Artwork by Linda Baker-Cimini is featured in the 'High Voltage' art show at St. Francis Gallery in South Lee (see item below). Image courtesy St. Francis Gallery

Bits & Bytes: Daggett to discuss education; The Sea The Sea at the Whit; Writers Read; ‘High Voltage’ at St. Francis Gallery

International Center for Leadership in Education founder Bill Daggett has collaborated with education ministries in several countries, the Council of Chief State School Officers, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Governors Association and other national organizations.

Education expert Daggett to speak on needs of students

Bill Daggett. Photo courtesy International Center for Leadership in Education

Great Barrington — Southern Berkshire Educational Future, a working group focused on interdistrict collaboration among southern Berkshire County school districts, will present International Center for Leadership in Education chairman and founder Bill Daggett, Ed.D., Tuesday, April 24, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center. Daggett will give a talk titled “Relevance and Rigor: Meeting the Needs of Our Students in the 21st Century.”

Daggett has spoken to numerous educators and education stakeholders in all 50 states. His messages have challenged listeners’ assumptions about the purposes, benefits and effectiveness of American schools. He has collaborated with education ministries in several countries, the Council of Chief State School Officers, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Governors Association and other national organizations. He currently serves on the education advisory boards for NASA and USA Today. He is also founder and chairman of the Successful Practices Network.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Southern Berkshire Regional School District at (413) 229-877.

–E.E.

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Whitney Center for the Arts to welcome The Sea The Sea

The Sea The Sea

Pittsfield — The Whitney Center for the Arts will welcome upstate New York-based indie folk-pop group The Sea The Sea Saturday, April 21, at 8 p.m.

The Sea The Sea’s 2014 debut release, “Love We Are We Love,” received praise from NPR, American Songwriter, No Depression and others, gathering over 15 million streams on Spotify. The animated video for their song “Waiting” sparked viral interest including from BuzzFeed, Pitchfork and the international TED 2015 conference. The band’s 2016 release, the six-song EP “In the Altogether,” recently earned features by Apple Music including Best of the Week and A-List Singer/Songwriter.

Tickets are $15. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or contact the Whit at (413) 443-0289 or info@thewhit.org.

–E.E.

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Writers Read to present poets Owen Lewis and Doug Anderson

Owen Lewis

Lee — The Writers Read monthly reading series will present poets Owen Lewis and Doug Anderson Tuesday, April 24, at 6:30 p.m. at the Lee Library.

Lewis is the author of the poetry collections “Marriage Map” and “Sometimes Full of Daylight” as well as two chapbooks. His “Best Man” received the New England Poetry Club’s 2016 Jean Pendrick Chapbook Prize. Lewis was a finalist for the 2017 Pablo Neruda Award, the first-prize winner the 2016 Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine and the second-prize winner of the 2016 Paumantok Award. His poetry has appeared in publications such as Nimrod, the Mississippi Review, Southword and the Four Way Review. He is a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University where he teaches with the narrative medicine group.

Anderson’s most recent book of poems is “Horse Medicine. “His first book, “The Moon Reflected Fire,” won the Kate Tufts Discovery Award and his second, “Blues for Unemployed Secret Police,” received a grant from the Academy of American Poets. His work has appeared in publications including Poetry, the Massachusetts Review, Ploughshares and FIELD. Anderson has also written plays and criticism, has taught at Smith and Emerson colleges and in the MFA programs at Bennington College and Pacific University Oregon. He is also a photographer and visual artist.

For more information, contact David Giannini at davidgpoet@gmail.com.

–E.E.

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‘High Voltage’ at St. Francis Gallery

Artwork by Dean Nimmer. Image courtesy St. Francis Gallery

South Lee — The St. Francis Gallery presents its spring show, “High Voltage,” through Thursday, May 31. An artists’ reception will take place Saturday, April 21, from 3 to 6 p.m.

“High Voltage,” representing a jolt to the imagination through abstraction, features abstract canvases in collage and acrylic by Michael Fabrizio; found-material and altered-object sculptures, and colorful narrative paintings by Kim Engel; pen-and-ink character drawings by Linda Baker-Cimini; small, mixed-media abstract canvases by Dean Nimmer; “Food For Thought” oil paintings by Lakey Pryjma; collaged pieces by Philip Pryjma; and artwork by primary schoolchildren in Kenya.

For more information, contact the St. Francis Gallery at (413) 717-5199 or st.francisgallery102@gmail.com.

–E.E.