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Thankful To Live In The Berkshires
By Bess Hochstein
With Thanksgiving upon us, I am reminded once again how appreciative I am of this special place we call the Berkshires. For someone like me who loves both culture and country living, this region provides the best of both worlds and, since we moved here about six years ago, the cultural side of the equation continues to expand into a year-round cornucopia..jpg)
Take the past few November weekends, for example. On the Friday after the elections, the Norman Rockwell Museum held a preview of its new exhibition, Over the Top: American Posters from World War I. This stunning show features war propaganda posters, meant to promote patriotism and the purchase of war bonds and stamps -- some of which are surprisingly gruesome, and all in pristine condition -- by some of the greatest U.S. illustrators of the early 20th century. These 90-year-old posters are as vibrant as if they had just rolled off the press. (They were, however, folded and taped, but the damages were expertly repaired at theWilliamstown Art Conservation Center.) It’s a great time to see this exhibition, and the Rockwell Museum is now offering free admission every Tuesday through April, free afternoon gallery talks on the second Tuesday afternoon of each month, and Sunday afternoon “Art in Action” workshops. And to ring in the holidays, the Museum is hosting a family sing-along on December 6 from 4 to 7 pm.
The following weekend at the Mahaiwe was just one element of another November weekend as busy as any in summer, which included the Friday November 14 preview party for the 24th Annual Festival of Trees at Berkshire Museum. (Ye Olde Forge catered the party, and their hummus is garlicky great!) This Festival, a favorite Berkshire tradition, has a green theme, borne out by environmentally correct decorations, as well as displays of fashionable clothing and accessories made from recycled materials, a bicycle that visitors can ride to produce enough electricity to light a tree, mandalas made from plastic bags, and 19th century eco-friendly artifacts from the museum’s collection. .jpg)
The next day art lovers headed north for MASS MoCA’s member preview of the much anticipated exhibition, Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective. It is the world’s largest collection of LeWitt’s work with 105 brilliant wall drawings on nearly a mile of interior wall space. (MoCA has partnered with Metro North Railroad and Porches Inn to offer three, “car-free December weekends” in North Adams, including round-trip train fare from New York’s Grand Central Station to Wassaic; round-trip transport between Wassaic and North Adams; accommodations at Porches; full breakfast; and admission to MASS MoCA.)
We had to cut things short at the LeWitt preview (no worries – it will be there for 25 years, so we have plenty of time to see it again) to get to a cocktail party at The Mount celebrating the release of The Age of Entanglement: When Quantum Physics was Reborn. This is part of The Mount’s new Meet the Author series of literary events, which I’m thrilled about since it will bring new life to this historic estate during the winter months. Then we set off again to the Duncan Sheik show at theMahaiwe, which was jam-packed with appreciative fans.
Upcoming Events and Openings
The weeks ahead look just as eventful. Berkshire icon Arlo Guthrie returns to The Colonial on Friday, November 21, which is also the kick-off of Williams College’s 2008 Dialogue One Theatre Festival, directed by Omar Sangare, at the 62 Center. There’s no need to choose one or the other; Dialogue One continues on Saturday, November 22 with four new works playing from 2:00 to 7:30 pm. Ambitious art-lovers can easily fill out the day in Williamstown. The Williams College Museum of Art has two new exhibitions on display. Liu Zheng’s, The Chinese, which opened Nov. 15, features 120 photographs taken over a seven-year period of people from all walks of life; and the ABCDs of Sol LeWitt features important works from the private collection of LeWitt and complements the retrospective at MoCA. And there’s The Art of the Pastel, a new exhibition, opening Saturday, November 22, at The Clark of eleven works by Edgar Degas, Jean-Francois Millet, Camille Pissarro, Mary Cassatt, and others.
But on the 22, I’ll be at the Mahaiwe for Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust, broadcast live in HD from the Met – I’ve become a virtual opera buff! I may, instead, go see the pastels on December 11, when the Clark offers two enlightening events: a “Looking at Lunchtime” discussion of Joan of Arc by Marie D’Orleans at 12:30; and a lecture by Michael Cassin, director of the Clark’s Center for Education in the Visual Arts, on “The Art of Politics: Political Art of the Twentieth Century,” at 5:30 pm, in conjunction with the Clark’s timely exhibition, The Gentle and Not So Gentle Art of Political Caricatures, featuring work by the likes of Daumier, Rowlandson, and Thomas Nast.
Given the holiday season is fast approaching, there’s shopping to be done. I have a fondness for buying the work of local artists and there are plenty of timely opportunities to find great handmade gifts that happen to be perfect for current economic trends. On November 29 we’ll attend the opening reception of $mall Works: Art + Object, a group show of affordable work by the artists of Ferrin Gallery. The next Saturday, December 6, IS183 Art School holds its annual Holiday Fine Art and Craft Sale.
And Storefront Artist Project holds its annual 12” x 12” on 12/12 Benefit Art Raffle featuring more than 100 original small art works for a small price: just $25. Proceeds help fund the Artist Mentor Project, for which high school students work one-on-one with a professional artist. Since money is tight for many people these days, on December 10 Ferrin Gallery is hosting a panel discussion on a timely topic: Does Price Matter? Is Price the Object?
While most of us are thinking only slightly ahead -- to the holidays -- cultural planners are geared several seasons ahead. For example, on December 4, Berkshire International Film Festival, which kicks off in May, and the Triplex Cinema are bringing actor Christopher Noth (Mr. Big of Sex and the City fame) to town for a special showing of What I Meant to Tell You, a film memoir of dissident American poet Peter Kane Dufault, who will also on hand to read one of his poems before the screening. Afterward, BIFF director Kelley Vickery will host a fundraising cocktail party with Noth, Dufault, and director Ethan Dufault, plus a silent auction including a work of art by Walton Ford. BIFF is now accepting submissions for May 2009. I just got word that The Berkshire Fringe Festival is also looking for submissions for its fifth year at Bard College at Simon’s Rock. And Tanglewood will soon be announcing the plans for its summer season.
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Getting back to the here and now, it’s difficult to imagine when I’ll find time to put together our Thanksgiving feast. But that’s nothing to complain about – I’m truly thankful to be able to partake of the banquet of culture available in the Berkshires this holiday season and throughout the year.
About Bess Hochstein
Bess J.M. Hochstein came to the Berkshires as a second-homeowner before deciding to move here full time. Previously a communications executive, she's now a freelance writer living in Tyringham with her corgis Duffy and Hobbs and K. She writes for several publications, including Berkshire Living, Boston Globe and New England Wine.
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