Bits & Bytes: Weekend in Norfolk; ‘The Bauhaus in America’; Keith Murphy, Yann Falquet at Dewey Hall; ‘A Melancholy Spectacle’; car seat safety check

Weekend in Norfolk a town-wide celebration

Norfolk, Conn. — The town of Norfolk will present its fourth annual three-day summer festival Weekend in Norfolk Friday, Aug. 2, through Sunday, Aug. 4. All are invited to visit the town with family and friends and enjoy the more than 80 events presented by Norfolk organizations, businesses and individuals.

A visitor captures a cel-phone photo of one of the Louis Comfort Tiffany stained glass windows at Battell Chapel in Norfolk, Conn. Photo: Bruce Frisch

On Friday, two churches will be offering afternoon tours of their stained glass windows, and couples can get married or renew their vows by appointment on the village green. There will also be artisan demos, a hiking contest, an opening reception for the Norfolk Artists & Friends 11th annual exhibition, and concerts at Infinity Music Hall and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival’s Music Shed.

The pace will pick up on Saturday with continuing art events; a tour of Norfolk’s industrial past; and more music, including a free concert at the Music Shed and live outdoor performances sponsored by Infinity Music Hall. The Norfolk Farmers Market will celebrate with chef demonstrations, live music and children’s activities. Other highlights for kids include a Chicken Stampin’ workshop and water soccer played with fire hoses. The evening will be crowned with hors d’oeuvres and music at the Manor House Inn, a family fun night complete with outdoor movie, and musical performances.

On Sunday, more tours will include Whitehouse (the former Stoeckel mansion), samples of a getaway day at the Mountain View Green Retreat, more stained glass window viewings, an open house at the country club showing off its famed nine-hole golf course, three farm open houses, art workshops, a special concert for kids, fly tying and casting on the green, outdoor music, a 5K trail run, a hotdog eating contest, and more.

The event is free and open to the public. Most activities are free of charge, some may include ticket prices or a fee. For more information and a complete schedule of activities, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact Weekend in Norfolk at (860) 542-5829 or info@weekendinnorfolk.org.

–E.E.

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‘Verdure’ mural by Herbert Bayer at Harvard University. Photo courtesy Osher Lifelong Learning Center at Berkshire Community College

Clark Art Institute curator to discuss Bauhaus movement in America

Robert Wiesenberger. Photo courtesy Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College

Pittsfield — The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College’s Distinguished Speakers Series will host Robert Wiesenberger of the Clark Art Institute Wednesday, July 31, at 3 p.m. in the college’s K-111 lecture hall for a talk titled “The Bauhaus in America and Herbert Bayer’s Harvard Murals.” The illustrated talk will specifically focus on Bauhaus master Herbert Bayer’s 1950 mural commissions for Harvard University and how they reflect on midcentury American conversations about visual literacy, democracy and a growing environmental consciousness.

Wiesenberger is associate curator of contemporary projects at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown. He has been a member of the Yale University faculty since 2013, teaching a seminar on the history and theory of graphic design in the school’s MFA program in graphic design. From 2014–16, he was the Stefan Engelhorn Curatorial Fellow at the Harvard Art Museums, where he was responsible for the museums’ Bauhaus collections of more than 30,000 objects. In addition to organizing in-gallery exhibitions, Wiesenberger also created an online research tool to provide greater access to those collections. A graduate of the University of Chicago with a concentration in history and Germanic studies, he holds both an M.A. and a Ph.D. in art history from Columbia University. Wiesenberger is a contributing editor for ART PAPERS magazine.

Tickets are $10 for OLLI members, $15 for nonmembers, and free for BCC students and those age 17 and under. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College at (413) 236-2190.

–E.E.

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Dewey Hall to host traditional Canadian music concert

Yann Falquet and Keith Murphy. Photo courtesy Dewey Hall

Sheffield — Dewey Hall will host traditional musicians Keith Murphy and Yann Falquet Thursday, Aug. 1, at 7:30 p.m.

Murphy and Falquet are both masters of contemporary trad guitar and, as singers, bring a rich blend of song traditions. With a wealth of songs from French Canadian cultural heritage, Falquet is probably best known for his work with the Quebecois trio Genticorum. He also performs in a duo with his wife, the cellist Natalie Haas, alongside fiddlers Alasdair Fraser and Brittany Haas in New World Assembly; and as a guest of member of the Seamus Egan Project. Murphy is a respected traditional singer whose repertoire is filled with tunes from his native Newfoundland as well as Quebec and his current home of Vermont. He was a founding member of the ground-breaking trio Nightingale, is the artistic director of the Brattleboro Music Center’s Northern Roots Festival, and music director for the WGBH annual St Patrick’s Celtic Sojourn.

Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact (413) 429-1176 catchmyspark@gmail.com.

–E.E.

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Austen Riggs Center to host talk on mental health in Colonial America

Stacey Dearing, Ph.D. Photo courtesy Siena College

Stockbridge — The Austen Riggs Center will present the lecture “A Melancholy Spectacle: Mental Health in Colonial America” by Erikson Scholar Stacey Dearing, Ph.D., Wednesday, July 31, at 4:00 p.m. at the Old Corner House, 48 Main St.

Scholarly study of health and medicine in colonial America has flourished in the past few years, exploring how Native American, European and African medical knowledge was blended and used to treat a variety of illnesses. In addition to infections and injuries, people struggled with a variety of mental health conditions in the Colonial period. In her talk, Dearing will discuss how mental health was understood and treated in early America, and consider the surprising focus on patient agency and compassion in mental health treatment in Colonial Massachusetts.

Dearing received her Ph.D. in early American literature from Purdue University, and is currently a teaching assistant professor of English at Siena College in Loudonville, New York. In October 2018 she was featured as the Society of Early Americanists’ Junior Scholar of the Month. Her work has appeared in Dialogue and an article on patient agency and early American medical treatises is forthcoming in the Journal of Medical Humanities. Dearing’s book project, “Providential Narratives and Remarkable Bodies: Illness and Disability in Early America, 1650-1776,” analyzes how patients make meaning about their health, and how they use writing to stay connected to their larger familial, religious and tribal communities in colonial New England.

The presentation is free and open to the public. Seating is limited. For more information or to RSVP, contact Kathy Young at kathleen.young@austenriggs.net.

–E.E.

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CHP to offer car seat safety check

Great Barrington — Community Health Programs will host a free car seat safety check Thursday, Aug. 1, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at CHP Barrington OB-GYN at East Mountain Medical.

This safety check will be conducted by Kate McSheffrey, child passenger safety technician and coordinator of CHP’s mobile health unit. CHP Family Services staff will be on hand to provide information about CHP’s programs for families, which include playgroups, nutrition classes, mentoring programs and WIC. Head Start representatives will also be available with information on early childhood programs. Information about foster parenting will also be available.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call (413) 528-0457.

–E.E.