbe’s work focuses on the history of colonialism in the Caribbean. In this documentary, he tells the complex and compelling story of “Guillaume Lethière’s Oath of the Ancestors” (1822,) a Haitian national treasure. The film becomes a window not just into the historical moment it commemorates, but the rich history of the painting over the last two hundred years.
Lethière’s monumental “Oath of the Ancestors” celebrates the alliance of two of Haiti’s founding revolutionaries, the mixed-race General Alexandre Pétion and the Black General Jean-Jacques Dessalines. The 1802 coalition formed by the two men would prove to be a decisive moment in Haiti’s battle for independence, which was declared in 1804.
Utterly unique in Lethière’s oeuvre and in French painting of the period, the triumphant image celebrating the former colony’s independence and abolition of slavery is also the only painting that Lethière’s signed with his birthplace, demonstrating his personal identification with the Caribbean and the oath undertaken by these two men. Lethière created the painting to honor Haitian independence and had it smuggled into the island nation as a gift to the people of Haiti.
The free screening is on Thursday, September 12th at 6 p.m. at the Clark Art Institute on South Street in Williamstown. More information can be found online.
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Becket Arts Center presents documentary filmmaker Gabriel London, who will present his film, ‘The Definition of Insanity’
Becket— On Thursday, September 12th at 5 p.m., Becket Arts Center presents documentary filmmaker Gabriel London, who will present his film, “The Definition of Insanity.”
The documentary explores an innovative Miami Dade criminal justice program aimed to rehabilitate non-violent offenders with mental health issues by treating them as patients rather than prisoners.
The screening is on Thursday, September 12th at 5 p.m. at the Becket Arts Center at 7 Brooker Hill Road in Becket. A discussion with London, the director and producer, will follow the screening. More information can be found online.
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Adams Theater and Images Cinema collaborate on a classic film series
Adams— From September 12th to October 10th, Images Cinema and the Adams Theater are visiting the days of vintage Hollywood with a series of film screenings.
- “Modern Times” on September 12th
- “The Wizard of Oz” on September 19th
- “Casablanca” on September 20th
- “Rebel without a Cause” on September 26th
- “Vertigo” on October 3rd
- “The Graduate” on October 10th
These six selections from the 1930s to the1960s represent some of the greatest achievements in film, at a time when the original Hollywood studio system was at the height of its power. This period was also when The Adams Theater was originally operating as a movie theater.
The screenings run from September 12th to October 10th at The Adams Theater at 27 Park Street in Adams. All showtimes are at 7 p.m. More information can be found online.
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Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation announces fall grants for public school education enrichment
Sheffield— Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation has announced grant opportunities for education enrichment for the region’s public schools.
The grants are awarded for projects that enhance and enrich the educational experience of students and teachers in every public school in our region, including those in northwest Litchfield County, Conn., northeast Dutchess County, N.Y., Columbia County, N.Y., and Berkshire County. Past grants have supported field trips, artists-in-residence, robotics programs, special projects such as building gardens and greenhouses, and much more.
Students, teachers, administrators, parents, and members of the community are encouraged to apply. Applications are now open and are due by October 15th. Learn more and apply for education enrichment grants online.
