‘A Berkshire Home Companion’
Stockbridge — The First Congregational Church of Stockbridge will present the first edition of “A Berkshire Home Companion” on Saturday, Nov. 5, at 6 p.m. Based on the award-winning public radio formula, the evening will feature musical guests, radio plays, storytelling, advertisements, and “news from Lake Mahkeenac, my home town.” Performers will include comedienne Alison Larkin; folksinger JoAnne Redding; the Mount Everett Madrigal Singers; opera singers Marjorie Dix, Nellie Rustick, Steve Hassmer and John Demler; the Intercontinental Radio Theater featuring Hana Kenny and Chris Brophy; and the evening’s host and writer, David Anderegg. In conjunction with the event, the church will sponsor a pie contest, with the entries available for purchase after the evening’s entertainment.
Tickets are $20 general admission and free for children under age 12. Proceeds will benefit historic preservation of the church. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or call (413) 298-3137.
–E.E.
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Treats for Troops
Pittsfield — On Saturday, Nov. 5, from 1 to 3 p.m. local mother Miriam Middleton will partner with Berkshire Family Focus, the Here at Home Committee and the Berkshire Carousel to bring the Berkshires’ first annual Treats for Troops to the Berkshire Carousel.
Treats for Troops is a family-friendly community celebration for kids of all ages to honor servicemen and -women, donate candy to the troops, and participate in a community service activity. The afternoon will feature a candy buyback program in which children can donate their extra Halloween candy to be delivered to deployed troops via the USO in exchange for free rides on the Berkshire Carousel and treats from various local businesses and organizations. Participants will also be encouraged to visit the card-making table so cards can be included with the shipments of candy.
For more information contact Miriam Middleton (305) 793-8625 or mir2425@aol.com.
–E.E.
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Artist Kathleen Jacobs at Simon’s Rock
Great Barrington — Bard College at Simon’s Rock’s Hillman-Jackson Gallery presents “Clearing,” a solo exhibit by New York- and Egremont-based artist Kathleen Jacobs through Wednesday, Dec. 21. On Friday, Nov. 4 from 5 to 7 p.m., Jacobs will give a short gallery talk followed by an artist’s reception.
In “Clearing,” Jacobs brings viewers up close to canvases that started their lives outside, wrapped around the trunks and limbs of trees and then exposed to the rain, snow and sun for three years. Responding to the thickly wooded campus of Simon’s Rock outside the art gallery, Jacobs has begun the process again, wrapping several canvases on pine trees along Alford Road to see what the “battle of elements” brings forth.
Jacobs was born in Aspen, Colorado and studied art in Boston, Milan, Hong Kong and Beijing. Her work has been exhibited extensively in galleries in Colorado, New York, Vienna and Brussels.
–E.E.
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Olana to present ‘The American Summerhouse’
Hudson, N.Y. — On Saturday, Nov. 5, at 3 p.m., the Olana Partnership and Dr. Therese O’Malley, the associate dean at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., will present the lecture “The American Summerhouse: Amusing, Instructive & Friendly.”
In addition to O’Malley’s illustrated lecture on her internationally recognized landscape scholarship, the event will include a book signing and reception as well as one last chance to explore the “Follies, Function & Form: Imagining Olana’s Summer House” exhibition in the Coachman’s House Gallery.
Therese O’Malley, Ph.D., has been with the National Gallery of Art since 1984. She received her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in the history of art from the University of Pennsylvania. O’Malley is the former president of the Society of Architectural Historians and a member of the editorial board of the Landscape Studies series of the University of Pennsylvania Press, and the international quarterly Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes. Her most recent accomplishment is the publication “Keywords in American Landscape Design” (2010).
The cost of this event is $10 for Olana members and $15 for nonmembers. For tickets and more information, see the Berkshire Edge calendar or call (518) 828-1872.
–E.E.
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‘Friends of Fire’ art exhibit at Hotchkiss School
Lakeville, Conn. — The Tremaine Art Gallery at the Hotchkiss School presents the exhibition “Friends of Fire: Ceramic Art” by Hotchkiss ceramics instructor Delores Coan and Hotchkiss alumni Abigail Doan ’84, Christy Johnson ’86, Emily Lee ’98, Mingxi Li ’14, Lucy Li ’11, Sandy McMillan ’89, Clark Maturo ’08, and John Williams ’93 through Sunday, Dec. 4. A reception will be held Saturday, Nov. 5, from 4 to 6 p.m.
The retrospective exhibit marks Coan’s final year of teaching at Hotchkiss before retirment. Coan chose to show her work along with the work of former students to highlight the central role teaching has played in her career and the lasting relationships she has forged because of it.
Coan has taught at Hotchkiss for over 35 years. Her work is featured in permanent collections at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and the Everson Museum in Syracuse, New York. Most recently she has spent summers teaching in Jingdezhen, China.
For more information, call (860) 435-4423.
–E.E.
