Race Brook Lodge presents Esther’s Laboratory, the literary and sonic musings of Brooklyn-based Esther Quansah
Sheffield— On Thursday, November 21st from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., Race Brook Lodge presents Esther’s Laboratory.
Esther’s Laboratory comprises the literary and sonic musings of Brooklyn-based Esther Quansah. Her music is dominated by the intersection of her West African roots with her modern, experimental approach to creating art. In New York, Esther performs live with her afro-psychedelic art-rock project The Narcotix in addition to selective presentations of material from Esther’s Lab.
Esther Quansah, known artistically as Essie Quoi, is an emerging musician and multidisciplinary artist whose work defies easy categorization, weaving together sound, story, and emotion into an immersive tapestry of experience. As much an alchemist as an artist, Essie fuses the realms of music, visual art, and performance to create a unique and evocative language that speaks directly to the heart. Essie’s artistic mission is to push the boundaries of creative expression through fearless experimentation and raw vulnerability. Rooted in West African rhythms, global folk traditions, and the avant-garde textures of musique concrète, her soundscapes are both deeply personal and universally resonant. Each piece is an invitation to explore the depths of emotion, memory, and identity, often blurring the lines between the organic and the synthetic, the real and the imagined.
The performance is on Thursday, November 21st from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the Down County Social Club at Race Brook Lodge, located at 864 South Undermountain Road in Sheffield. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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Yiddish Book Center presents ‘They Called Me Mayer: Painted Memories of a Jewish Childhood in Poland before the Holocaust’ a virtual talk with Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett
Amherst— On Thursday, November 21st at 7 p.m., the Yiddish Book Center presents ‘They Called Me Mayer: Painted Memories of a Jewish Childhood in Poland before the Holocaust’ a virtual talk with Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett.
Mayer Kirshenblatt was born in 1916 and left Poland for Canada in 1934. He taught himself to paint at age 73 and made it his mission to remember the world of his childhood in living color, “lest future generations know more about how Jews died than how they lived.” In this talk his daughter, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, will discuss her father’s legacy and recent exhibitions of his work, including the current exhibition at the POLIN Museum, which presents a dialogue between Mayer’s depictions of his youth in the shtetl and today’s Opatów, a post-Jewish town with no remaining Jewish community.
The free talk is on Thursday, November 21st at 7 p.m. on Zoom. More information can be found online.
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Clark Art Institute presents ‘Abelardo Morell: In the Company of Monet and Constable’
Williamstown— From November 23rd through February 17th, Clark Art Institute presents “Abelardo Morell: In the Company of Monet and Constable.”
Featuring over a dozen large-scale photographs of the places where leading nineteenth-century landscape painters John Constable and Claude Monet made some of their most iconic works of art, the Clark Art Institute’s latest exhibition presents Cuban-American photographer Abelardo Morel in “Abelardo Morell: In the Company of Monet and Constable.”
Morell (b. 1948, Havana; lives and works in Boston) is known for his distinctive photographic inventions based on the principles of a camera obscura. Morell’s Tent/Camera device used to make the images in this exhibition, makes it possible for him to combine in a single image the features of a landscape view with whatever happens to be underfoot—leaves, blades of grass, dirt, pebbles, and so on. Combining picturesque vistas with ground-level natural details, Morell’s luscious color photographs capture one’s relation to both art and nature through their complex fusion of the historical and the contemporary, the transitory and the lasting, the pictorial and the photographic.
“It is exciting to see the ways in which Abelardo Morell breathes new life into scenes that have become so closely associated with the works of artists who lived more than a century before him. The unique marriage of three artists’ perspectives—working generations apart—to create something that is utterly new is brilliant,” said Olivier Meslay, Hardymon Director of the Clark. “Not only will our visitors enjoy the haunting beauty of this exhibition, but I am certain that they will find the artist’s process fascinating.”
The exhibit runs from November 23rd through February 17th at the Clark Art Institute, located on South Street in Williamstown. More information can be found online.
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Miraval Berkshires Resort and Spa to feature museum-sized artworks by abstract expressionist Jill Krutick
Lenox— Jill Krutick, a New York-based abstract expressionist artist, is exhibiting seven museum-sized works at Miraval Berkshires Resort & Spa. The exhibition was recently installed in four locations around the resort including the reception area, spa, Body Mindfulness Center, and hallway near the Moonlight Pass Boutique.
Jill Krutick is an American contemporary abstract expressionist who painted privately for over 30 years and studied at The Art Students League of New York. In 2010, she began publicly exhibiting her work. She has been praised by world-famous art critics and has had four solo museum exhibitions and scores of group exhibitions both in the U.S. and several major European cities. Her most recent solo museum exhibition in 2023 featured a site-specific 85-foot-long abstract artwork, “Coral Beliefs,” at Pyramid Hill Sculptures Park & Museum, Ohio.
The works in the show include pieces from Ms. Krutick’s “Shangri La,” “Aurora Borealis,” “Abstract Landscape,” “Ice Cube,” and “Swirl” series. Each piece has a story that fits into Krutick’s journey from finance to fine art, and several of the pieces were featured at Krutick’s solo museum exhibitions over the past five years.
The exhibit is scheduled to be on view for one year at Miraval Berkshires Resort and Spa, located at 55 Lee Road in Lenox. There will be an artist talk and walking tour on Saturday November 16th every half hour from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. More information can be found online.
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Bidwell House Museum presents ‘Dressing the Christmas Tree’ with antiques expert Lorraine German
Monterey— On Thursday, November 21st from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Bidwell House Museum presents “Dressing the Christmas Tree” with antiques expert Lorraine German.
“Dressing the Christmas Tree” is a fascinating look at both antique and vintage Christmas decorations.German will discuss the history of adorning holiday greens from their pagan beginnings through the mid-20th century and will provide examples of ornaments from her own collection. An avid collector of Christmas antiques for almost 40 years, Lorraine’s interest began with an early 20th century German Santa and sleigh that she inherited from her grandparents. Christmas is Lorraine’s favorite season and each year she decorates every room of her home with an assortment of treasured family heirlooms, early decorations, and contemporary folk art.
Lorraine German and her late husband Steve established Mad River Antiques, LLC in 2001, with a concentration on 18th, 19th, and 20th century Americana and decorative arts. She has been a guest speaker at antiques shows, museums, and antiques organizations, where she has covered a variety of topics, including stoneware, redware, quilts, Christmas ornaments, and Santa Claus. Lorraine is also the author of “Soil and Shul in the Berkshires: The Untold Story of Sandisfield’s Jewish Farm Colony”, published in 2018.
The presentation is on Thursday, November 21st from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Bidwell House Museum, located at 100 Art School Road in Monterey. It will be followed by a wine and cheese reception. Registration and more information can be found online.
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‘Make Your Own Medicine,’ a workshop at Olana State Historic Site
Hudson, N.Y.— On Thursday, November 21st from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., as part of its monthly “3rd Thursday” programming, Olana State Historic Site will host a free “Make Your Own Medicine” workshop.
Learn more about plants and their power to heal with community organizer/bridge, psycho-spiritual, embodiment and medicine guide, and founder of Casa Finca, Suanny Ugegui. Create your own piece of herbal medicine to take home and practice slowing down and reconnecting with the natural world. The program will end with an invitation to watch the sunset.
The free workshop is on Thursday, November 21st from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Olana State Historic Site, located at 5720 State Route 9G in Hudson, N.Y. The workshop is open to all ages and will be offered in English and Spanish. More information can be found online.
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Montessori School of the Berkshires to host evening with best-selling author and psychologist Michael G. Thompson, Ph.D.
Lenox— On Wednesday, November 20th from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., the Montessori School of the Berkshires is pleased to announce a special evening event featuring renowned author, psychologist, and international speaker Michael G. Thompson, Ph.D.m who will offer valuable insights from his best-selling book “Best Friends/Worst Enemies: Understanding the Social Lives of Children.”
In “Best Friends/Worst Enemies,” Dr. Thompson, and co-author Catherine O’Neill Grace, explore the complexities of childhood friendships, emphasizing both the enriching and challenging aspects. The book sheds light on how friendships influence children’s emotional and social development from birth through adolescence, addressing issues such as peer pressure, bullying, and the nuances of inclusion and exclusion. As children’s friendships can bring joy but also cause significant stress for families, this topic is one that resonates with parents, educators, and caregivers alike.
Michael G. Thompson, Ph.D. has been a trusted consultant to schools and families for over 30 years. He is the supervising psychologist at The Belmont Hill School and has worked with more than 700 schools across the U.S. and internationally. His work emphasizes the importance of building emotionally supportive environments for children to thrive in.
The event is on Wednesday, November 20th from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Montessori School of the Berkshires, located at 21 Patterson Road in Lenox. Admission is free. Reservations and more information can be found online.
