Storefront Artists Greet the New Year
Between its December and January openings, the Storefront Artist Project in Pittsfield had a post-holiday open house on Sunday, January 4, for its board and most loyal supporters, who came to see the work of resident artists Michael St. John and Lisa Desrosiers. The next opening is on January 17 from 6 - 8 PM for the Storefront’s Mentor Exhibit.
Storefront board member Colleen Quinn and Lawrence Klein, chairman emeritus and founder of the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in New York City, who is now a Pittsfield resident.
Storefront director Peter Dudek and artist Lisa Desrosiers.
Albany sculptor J.C. Jogerst and Kristin Boyd.
Pittsfield director of cultural development Megan Whilden and board member Gabrielle Senza, founder and artistic director of The Red Collaborative.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 01/07/09 at 10:38 AM • Permalink
Berkshire Creative Economy Council Sparkles in Lenox
It was like a Facebook reunion when hundreds of actual and virtual friends of the Berkshire Creative Economy Council gathered at Seven Hills in Lenox on Thursday, December 4, for the Sparkle holiday party. Berkshire Creative’s chairman Nancy Fitzpatrick (left) urged guests to bid on silent auction items to help the council raise funds for a $100,000 state matching grant that will allow the council to stimulate new job growth and economic opportunity in the region by sparking innovative collaborations between artists, designers, cultural institutions and businesses.
Marketing consultant Carolann Patterson with her brother Brian Butterworth, the Red Lion Inn’s director of sales; Maisie Deely, Nancy Olivver Jassaud and Hilary Deely.
Design-and-marketing guru Kevin Sprague with Carrie Saldo of the Berkshire Visitors Bureau
Pittsfield Director of Cultural Development Megan Whilden and Berkshire Fringe founder Sara Katzoff; weekenders-turned-full-timers Nick Kierstead and Lisa Cavender.
Seven Hills new owner Robin Gerson Wong and motivational speaker Richard Fabozzi.
Writer Bess Hochstein with the Berkshire Museum’s Stuart Chase; writer and blogger Gina Hyams and Michael Zivyak of Berkshire Living.
Artist Darren Ovitsky and Dr. Nancy L. Ovitsky, chair of the department of Business Administration & Economics at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 12/04/08 at 11:43 PM • Permalink
Antiques: Hudson Supermarket Celebrates
On Saturday, November 22, Vintage and Modern Inc. and the Hudson Supermarket co-hosted a drinks and dim-sum do to introduce new vendors. Dealers from up-and-down Warren Street joined in welcoming (have these people never heard of cut-throat competition?) Olenka, whose “Artworks” floral designs now occupies the space near one of the front windows, David Petrovsky, Tom Noonan, James Cummings, Thurley Randolph, Nicholas Hardy, Richard Eagan, Kathy Pakay, and Daniel Turk. Besides the myriad antiques sellers, there were antiques seekers, including at least two bonafide farmers and one principal dancer with the New York City ballet. We ask you: where else?
Artist David Michalek and Wendy Whelan, a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet.
Artist Abel Ramirez, Jenny Baldwin and antiques dealer Tom Swope; Golden Harvest Farms and Harvest Spirits’ Derek Grout with fellow farmer Christopher Fortugno III and Ashley Hartka
Seth Datz, John Hannan, owner of The Van Schaack House , the uber-elegant Kinderhook B&B, and photographer Pat Harbron; Kim and Jennifer Arenskjold of Arenskjold Antiques with Chris Sansbury (center) of Vintage and Modern Inc., who co-hosted the party.
Hudson Supermarket owner Able Sun with his colleagues, Circa Trade vendor Courtney Pyle, and the one who keeps it all together, Christina Bohnsack
Antiques seekers Johanna Bard and her daughter Jessica Bard; therapist Dr. Bob Gillis and serious dairy farmer (Glencadia Farm) Christopher Fortugno III.
Peter Frank, Rural Residence owner Tim Dunleavy, and Five and Diamond vintage clothier Lisa Durfee; antiques and art dealer David Bruner with Keystone Antiques owners Theresa and Jim Godman
Cynthia Lathrop, Thomas Malic, and Todd Gribben owner of Gris Antiques; Adelle Gleamann (center) with Douglas Maguire and his wife Anna
Mark Wasserbach of Mark’s Antiques, Michael Levinson of Gray Fish Interiors, and Karen Murphy of Carousel Antiques; George Stillwaggen of the eponymous Hudson antiques store, new Hudson Supermarket vendor Kathy Pakay of Relics Antiques, and Henry Antiques‘ Nancy Shaver
Hudson FilmWorks‘ Sedat Pakay and designer James Corbett; Coldwell Banker Bartolotta Associate Broker Sterling Swann with Stair Galleries‘ Colin Stair
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 11/23/08 at 07:31 AM • Permalink
The Bold Ones: Celebrating Sol LeWitt at Mass MoCA
Fashion seemed to be on many peoples’ minds on Saturday at Mass MoCA’s gala opening of Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective. Some guests wore bright stripes in homage to the artist, while others wore basic art-world black so as to not clash with the painted walls. Whether by accident or design, many guests coordinated with the walls, creating vibrant tableaux vivants. Everybody seemed to be wearing broad smiles, because the exhibition is daunting and delightful, extravagant and exuberant. And it can be revisited many times, for it will be on view for at least the next 25 years.
Mass MoCA director and visionary Joseph C. Thompson; Mass MoCA marketing coordinator Brittany Bishop
Sally Zunino and Jane Nichols
Marilyn Buel wore Missoni stripes because “Sol liked it,“ she said; artists Gabriel Hurter and Karen Hendrickson, who help paint portions of the exhibition.
Ben Schweizer and Jennifer Chain
Yale’s deputy provost for art Barbara Shailor and political science professor Harry Blair; John and Maureen Jerome
Michael Cohen with his grandson Hank
Writer Amanda Gordon and television director Jonathan Heidelberger; many volunteers, including Diana Nawi, a curatorial assistant and graduate student at Willliams College, wore T-shirts with a famous quotation by LeWitt: “The idea becomes a machine that makes the art.“
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 11/16/08 at 03:00 PM • Permalink
A Silent Auction Ends with a Bang
Before the deluge, the night was weirdly warm. Which could also describe the action inside the house at Hammertown Barn on Saturday, November 15. Culminating a week of on-line silent auction bidding, attendees came bent on winning. With continued federal and state support looking less likely by the day, everyone understands that it’s our obligation to keep our local charitable and cultural institutions afloat. In that spirit, supporters of the Berkshire-Taconic Community Foundation and it’s subsidiaries, the Northeast Dutchess Fund and the Fund for Columbia County, gathered for a pour of unusually fine wines, provided by Neal Rosenthal (at left, signing his book, Reflections of a Wine Merchant, for Jon Arneson), accompanied by an outpouring of generosity.
Bent on winning, last-minute bidders calculate their moves.
Anna Hirschorn and Elizabeth Beier; Neal Rosenthal and Kerry Madigan
Cartoonist Liza Donnelly, Lyndon Preston, and the evening’s hostess Joan Osofsky
Rosemary Lyons and Beth Ledy, both of the Fund for Columbia County, flank Amy Gold
Lucinda Ross and her husband ABC News chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross flank Brooke Lehman and web designer Gregg Osofsky
John Arneson and Peter Gleason, both of the Northeast Dutchess Fund; Heidi Stanvick, who offered samples of her Vervacious line of flavorings, with Carol Smillie
Visiting from Watkins Glen, Betsy Galbraith takes the rare mid-November night air with her sister Gail Cashen, of the Fund for Columbia County.
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 11/16/08 at 07:48 AM • Permalink
A Fête for the Festival of Trees at the Berkshire Museum
Remember when every city, big and small, had at least one great department store with holiday windows and decorations that set the mood for the season? Alas, the great department stores are practically extinct, but the Berkshire Museum’s 24th annual Festival of Trees is like several city blocks of great decorations under one roof. The historic museum is chockablock with more than 200 individually decorated Christmas trees made by businesses and organizations ranging from the Austen Riggs Center and Brix Wine Bar to the Junior League of Berkshire County. With major sponsorship by Legacy Banks Foundation, the exhibition is not only proof of the creativity and charity that reigns in the Berkshires but also a reminder that you don’t have to go to a store to catch the Christmas spirit.
The Berkshire Museum’s Stuart Chase and Kimberly Rawson with the Tupperware Tree by Heather Levy.
Cassandra Lyon with her mother, Tonia Scalise, who’s own mother made trees in the early years of the festival; former WAMC reporter Carrie Saldo, who is the media coordinator for the Berkshire Visitors Bureau.
Museum benefactor Heather Dobbins tries out the Pedal-A-Watt bicycle that produces the energy to light several trees
Sue & Andy Kelly stand in front of a tree designed by their friend Jenny Hersch, founder of the Housatonic River Museum; the Berkshire Music School’s Jo Ann Losinger with MCLA art professor Melanie Mowinski
Pittsfield gallery owner Leslie Ferrin with her daughter Lucy Sloane; Reid Middle School teacher Brendan Dillon with Scott LaGreca, natural sciences coordinator for the Berkshire Museum.
Berkshire Museum director of education Maria Mingalone with Berkshire Bateria’s Tommy Flores
Writer Bess Hochstein and artist Scott Cole, who owns the estimable Caffe Pomo d’Oro in West Stockbridge; Steve & Linda Pierce of Legacy Banks.
Two of the many untraditional trees with a “green” theme at the museum. Berkshire Carousel‘s Horse Tree (left) by Don DeAngelus.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 11/15/08 at 09:06 AM • Permalink
Findustry’s New Show: Dirty Dishes and Other Stories
The fun at Findustry, a gallery/store on Warren Street owned by John Findysz, always starts outside, with the windows. These had been done on Saturday afternoon, November 8, by the star of that evening’s performance piece, Homer Snyder (in cowboy gear at left), using nothing but masking tape. The show, “Dirty Dishes and Other Stories,“ runs until it changes. Orange you sorry you weren’t there?
Performance artist Homer Snyder’s masking tape window display; John Findysz astride a brass-clad Trojan horse borrowed for the evening’s performance from Fun House Antiques on Warren Street.
Aaron Enfield, Sally Helgesen with Rocco the Pomeranian, and Greta Boeringer, the Hudson libarian; Another Story: a stack of Hermes boxes on a chromatically compatible chair.
David Ludwig, Aaron Brumbelow and Patrick Terenchin; Kurt Smith of Fun House Antiques and John Findysz.
Findustry
701 Warren Street, Hudson; 917.548.3140
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 11/09/08 at 05:42 PM • Permalink
Linda Horn’s Opening at the Nicole Fiacco Gallery
Lots of warm, family feeling infused the gala opening on Saturday, November 8, at the Nicole Fiacco Gallery in Hudson. The exhibition, “Negative Space,“ a one-woman show of sculpture by the artist Linda B. Horn, is comprised almost exclusively of all-white plaster pieces. Everyone talked about how wonderful all that white 3-dimensional art looked in Fiacco’s new space, an enormous white cube. One very engaging piece, the shape of a woman’s face visible through a veil of fabric, however, appeared to have been banished to a poorly-lit spot in the entry. It’s presumed crime: being blue.
Collage artist Marlene Marshall, honored artist Linda Horn, Reggie Madison and Gail Peachin
Karen Jahn and Kate Cohen; peeking putti (a close-up of the dot on the wall in the photo at left), the aptly named Patrick and Sam Devine
Magazine editor Elaine Khosrova and ceramicist Mary Anne Davis; gallery owner Nicole Fiacco with Matt Delhoussaye and Megan Wurth
Scott Matthews with his daughter Sasha Harmon Matthews (whose mother, the Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times reporter Amy Harmon, was absent due to work), and her aunt Suzie Matthews; Lucia Larson, Linda Horn’s daughter, with high school biology teacher Steve Cohen
Robin Morrow, visiting from Haddonfield, NJ, with her “surrogate mother”, the artist Mona Mark; Linda Horn’s son Judson Horn, her son-in-law Steve Larson, and Sara Malakoff
Author and speaker Sally Helgesen and Patti Rohrlich; community activist Sam Pratt and artist Laetitia Hussain
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 11/09/08 at 09:32 AM • Permalink
Openings at BCB Art in Hudson
Saturday night, two new shows at BCB ART—“Black, White & Blue, new paintings by Bart Gulley” and “Around Here: 9 Local Landscapes by Sasha Chermayeff”— drew art world cognoscenti from both sides of the river and Massachusetts to the Hudson gallery. Despite harrowing weather, nearly 250 people turned out to see Gulley’s new paintings, which combine dynamic hard-edged geometrics with more lyrical sections in his customary painterly style. In a departure from Chermayeff’s usual abstract work, her landscapes attempt the impossible — to capture the elusive “perfect day.“ Both shows are up through November 30.
Artist Bart Gulley with art consultant Katharine Carter, critic Ann Landi, and painter Stephanie Rose
Bruce Altshuler, director of Museum Studies at NYU & Dan Devine; art student Lailah Amstutz & her teacher, the artist Sasha Chermayeff.
Artist Frank Faulkner, author and speaker Sally Helgesen, & Philip Kesinger; BCB Art owner Bruce Bergmann, with artists Myron Polenberg, & Claude Carone
Artists Mark Thomas Kanter, Philip Howie & Newton Fleming; Kate Cohen, Allan Davidson, and artist Linda Horn.
Artists Mona Mark and James Dustin, with designer Mary Blinn; Kitty Mackey with artist Claude Carone
Patrick O’Connor and Victor Vazquez; artist Vince Pomilio, who currently has a one-man show at the Hudson Opera House & Robert Bahan
Novelist Sally Koslow and Rob Koslow; artists Scott Reynolds and Heather Hutchison
Dick Trachtman and Jan Hopkins Tractman; The Inn at Hudson owners Windle Davis and Dimi Lamot, with BCB’s Bruce Bergmann
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 10/26/08 at 07:45 AM • Permalink
7 Dutchess Grand Opening
On Saturday evening in Millerton, 7 Dutchess, the new fashion-and-home-furnishings store run by Joan Osofsky of Hammertown Barn and Mimi Harney, had its official grand opening. Located on the side street across from The Moviehouse, 7 Dutchess carries the kind of stylish clothes that are just right for women who live in the country but don’t want to dress like lumberjacks. The ambience is pure Hammertown, so you can sit down on a comfy sofa and browse through stacks of coffee table books before buying, say, a new set of Fishs Eddy dishes or one of the dramatic tables made from old industrial pieces by Tim Jones of Stissing Design.
Hammertown’s Dana Osofsky and Stissing Design’s Tim Jones.
7 Dutchess proprietor Mimi Harney and her husband, Paul Harney; parental power couple Elyse Harney and John Harney.
Hammertown’s Joan Osofsky with Susan Mieras.
Denise Bovell and Sara Reel; Lu and Amanda Yertut.
Jewelry designer Saski Larraz and Berkshire Property Agents’ Jen Harvey-Montano
