Parties & Openings
Great Barrington - July 26 |
Lenox - July 24 |
Hudson - July 24 |
Clowning Around at the Berkshire Fringe Gala
Summer culture in our region is defined by historic institutions such as Tanglewood, Jacob’s Pillow and the Berkshire Theatre Festival, which is why the edgy Berkshire Fringe Festival has been embraced by forward-thinking arts enthusiasts of all ages, who attended the opening night “gala” at the Daniel Arts Center on Monday, July 26. Accessible and avant garde, the Berkshire Fringe’s annual residency at Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington (July 26 - August 16) is an opportunity to witness the shenanigans of a new generation of performing artists such as Sara Katzoff and Peter Wise (photo) who co-founded the Fringe with Timothy Ryan Olson.
Fringe gala committee members Hilary Somers Deely and Kate Morris; Vicki Bonnington and Carrie Saldo discovered they were both wearing outfits bought in New York’s Nolita from Sohung Designs.
Photographer Abby Webster and actress Emma Dweck, who appeared in Long Way Down on opening night; the Darrow School’s Maisie Deely and Dartmouth senior Mac Morris.
Tyler Parks and Bruce Glaseroff whose Pi Clowns troupe came from San Francisco to participate in the Fringe; they are performing “Slices of All” from July 29 - August 2
Karen Beaumont, head of the theater program at Bard College at Simon’s Rock who performed at the gala, with Adam Medina and Pooja; Heather Fisch who performed “Accordionic Odyssey” on opening night, writer Jeremy Goodwin, the director of communications at the Berkshire Museum, and Ava Dweck.
Strategic governance consultant Phil Deely with his son, Pip Deely; actress/dancer Karen Lee with the Dream Away Lodge’s Daniel Osman and real estate broker Nancy Kalodner.
Technical director Sandy Cleary-Wade with Albany Law School staff attorney Amy Lavine; Mezze Catering’s Nancy Thomas with Chris Amendola, the new chef at Allium.
Andrew P.Quick, Kelsey Custard & Leah Gardner who came from San Francisco with the Pi Clowns to perform “Slices of All” from July 29 - August 2
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 07/27/10 at 07:51 PM • Permalink
The Chattering Class Communes at Berkshire WordFest
It’s hard to remember that The Mount was facing the possibility of a bank foreclosure a little more than two years ago (“The Age of Innocence Is Over,” RI, February 27, 2008.) Under the leadership of executive director Susan Wissler and board chairman Gordon Travers, Edith Wharton’s Estate & Gardens have been transformed into a hotbed of contemporary arts and letters. Last weekend, The Mount staged the first Berkshire WordFest with panels, readings and discussions featuring esteemed authors such as Garrison Keillor (left with Susan Wissler), Francine Prose, Tad Friend, Amanda Hesser, Dani Shapiro, Ruth Reichl, Frank Delaney and Susan Orlean among others. It was an auspicious debut for a festival that aspires to be for writing (and reading) what Tanglewood is to music and Jacob’s Pillow is to dance.
Jacob’s Pillow trustee Hunter Runnette with Tad Friend, author of Cheerful Money: Me, My Family, and the Last Days of Wasp Splendor; Husband-and-wife writers Susan Orlean, author of The Orchid Thief, and John Gillespie, author of Money for Nothing.
Husband-and-wife writers Frank Delaney, author of Ireland, A Novel, and Diane Meier, author of The Season of Second Chances.
Hans Morris, the vice chairman of MASS MoCA, with his wife, Kate Morris; Mount board member John Gamberoni and Seth Hoffman.
Dear Money author Martha McPhee with poet Mark Svengold and Devotion author Dani Shapiro.
Bostonian Jim Bride and Sarah Hunter Hudson, chief development officer at The Mount; Audrey Manring, who organized the festival, with Rodger & Barbara Manring.
New Yorker staff writer Judith Thurman with Rhonda Sherman, who organizes The New Yorker Festival; Sally Begley with David Lamb, president of Vantage Press.
Lenox Bookstore proprietor Matt Tannenbaum with Rebecca Morgan Frank, editor in chief of Memorious: A Journal of New Verse and Fiction, and poet Leslie Harrison.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 07/26/10 at 04:06 PM • Permalink
Paradise Found at Olana
“I’ll have a Dark & Stormy, please,” one guest requested of the bartender, seemingly unaware of how portentous her cocktail order might be. But, as it usually does, the weather cooperated on Saturday, July 24, for Olana‘s annual (rain or shine) summer garden party. This year’s theme, Paradise Found, refers to the many months in 1865, that Hudson River School painter Frederic Church and his wife Isabel spent in Jamaica. (This trip was at least two years before Olana, their Persian-style house overlooking the Hudson River, was so much as a gleam in the artist’s eye.) Hence, “island attire” was encouraged. Many male guests interpreted that broadly and wore Hawaiian shirts, while the women seemed to favor anything cool and bright. However, it was the musicians, Hamilton Hill Arts Center Steel Drum Band (single lead steel drummer Jasmine Kendricks, left), who nailed “the look.” For future reference, gentlemen, remember clam-diggers? Ladies: if you start with a hibiscus in your hair and work your way logically down from there, you can’t go wrong.
Hamilton Hill Arts Center Steel Drum Band
Kay Toll, Olana trustee Asbjorn Lunde, and Sara Griffen, President of the Olana Partnership; Brooke Travelstead and Malcolm Travelstead
Decorating committee member Shaun Fisher, Olana membership director Keith Nyhof, Doug Fisher, Donna Fisher, and Elaine Ewing also on the decorating committee.
Jack Higbee, Mary Ellen Higbee, and owners of The Croff House, a Hudson b & b, Russ Gibson and Duncan Calhoun; Fayal Greene, Dave Sharp, and Gaby Goldet
David W. Forer, Meeyun Taylor, Lewis Hart, Louise McCready, Gabriel Cheng, Louis Kunhardt, Jr., Becky Malinsky, and Thomas Shiah
Janet Schnitzer and Tomm Eaton;band members Janiya Minor, Shalanda Murray, and Jasmine Kendricks
Architect Kate Johns and Paula Forman; Anne Ryan, Tom Heeps and Beth Heeps
Michael Kenney and Chessa Forer; Alicia Kurzer and Mike Kurzer of Shier Winery
Landscape architect and Olana trustee Robin Key, Pam Cohen, and photographer Mimi Forer; artist Stephen King and landscape designer Peter Bavacqua
Anthony Spensieri, Valerie Spensieri, Carol Spensieri and Joel Spensieri
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 07/26/10 at 08:34 AM • Permalink
The World Premiere of “Pool Boy” at Barrington Stage
Has there ever been a Berkshires theater audience so hoping for a hit? Most of the people who gathered at Barrington Stage Company’s Stage 2 in Pittsfield on July 21 know and adore composer Nikos Tsakalakos (near left with his onstage alter ego Jay Armstrong Johnson) who has turned his experiences working poolside at LA’s Hotel Bel-Air into Pool Boy, a musical comedy for our times. Produced by BSC’s Musical Theater Lab under the aegis of William Finn, this first fully-staged iteration overflows with wonderful songs and sharp humor that pokes fun at the pretensions of modern-day Hollywood. Expertly directed by Daniella Topol on a sleek set, this is still a work in progress, but it’s a thrilling chance for audiences to experience the birth of what clearly has the potential to be a major hit. One can imagine how narcissistic audiences in LA would line up to see themselves portrayed on stage in songs such as “In the Muck” and “Mortal Kombat.” The cast and crew seemed exhilarated and exhausted at the post-show party at the offices of Berkshire Living in downtown Pittsfield, where they were toasted by friends, family and loyal Barrington Stage supporters.
Actress Sara Gettelfinger, who plays the record producer’s wife, Mrs. Duval, with BSC trustee Reba Evenchik and Cortney Wolfson, who plays April, the Pool Boy’s sweetheart; scenic designer Brian Prather with BSC artistic director Julianne Boyd.
Sorab Wadia, who plays the Sultan of Nubai, with director Daniella Topol.
BSC board president Minkie Quinson with BSC graphic designer Michael Rousseau; Angelique Mouyis-Tsakalakos and trustee Sheila Richman.
Shonn Wiley, costume designer Holly Cain and assistant director Nick Potenzieri.
Karen & Bob Youdelman; Berkshire Living‘s Michael Zivyak and Berkshire Property Agents’ Tim Lovett.
Barrington Stage interns Emily Plowski, Daniel Kapp & Cortney McEniry.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 07/22/10 at 06:16 AM • Permalink
Photography Show Opens at Carrie Haddad in Hudson
Lovers of the art of photography, in all its infinite variety, gathered on Saturday evening at Carrie Haddad Photographs for the opening of a show that featured photography of wildly divergent bents. Andrian Fernandez, the Cuban photographer who Rural Intelligence’s Wandering Eye Carey Maloney and his partner Hermes Mallea discovered on their frequent recent trips to Havana, does technically exacting still lifes that manage to be at once strictly controlled and wildly flamboyant. David Seiler does haunting sepia-toned blow-ups, often portraits, that he then alters in a painterly manner by varying the surface texture and tone to convey an antique affect. Margaret Saliske decoupages her intricately shaped sculptures with (mostly) black-and-white photographs. And Nancy Goldring projects images onto painted screen, then photographs the results.
Alf Law, eponymous gallery owner Carrie Haddad, and Glenda Law
Hermes Mallea and Carey Maloney; Artist Tony Thompson and Karen Keats, assistant director of Carrie Haddad Photographs
Amy Dubin and Sue Karayannides; Gina Moore and Don Moore, President of the Hudson City Common Council
Harry Hill and Nick Haddad; Photographer Margaret Saliske, whose photographic scultures were featured in the show, and photographer Harry Wilks
Melissa Stafford, director of Carrie Haddad Photographs and Victor Mendolia, chairman of Hudson Democrats Muffy Cunningham and Carey Maloney, there representing the Cuban photographer Adrian Fernandez, whose work was shown
Author Robin Palmer and painter Abby Schulhoff, whose work will be featured in the upcoming show, Agriculture, at the Columbia County Council on the Arts; Shelley Duffy, in town for her brother David Seiler‘s opening, and Gina DiSarro
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 07/18/10 at 08:13 AM • Permalink
Chatham’s Crandell Theatre Reopens At Last
The official ribbon cutting was on Friday night and the tv crews were there to take in the spectacle as the Crandell Theatre, dark since the untimely death of owner Tony Quirino last January, reopened with Toy Story 3. Crandell loyalists were relieved to find that, as promised, the only immediately discernible change—tickets are still $5 for adults, $4 for kids—is that eighty years of gum has been removed from the floor. Then on Sunday, a beautiful afternoon, the Chatham Film Club, which now owns the theater, resumed its weekly screenings. Film Club member James Schamus, of Ghent (who heads Focus Features), was greeted to thunderous applause by a full house when he explained that the movie that was about to screen, The Kids Are All Right, starring Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, and Mark Ruffalo “is opening this weekend in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Chatham.”
John Dax, Film Club V. P. Peter Biskind, Honorary Board Member James Schamus, and President Sandi Knakal
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 07/13/10 at 07:43 AM • Permalink
Bard’s Summerscape Festival is a Hudson Valley Happening
Bard Summerscape is like a rural version of the Next Wave Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. It brings together visual and performing artists as both presenters and audience, creating a cultural center of gravity for the Hudson Valley, which is one of the goals of Bard College president Leon Botstein (left with Toni Sosnoff). “This region needs real cultural tourism,” he told guests at the dinner in the Spiegeltent preceding a performance of the Trisha Brown Dance Company in the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts. The gala audience was invited back to the Spiegeltent afterwards for make-your-own ice cream sundaes and a surprise, private concert by world- renowned local resident Natalie Merchant.
Outside the Spiegeltent before the gala dinner, choreographer Trisha Brown with Burt Barr, who designed the costumes for Brown’s Twelve Ton Rose.
Spiegelmeister Nik Quaife with photographer and film producer Carolyn Marks Blackwood; artist Ramon Lascano with Nancy Marks.
Steve Swanson, Martin Kline and Metropolitan Museum of Art curator Gary Tinterow; Dan & Jane Lindau with James Gillson.
Dubway Studios’ Al Houghton, artist Sky Pape, and Melina Fisher.
Lisa Krueger, Cornelia McGiver and Dr. Art Chandler; Lilo Zinglersen and jewelry designer Gabriella Kiss
Julianne Swartz, Ken Landauer and Linda Hirshman; Tricia Reed, Dwayne Resnick and Mark McDonald, the Hudson gallery owner who specializes in mid-century modern furniture and decorative arts.
Horse trainers Rex Peterson & Cari Swanson and actor David Strathairn
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 07/12/10 at 02:16 PM • Permalink
A Paeon to Industry at the Ferrin Gallery Dish and Dine
Those who make political hay by promoting the fiction that liberals “hate America” would have been discomfited to hear the art photographer Susan Mikula and the art potter Frances Palmer sing the praises of American industry on Saturday night, July 10, at the Ferrin Gallery‘s Dish and Dine event. 
After Mikula’s longtime domestic partner, Rachel Maddow of MSNC News, toasted the honorees, Mikula spoke with nothing but regret (PCBs notwithstanding) about the diminished presence of the General Electric Corporation in Pittsfield, the subject of her elegiac show, American Vale. She then told of her own experience with the positive impact manufacturing once had on American life: “It got me an eduction.”
Frances Palmer was already a distinguished art potter—her exquisite flower-filled, hand-thrown pieces dotted the center of the long banquet table—when she asked century-old Buffalo Pottery, makers of diner dishes, to produce from her handmade clay molds a line of high quality dinnerware. Her interactions with the workers at the factory have been life-enhancing for her, she says, and the workers seem to enjoy making something so refined.
There was nothing corporate about the “dine” portion of the evening, catered by Mezze of Williamstown. Everyone raved about how beautiful the food looked on Frances Palmer plates and how un-mass-produced Mezze’s locavore cuisine tasted.
Artist Douglass Truth and gallery co-owner Leslie Ferrin; Patrick Hanavan and attorney Paul Rapp
RI Cultural Correspondant Bess Hochstein and Pittfield’s Culture Minister Megan Whilden; photographer Monika Sosnowski and sculptor Peter Dudek
Jerry Smith and MASS MoCA’s Katherine Myers; Jane Newberg and Donna Centracchio
Debbie Melamed, Vicki Passman, Marla Gayle and Melanie Scheider
Michael Boroniec and Leslie Ferrin; Hannah Wohl, Rachel Maddow and Charles Wohl
Kipp Lynch and Berkshire Museum director Stuart Chase; Jim Nejaime and Ferrin gallery co-owner Donald Clark
Ruth Hanavan and Heidi Nejaime; Sasha Yanow and Maris Yanow
Susan Mikula, Frances Palmer and Diane White
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 07/11/10 at 04:52 PM • Permalink
Now It’s Summer! Tanglewood Opening Night Gala 2010
Resurrection indeed! Summer does not officially begin in the Berkshires until the opening night of Tanglewood, and the sun was shining brightly on the lawn outside the Hawthorne Tent as Tanglewood’s loyal supporters arrived for a gala dinner before heading to the Koussevitzky Music Shed on Friday, July 9. Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, who filled in for the recuperating James Levine, led the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus (which is celebrating its 40th anniversary) in a spine-tingling rendition of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Rusurrection. With solo performances by mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe and soprano Layla Claire, the evening was “highly dynamic, interpretively distinctive, and viscerally exciting,” in the words of the Boston Globe‘s review by Jeremy Eichler.
Norman & Laurel de la Liberté; Kirsten & Richard Perras.
BSO trustee Kim Taylor and Anne Hessberg; Christopher Lindop, a BSO Overseer, with Laura Lindop and Oliver Curme, a co-chair of the gala.
Jacqueline Togut, who underwrote the gala decor, with Jane B. Mayer and cellist Owen Young.
Artlifedesign’s Maureen Jerome with photographer Lincoln Russell; Oskar Hallig & Mike Zippel of Mount Washington’s Hallig Hilltop House with BSO trustee and Red Lion Inn owner Nancy Fitzpatrick.
Architect Kristine Sprague and photographer Kevin Sprague; Rebecca Elvin and Carole Rudman
Dan Mathieu, gala co-chair Cynthia Curme and Tom Potter; Country Curtains founder Jane Fitzpatrick and former Massachusetts Senate president William Bulger.
Newlyweds Philip & Ania Auerbach.
Jill & Emery Sheer; Stella Gould and Joyce Della Chiesa.
Tanglewood Annual Giving advisor Pam Malumphy and Ethan Berg of the Winthrop Estate; BIFF founder Kelley Vickery and Parker Togut.
Nancy Feldman with BSO Overseer Alan Dynner who is also chairman of the board of overseers of the New England Aquarium, and Lisa Grenier; BSO Overseer Margery Steinberg and director of development Libby Roberts.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 07/10/10 at 12:17 PM • Permalink
Monica Miller Opens at Joyce Goldstein Gallery in Chatham
The Albany art world turned out in force at the Joyce Goldstein Gallery in Chatham on Saturday, July 3, for the opening of one they think of as their own, Malden Bridge painter Monica Miller.
On a surprise visit from Seattle for her sister’s opening Melanie Miller, the featured artist Monica Miller, and her brother up from NYC John Miller
Artist Andrea Hersh, who currently has a show at the Albany Center Gallery, Sharon Bates, director of the Art and Culture program at the Albany Airport, and artist Jean Flanagan, director of the Esther Massry Gallery at the college of St. Rose in Albany; animation programmer for the FilmColumbia Festival Gary Glantzman-Leib and artist Judy Glantzman-Leib
Albany-based artist, critic, and curator David Brickman, Mike Fallarino, and gallery owner Joyce Goldstein; Judith Hand and Ed Atkeson
Bill Harris and Holly Katz; painter Paul Miyamoto and Scott Meyer, co-owner of both the Spectrum Theater and Ric Orlando’s New World Bistro & Bar in Albany
Garden designer and Real Simple contributing gardening editor Madaline Sparks and writer Sally Helgesen; Barbara Tonne and Joel Bartfield
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 07/05/10 at 09:12 AM • Permalink
Williamstown Theatre Festival’s Opening Night 2010
The stunning ‘62 Center for Theatre & Dance not only looks but also feels like the Lincoln Center of the Berkshires when the Williamstown Theatre Festival is in residence. WTF kicked off its 56th season with a dinner catered by Mezze in an airy dance studio, which was followed by the ebullient and innovative all-male production of Stephen Sondheim’s 1962 musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. The mood was high at the after party because it was clear that director Jessica Stone’s gamble had paid off: the show is two hours of pure, high-spirited entertainment.
Fred Windover, a WTF trustee emeritus, and his brother Mark Windover; Dr. Don Quinn Kelly and Williams College dance professor Sandra L. Burton,
White Bird Dance co-founder Walter Jaffe and his mother, the indefatigable Lola Jaffe, the chairman of the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center; MCLA professor Roselle Chatock and WTF trustee Jid Sprague.
The creative team for Western Country, the Fellowship program musical on July 19: musicians Ryan Tyndell & Kellys Collins, playwright Noah Haidle (What is the Cause of Thunder?) and director Davis McCallum.
Reid White, WTF trustee Fredda Harris and WTF board vice president Michele Moeller Chandler; Connie Cincotta and Anna Kalamon.
Actress Gayle Rankin, Lauren Blumenfeld (who will be in Six Degrees of Separation) Sharyn Rothstein (author of Camp Monster) and After the Revolution playwright Amy Herzog
WTF Arstistic Associate Amanda Charlton with WTF community relations coordinator Carolann Patterson; Joe Donahue & Sara LaDuke of WAMC’s The Round Table.
The Tenement Museum’s Leslie Milton and David Rosenthal; director Catherine Taylor-Williams of the Wharton Salon at The Mount, and Susan Conklin.
WTF trustee Katherine Kollarth Peabody and her husband Bo Peabody, with Mike Seckler and WTF trustee Caren Pasquale Seckler
WTF trustee Brad Svrugla and Julia Bowen, executive director of the Berkshire Arts & Technology Charter Public School; Hermine Drezner & Jan Winkler.
Forum director Jessica Stone and her husband, Christopher FItzgerald, who stars as Pseudolus, arrive at the after party.
Cast members at the after party: Chivas Michael & Joe Aaron Reid; David Turner & Bryce Pinkham
WTF general manager Joe Finnegan and WTF board president Matthew C. Harris.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 07/03/10 at 08:19 PM • Permalink
Susan Rodgers/Joe Wheaton Show Opens at Berkshire Museum
Only Stuart Chase, Berkshire Museum‘s estimable director, could get away with scheduling an opening for a Thursday night (July 1) and draw a crowd like this—a veritable who’s who of those who get things done in Berkshire County. Of course, he had plenty of help from the artists in this two-man show, Spatial Relationships. Susan Rodgers and Joe Wheaton are among the community’s leading lights, with artistic reputations that far exceed regional boundaries. The talk that night was of Art in America contributor Carol Diehl’s charming interview with the artists in the exhibition brochure. Many also remarked on how, in six years, Stuart Chase has maxed the museum’s potential by reshaping it into a hybrid—children’s museum, natural history museum, and contemporary art gallery. Also overheard: Joe Wheaton’s mother Barbara’s comment to his brother Henry, “Doesn’t Joe look nice? I’ve never seen him so dressed up.”
Stuart Chase, Susan Rodgers and Joe Wheaton
Mary Lee Johansen, Polly Porter, and Susan Rodgers; graphic designer Eileen Rosenthal and illustrator Marc Rosenthal
Richard Lipez, who writes novels pseudonymously under the name Richard Stephenson and Joe Wheaton; Tanglewood’s p.r. whiz Kathleen Drohan and Shakespeare & Co.‘s Jeremy Goodwin
Vera Lecocq, artist Maggie Mailer, and Nicholas Mailer Wendling; artists Peter Dudek and Grier Horner with Judy Katz
Allison Krol, who works for State Senator Benjamin Downing with Pittsfield City Councilor John Krol, Media Relations Manager for Berkshire Healthcare Systems and host of Good Morning, Pittsfield; Barbara Schulman and Berkshire Museum trustee Stacey Gillis Weber
Joe Wheaton and art writer Carol Diehl; RI contributor and author of The Locavore Way Amy Cotler and artist Tom Powers
Painter Suzette Alsop and composer Clint Elliot, who gave Joe Wheaton his first commission, a 24k-gold mirror; Berkshire Living‘s Mary Garnish and Roberto Flores of Good Dogs Farm.
Ven Voisey, artist-in-residence at the museum, whose show Artifact is currently on view there, and artist Eric Drury; Hancock Shaker Village’s Danielle Steinmann and Colleen Surprise Jones
Photographer Bruce Panock and Ellen Antonville, associate publisher of Family Fun Magazine; Jeanet T. Ingalls and Jay Elling
Eliza Chase and the Clark Art Institute’s director of special projects Julie Chase; artist Rebecca Weinman and the Berkshire Eagle‘s “Serial Socializer” Paul Boulais
Joanna Roche and Isabel Roche; Berkshire Botanical Garden‘s Molly Boxer and Lou Boxer
Ellen Whitmer and the artist Julio Granda; Joe Wheaton’s brother Henry Wheaton with Lindy Smith and his and Joe’s mother Barbara Wheaton
Beth Rosner, Merianne Rosner, Reba Evenchik, and Berkshire Museum trustee Lydia Rosner; Artist Michael Zelehoski, Red Lion Inn proprietor Nancy Fitzpatrick, and photographer Lincoln Russell.
Douglass Truth and Nicole Peskin; Hedy Lipez Burbank and Kelton Burbank
Stuart Chase and museum board president Mary Huth; Peter Murkett, Bola Granola creator Michele Miller and gallery owner Lauren Clark
Sue Flores and artist Stephen Lussier; Caitlin Nash and Blue Q’s Mitch Nash
Scott Laugenour, Agnes Cartier, and Jason Verchot; Pittsfield’s Culture Tzar Megan Whilden and Scott Edward Cole
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 07/03/10 at 08:02 AM • Permalink
Susan Mikula Show Opens at Ferrin Gallery
Pittsfield grew into the city it once was largely on the strength of the General Electric Corporation, which dominated economic and civic life and shaped the very landscape there. Now a greatly diminished presence, and fading by the day, it seems, General Electric’s industrial sites and their surroundings are the subject of photographer Susan Mikula’s soft-edged, painterly photographs, a group she calls “American Vale.” The “creative economy” that shapes Pittsfield today is exemplified by the show of Mikula’s photographs that opened at Ferrin Gallery on Saturday, June 26. Above: Artist Colleen Quinn and Ferrin Gallery co-owner Leslie Ferrin
Photographs by Ben Glasser/Glasser Photography
Jewelry and Judaica designer Emily Rosenfeld and Lori McLean, owner of the eponymous Greenwich Village jewelry store; David Pakman host of Midweek Politics with David Pakman and Rachel Maddow
Senior Interactive Digital Designer at Kaon Interactive Casey Visco, Christopher Rose, designer Athan Vennell, and photographer Sloan Tomlinson; photographer Keith Emerling and Leslie Ferrin
Director of Operations and Finance for the Alliance to Develop Power Tim Fisk and photographer Matthew Londraville; Ferrin Gallery co-owner Donald Clark and Peter Dudek, sculptor and director of creative residencies at Bascom Lodge
Emily Rosenfeld and poet Jill McDonough; Susan Mikula and painter Terry Rooney
Clothing designer Dre Rawlings and Rachel Maddow; Bill Ravenesi, documentary photographer and director of Healthcare Without Harm and Mary Vogel, Executive Director, Asbestos Victims Special Fund Trust
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 06/30/10 at 07:13 AM • Permalink
Bagels & Art for All at Bard’s Hessel Museum
It was an art opening crossed with a kiddush luncheon—the kind of glamorously academic event that often happens at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY. The collectors responsible for At Home/Not at Home: Works from the Collection of Martin and Rebecca Eisenberg hosted the afternoon brunch featuring mimosas, endless platters of excellent smoked salmon, and big baskets of bagels that had been delivered by courier from New York City, which were eaten in the forecourt of the Hessel Museum. The exhibition is an awesome survey of the contemporary art scene—a Hudson Valley version of the Whitney Biennial.
Bard College president Leon Botstein with Martin Eisenberg whose collection is the basis of the exhibition At Home/Not at Home; Justin Clark & and Leslie Allison.
Bodhi Landa and Danielle Schwab
Hessel Museum director Tom Eccles; Bard College vice president Debra Pemstein and artist Dean Vallas.
Todd Kreher and Marley Freeman
Hope Atherton & Gavin Brown; Hessel Museum registrar Rachel von Wettberg and assistant director Jaime Baird.
Gareth Long, Mike Gallagher and Erika Balsom; Ann Butler, director of the library and archives at the Center for Curatorial Studies and Art in Contemporary Culture at Bard College, and Ozge Ersoy.
A view into the first gallery of the exhibition.
The museum has windows that make the most of its sylvan setting.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 06/29/10 at 03:12 PM • Permalink
Barrington Stage Gala Honors Mary Ann Quinson
The Barrington Stage Company‘s annual gala always begins with a fashion parade as guests walk two blocks up North Street from the Mainstage to the party at the gym at St. Joseph’s High School. This year, guests were encouraged to wear red and black to match the party decor inspired by Sweeney Todd, the brilliantly macabre 1979 Stephen Sondheim musical that has gotten rave reviews (and runs through July 19.) The gala honored Mary Ann “Minkie” Quinson (left center, with Aly Brandt and Martine Taylor), who has been the chairman of the board since Barrington Stage’s inception sixteen years ago at the Mt. Everett High School in Sheffield. It was Quinson who led the campaign to move to buy a theater in Pittsfield five years ago, and the city’s grateful mayor, James Ruberto, declared in his tribute to Quinson that no other institution has been as important to the “downtown revival” as Barrington Stage. Certainly, the two teenagers from BSC’s Playwright Mentoring Project who spoke about how the program had saved their lives was testimony to the power of art. And the rousing version of “Thank You for Being A Friend” (video below) that the Sweeney Todd ensemble sang to Quinson was testimony to the quality of talent that Barrington Stage consistently brings to the Berkshires.
Barrington Stage Company press representative Charlie Siedenburg and marketing director Laura Roudabush await guests outside St. Joe’s; board member Reba Evenchik, wearing an outfit she’d just bought in London, and her husband, Bruce Evenchik.
Barrington Stage artistic director Julianne Boyd and her husband, Dr. Norman Boyd; their daughter Emily Boyd with novelist Chris Krovatin, the son of journalist-turned-novelist Anna Quindlen.
Maggi & Mark St. Germain, the author Freud’s Last Session, which is playing at BSC Stage 2 through July 3, before its Off Broadway run begins on July 9; Erin Benay and Jaqueline Wilcox.
Designers Matt Larkin & Elaine Grant; Doug Shufelt and Nancy Kalodner of Benchmark Real Estate.
Tom Potter and Dan Mathieu of MAX Ultimate Food, which catered the party; Jonathan Ball
of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Pittsfield and Barbara Schulman of Wheeler & Taylor.
Sweeney Todd cast members Zachary Clause, Allan Synder, John Rapson, and Paul Betz.
Bruno & Minkie Quinson; Sweeney Todd‘s Billy Shaw and Harriet Harris.
BSC’s Katie Johnson, Musical Theater Lab director William Finn, Reba Evenchek, Angelique Mouyis-Tsakalakos & Niko Tsakalakos, whose new musical, Pool Boy, has its world premiere at Barrington Stage on July 13.
Sweeney Todd‘s Branch Woodman and Timothy Shew; Pittsfield gallery owner Leslie Ferrin and Berkshire Museum executive director Stuart Chase.
A brief clip of the Sweeney Todd ensemble serenading Minkie Quinson.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 06/28/10 at 06:17 AM • Permalink
Jacob’s Pillow: Season Opener a Dance Bonanza
Cultural correspondent Bess J.M. Hochstein reports from Becket: In a departure from the past few rainy years, on June 19 sunshine greeted a resplendent crowd gathered for the kick-off of the 78th anniversary of Jacob’s Pillow‘s world-famous dance festival. Guests assembled for cocktails on the lawn before heading into the Ted Shawn Theatre, where students from the Pillow¹s ballet program performed a striking new work by choreographer Karole Armitage, followed by other dancer/choreographers whose work will be presented in the season to come. Executive director Ella Baff bestowed the 2010 Jacob¹s Pillow Dance Award on Bill T. Jones (left), who literally swept his petite hostess off her feet. Baff also introduced a trailer for a documentary-in-progress on the Pillow, in hopes of inspiring well-heeled audience members to help filmmaker Ron Honsa finish the project. After dinner in the tent, Boston’s E-Water Band turned on the funk and brought the crowd to its feet, confirming the Pillow’s reputation for throwing the parties where everybody dances.
Pillow interns Bridget Wright, Kelley Small, Lucy Mallett, and Nicole Contaxi
Jim Nejaime and Heidi Nejaime; Mitch Nash, punch drunk from the evening’s final performance by Monica Bill Barnes, with his wife Caitlin Nash.
Monique Cordasco, a nurse from NYC, with choreographer Karole Armitage; the Pillow’s Director of Preservation Norton Owen with photographer David Dashiell
Steve Picheny and architect Stephan Green; Acutonics practitioner Elfi Six with Paul DesLauriers and Kathleen Cardella
Art dealer Christopher Boswell with Women’s Times publisher Eugenie Sills; Brad Spear, Census Office Manager for Pittsfield and Ellen Spear, executive director of Hancock Shaker Village
Julie Chase, the Clark‘s director of special projects with glass artist Tom Patti, his wife Marilyn Patti and Stuart Chase, executive director of the Berkshire Museum
Don Quinn Kelley with dancer-choreographer Kyle Abraham, who performed at the gala; Pillow marketing and communications assistant Toni Bolger, Ginger Mead and director of communications Mariclare Hulbert
Phil Deely and Hilary Deely; theatre dirctor Maggie Mixsell and Karole Armitage with gala co-chair Hunter Kerr Runette
Sisters Liz Williams and Pert Merriman cut the rug; 
Former Pillow director Liz Thompson with gala co-chair Hunter Kerr Runette .
Jacob’s Pillow director emeritus Marge Champion, star of stage, screen, and still dancing at age 90 with octogenarian tap dancer Miriam Nelson
Alexis Picheny, Ilene Mandel and Helice Picheny, the co-chair of the gala; Doug Shufelt and Louise Hirschfeld, widow of illustrator Al Hirschfeld.
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 06/26/10 at 08:50 AM • Permalink
Columbia County Garden Party for the AIDS Council
Everyone at the Inaugural Columbia County Garden Party for the AIDS Council of Northestern New York was on a high from the Hudson Pride Parade earlier in the day, and their hearts continued to soar as the approached Forth House, the historic Hudson Valley home of composer Scott Frankel and architect Jim Joseph. Guests strolled through the magnificent gardens that border corn fields and drank wine under a tent as they raised money for the not-for-profit service agency whose mission is to reduce the risk, fear, and incidence of HIV infection, encourage the independence of people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS, and promote and understanding of their needs.
Host Scott Frankel with Bob Hyland of Loomis Creek Nursery; designer Frank Faulkner & Philip Kesinger.
Frank Tartaglione, Merry de Phillips and Mary Foskett
Hermes Mallea & gallery owner Carrie Haddad; Stuart Thompson and RI’s “Wandering Eye” blogger Carey Maloney.
Deran Mizakjian and Eve Thoreau
Chris Gillbert & Ben Veronis of FashionEdit247 with Gun Nowack of FACE Stockholm; Daryl Bowman and Peter Frank.
AIDS Council of Northeastern New York staffers Laura Trolio, Leshanda Harrington & Jen Goldman.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 06/25/10 at 04:32 PM • Permalink
Sally Helgesen Reads at Chatham Books
Chatham resident Sally Helgesen, whose latest book, The Female Vision: Women’s Real Power in the Workplace, published just last week and already #2 on Amazon’s Business and Leadership list, had a reading and signing at the Chatham Bookstore on Saturday, June 19. Helgesen’s selection dealt with the financial meltdown of 2008, and the win-short-term-at-any-cost ethic that effectively barred all women (and the kind of men) who are prone to look at the big, long-term picture from leadership roles in the hedge fund and banking industries.
Mary Ann Davis and Sara McWilliams; Abbie von Schlegell and Mary Gail Biebel;
Writer Sally Koslow and Rob Koslow; artist Bart Gulley and gallerist Joyce Goldstein
Murray Hochman and Lois Jensen; Karen Kaczmar, owner of Chatham Wines & Liquors and writer Elizabeth Hess
Bob Balcom and Pat Balcom; Scott Reynolds and Mary Reynolds with Roger
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 06/20/10 at 10:38 AM • Permalink
Good Dog Foundation Square Dance at Carolyne Roehm’s Barn
Once upon a time, in the 1980s, fashion designer-turned-lifestyle guru Carolyne Roehm presided over gala fundraisers at places like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Lincoln Center. Now, she spends much of her time at Weatherstone, her estate in Sharon, CT, which has a equestrian complex that would make Ralph Lauren envious. On Saturday, June 19, she hosted a benefit hoedown at her stables for The Good Dog Foundation a non-profit group dedicated to many types of animal-assisted therapy for human beings. Guests ate at tables made of bales of hay covered with checked tablecloths and danced on a lacquered red dance floor painted with silhouettes of dogs that also hung over them with strings of white lights. A buffet supper of ribs, chicken and salads from nearby Serevan restaurant in Amenia was served on paper plates, and dessert came from a ice cream truck that pulled up outside the barn as the sun set over the Taconics. It was as stylish as any grand New York City charity party Roehm ever masterminded, but much more laid back, friendly and fun.
Peter & Jane Elebash of Millbrook with Pete Hathaway of Enterprise New Life a recovery retreat for men in Salisbury, CT; Anita Johnson, Kirk Henckels, Gloria Callen and Fernanda Kellogg.
Sheila Sanders and Bryce Ainsley; ArtLife Design’s Maureen Jerome with hostess Carolyne Roehm.
Sharon bookseller Darren Winston and Lucinda Winston; Elaine Bresee and Anne Putzel.
Good Dog Foundation board members Ani Shaker & Pat McMullan with Jamie Kiggen.
Birch Coffey, Michael Lynch and Chas Miller; Good Dog volunteers Mark Condon and Liz Marino with Good Dog trainer Susan Fireman
John Massie and Good Dog founder and executive director Rachel McPherson; designers Elizabeth Logan-Baravalle & Giorgio Baravalle.
The custom dance floor created by the staff at Weatherstone in Sharon, CT.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 06/20/10 at 07:44 AM • Permalink
A Night on the Nile at the Berkshire Museum
To celebrate the opening of Wrapped! Search for the Essential Mummy, the Berkshire Museum had a “Night on the Nile” gala on June 18. Several guests wore Egyptian-style jewelry but nobody took the theme more seriously than Vicki Bonnington (left, with musuem executive director Stuart Chase) who looked like a quirky Cleopatra in a beaded headdress and a chiffon dress with elaborate gold trimmings made of passementerie. The dinner was held in the august Crane Room that was decorated with hieroglyphics by Pittsfield artist Colleen Quinn. And while the opening of the exhibit was supposed to be the big news of the evening, it shared the spotlight with the announcement that the Berkshire Museum is commissioning artist Tom Patti to create a new glass vestibule for the museum’s main entrance on South Street in Pittsfield.
Robin McGraw in his kilt with Janine Engel; actor/producer John Viscardi, Tony Schifano, and actress Fiona Hutchison.
Marty & Glenna Bloom; designers Abby & Richard Tovell.
Pittsfield art dealer Leslie Ferrin with Lenox gallery owner Sienna Patti; artist Tom Patti, who’s been commissioned to make a new glass vestibule for the Berkshire Museum, with the museum’s director of interpretation, Maria Mingalone.
Designer Anne G. Fredericks, Marc Fasteau, and designer Tyler Weld.
Derek & Joan Benham; Pat & Nick Navarino, who run the new Renaissance School of Art in Great Barrington.
Rae Gilson, Rosita Sarnoff, and Bob Gilson, the director of the 92nd Street Y School of the Arts in New York City.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 06/19/10 at 05:03 PM • Permalink
Steig Show Gala Opening at Norman Rockwell Museum
Over 200 guests and admirers visited Norman Rockwell Museum on Saturday, June 12, to attend the opening of the exhibition “William Steig: Love & Laughter.” Also in attendance at the opening/dance party were the artist’s wife Jeanne Steig, his daughter Maggie, granddaughters Melinda and Lucy, and other family members. Bowey the Clown entertained young and old with his balloon puppets (clowns were a recurring theme in Steig’s work); and Wanda Houston, Charlie Tokarz and friends delighted the crowd with big band jazz favorites. The exhibition will be on view through October 31. Photos by Jeremy Clowe. Courtesy of Norman Rockwell Museum. All rights reserved.
Melinda (granddaughter), Jeanne (wife), Lily (granddaughter), and Maggie (daughter) Steig.
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John Egelhofer and Janet Egelhofer of Holyoke, MA; Kathy Dowler and Mark Carey
Lyle Larson and Melba Larson, Washington, MA; Maggie Smith and Illustrator Elwood Smith, Rhinebeck, NY.
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Barbara Lapidus and Marilyn Valeri with Bowey the Clown
Michael Wilcox of Alford, MA and Pat Carney of Holyoke, MA; New Yorker Illustration Editor Christine Curry with daughters Lilian and Ivy(and friends).
Monique Gershon and Dick Gershon, Canaan, New York; Sue Fletcher visiting from New Jersey and Jennifer Ritorto from Pennsylvania
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 06/19/10 at 07:45 AM • Permalink
The Clark’s Opening of “Picasso Looks at Degas”
Cultural correspondent Bess J.M. Hochstein reports from Williamstown: The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute’s annual summer exhibition openings are always something of a moveable feast, as guests shuttle across the bucolic campus from the party tent to the special exhibition galleries to the Stone Hill Center, and back again. But the weather during the June 12 opening of Picasso Looks at Degas, a revelatory show that explores the two artists’ mutual fascination with women–particularly bathers, dancers, and prostitutes–along with Degas’ influence on Picasso, presented a bit more than the usual logistical challenges. Julie Chase, the Clark’s director of special projects, had arranged for opera singers and a Spanish flamenco dancer to perform on the museum’s marble steps, but a chilly rain scuttled that plan. Fortunately, The Clark’s auditorium proved a suitable stand-in for those who could tear themselves away from the dramatically lit tent, which was warmly furnished to evoke a rustic Spanish tavern with a bar serving Spanish wines and Sangria plus three stations for tapas, paella, and, grilled delicacies. After dining, enjoying the performances, acknowledging curators Elizabeth Cowling and Richard Kendall, and viewing the Picasso/Degas show and the companion exhibition of the work of Juan Munoz at the Stone Hill Center, guests convened in the museum’s lobby for desserts, ending the evening with Spain-inspired sweets, including flan, almond-stuffed dates, and irresistible (if not traditional) dulce de leche cheesecake.
The Clark’s director Michael Conforti and his wife, Licia Conforti; art historian and Degas expert Jill DeVonyar and Richard Kendall, co-curator of the Degas Looks at Picasso.
Kate Leitch & Terrence Kooyker; violin teacher Jo Sadler & Boston Globe art critic Sebastian Smee.
The Clark’s Kjell Wangensteen with DanielTrussardi, creative director for Ann Taylor, and Bryan Frank.
Berkshire Museum executive director Stuart Chase with Michael & Joan Salke; Juila Merriman & David Traggorth.
The Clark’s Deborah Girroux and special events coordinator Julie Chase; Clark curator Jay Clarke with Mattie Kelley, director of collections.
Brian & Tim Cherubini; graphic designer Diane Gottardi & Curtis Scott, head of publishing & information tiles.
Berkshires bon vivant Arthur Collins, a retired University at Albany professor, with Spanish guitarist Manolo Caballos and his wife, Elisa Caballos.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 06/16/10 at 09:28 AM • Permalink
Equine Advocates’ Barn-to-Barn Open House
In 1996, Equine Advocates, under the leadership of Susan Wagner, started saving horses from slaughter, abuse, and neglect. In 2004, they established a 140-acre rescue farm on Route 66 just north of Chatham village. Today, EA has nearly 100 horses, ponies, donkeys and even a couple of goats under their care, many of whom were brought to their attention by law enforcement officials. The facility, which regularly holds open days for the general public, has become a popular destination for 4-H clubs, scout troops and school class trips. On Saturday, June 5, E.A. held a special open house at their beautiful property, which is a model for the way horses—and, indeed, all of us—would like to live.
Guest Anna Winand on a barn tour, greets one of the lucky horses who found its way to Equine Advocates; tour guide Sheila Vickery first visited the facility with her Girl Scout troop. Today she is an active volunteer and, with her mother Kelley, sponsors several resident animals.
Committee member Cathy Bau Wong, Marion Pomeroy, and Peggy Kauffman; Charlene Bernstein, board member Karen Solem, and Susan Anthony
Chuck Cronin, Equine Advocates founder and president Susan Wagner, and Monika Kierach Cronin; Ann Domenie and Kay Irish
Gail Landrigan, Kathy Trombley, Equine Advocates staffer Michele Ferritto, and Mary Cox; Karen Wagner and Chuck Foreman
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 06/07/10 at 04:37 AM • Permalink
Stargazing in Salisbury: Jill Clayburgh, Ed Herrmann & Co.
For 90 un-airconditioned minutes, Jill Clayburgh and Edward Herrmann showed how great actors perform in a hot, humid New England church for no money: they perform with the same grace and gusto as if it were an opening night on Broadway. Joined onstage by Star Herrmann, Rick Trabucco and Gail Sheehy in Sheehy’s play Chasing the Tiger (based on Passages in Caregiving and directed by Gretchen Cryer), they made the sold-out audience (including Cornwall’s Sam Waterston with Clayburgh, left) laugh, weep and re-think what it means for husbands and wives when one partner gets ill and the other becomes the caregiver. Although a difficult subject, it was an appropriate one for a fundraiser for CMHA Northwest Center for Family Services, which provides mental health services to the community.
Laurie Dunham and literary agent Linda Michaels; CMHA’s Melinda Smolkin and Priscilla McCord.
Edward Herrmann, Star Herrmann and Rick Trabucco, who performed together in Chasing the Tiger.
Terry & Joel Cohen; Neil Humphreys and Mary Oppenheimer.
Nancy Rath, Jack O’Connell and Sharon Doty.
Andy Szymanowicz of Sol Flower Farm, a CSA and farm shop in Ancramdale, and Rick Trabucco; Anita Waxman, Tom Dokton, Susan Gallin.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 06/06/10 at 05:03 PM • Permalink
The Show Must Go On
At their season finale gala performance, Close Encounters with Music‘s artistic director and cellist, Yehuda Hanani, managed to deliver his inimitable opening remarks to an evening of Czech music, then announced that he could not play, as usual. Felled by a persistent (rumored to be tick-related) fever, he then told the audience that at 10 p.m. the evening before, when it had become clear that if the show were to go on, it would be without him, the other musicians huddled, then played a long shot and called Wilhelmina Smith, an accomplished cellist known for her broad repertoire. Reached at home in New York City, Smith said, yes, she knew the intended program well—pieces by Dvorák, Smetana, and Janácek. Then she pluckily agreed to step in, arriving in Great Barrington next day, kids and husband in tow, just in time for a quick rehearsal. The ensemble proceeded to deliver an exhilarating performance of some very challenging music, bringing the audience to its feet. A benefactors’ reception followed at Taggart House in Stockbridge. The Hananis, Yehuda and his wife Hannah, were missed.
Pianist Lydia Artymiw, violinist Erin Keefe, cellist Wilhelmina Smith, violist Lily Francis
CEWM board member Claudio Pincus and Helene Berger; Virginia Giddens and Linda Beech
Betty Fontaine and CEWM board member Edith Velmans; Clayton Kirking and Bill Higgins
Joe Goodwin, Tony Chojnowski, Jerome Yavarkovsky, and Catherine Lowe.
Jerry Dreher and Joanne Dreher; Evan G. Hughes, Annabel Lee, a marketing associate with Close Encounters with Music and Marcie Setlow, President of the CEWM board.
Lynne Galler and Penny Pincus; Jeannine Janssen and Dave Janssen
The scene at the after party at Taggart House.
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 06/06/10 at 07:11 AM • Permalink
Opening Night of 5th Berkshire International Film Festival
There was a red carpet outside the old Great Barrington firehouse where the 5th annual Berkshire International Film Festival had a sit down dinner party for 225 guests on June 3, before a screening next door at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center of two documentaries about accomplished performers in their sunset years: Keep Dancing, a short film about the Broadway and Hollywood dance legend Marge Champion, and Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, a full-length film about a recent year in the life of the comedian who is about to turn 77. With the sunny skies and many guests wearing sunglasses, the evening had a Hollywood aura, and after the movies guests returned to the firehouse for the disco inferno dance party and to drink wine and beer in the filmmakers’ lounge.
Vicki Bonnington & David Schecker; David Rosenthal & Leslie Milton of New York’s Tenement Museum.
Filmmakers Ricki Stern & Anne Sundberg who made Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, the opening night film, with BIFF founder Kelley Vickery.
BIFF advisory board member Peter Herbst and Ann Colin Herbst, secretary of the board of Jacob’s Pillow; Marge Champion, the subject of the dcoumentary Keep Dancing that was shown opening night, with actress and knit-wear designer Karen Allen.
Mark Pedrotti, Mark Tomasi & Fedalina Madrid of Berkshire Bank which sponsored the BIFF Filmmaker Award; Stephanie & Dick Solar with Tommy Werman of Stonover Farm in Lenox.
Jack Vickery, Parker Togut, Zachary Togut and Kaitlin Vickery
Berkshire Mountain Distillers’ Chris Weld with Anne Johnston Albert and Martin Albert; Holly Morse, Maria Nation and Anne MacDonald.
Nancy Kalodner and Doug Shufelt; Helice & Steve Picheny.
Stone River director Hal Clifford with Kim Houston, photographer/filmmaker Jason Houston and The Women’s Times’ Eugenie Sills.
Haven executive chef Matt Schweizer and Haven owner Shelly Williams; Heirloom Food’s Carole Murko with Seven Salon’s Maurice Peterson.
Actress Elizabeth Aspenlieder, who’s solo show Bad Dates is returning to Shakespeare & Company this summer, with Pittsfield Colonials president Buddy Lewis and Pine Cone Hill founder Annie Selke.
Tom Potter and BIFF board member Dan Mathieu whose MAX Ultimate Food catered the opening night dinner; Cookiehead Cookies founder Lisa Newman with Suky Werman of Stonover Farm.
Kailtin & Kelley Vickery; Tyler Weld and BIFF advisory board member and screenwriter Maria Nation of Good Dogs Farm.
Architect Ritch Holben, Mark Johnson of Seven Salon and Ken De Loreto plot a Queer Eye for the Berkshires at the post-screening dance party at the firehouse.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 06/03/10 at 11:45 PM • Permalink
Columbia County Land Conservancy Food & Family Fête
Rural Intelligence’s friend and sometime contributor Paige Orloff, one of the founders of The Sister Project reports:
Over 1,000 people attended the Columbia Land Conservancy‘s annual Memorial Day weekend fundraisier, a family-friendly afternoon of food (catered by Carlucci Catering of Chatham, Georgia Ray’s Kitchen of Hudson, and Kinderhook’s Dutch Desserts, with bread and cheese donated by Hawthorne Valley Farm) and festivity, including an ever-popular silent auction. This year’s event was held on the grounds of Tom and Nancy Clark‘s Old Chatham Sheepherding Company.
—Paige Orloff
Illustrator Zohar Lazar, Andrew McDonnell, Megan Kane, Courtney McDonnell and Host Committee member Jennifer Capala of Halstead Property in Hudson
Former New York State Senator John Dunne and Denise Dunne of Spencertown, members of the Host Committee, with borrowed children; stilt walker Corey Cox kept the kids enthralled.
Painter Lois Dickson and Karen Kaczmar of Chatham Wine and Liquor, a sponsor of the event; Beth Bidwell, Executive Director of the Wildlife Institute of Eastern NY with a rescued peregrine falcon
Chris Ferrone and Hilary Ferrone, Vice Chair of the Host Committee; Jay Rahman, M.D. and Lauren Shaffer
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 06/02/10 at 04:15 PM • Permalink
Hancock Shaker Village Opens A 50th Anniversary Exhibit
Cultural correspondernt Bess J.M. Hochstein reports from Pittsfield: On the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend, Hancock Shaker Village, which is celebrating its 50th year as a living history museum, opened a new exhibit, True & Honest Before the World, for which 30 celebrity curators such as filmmaker Ken Burns, architect/designer Michael Graves, TV personality Al Roker, furniture maker Thomas Moser, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma, each chose an object from Hancock’s collection of Shaker art, furniture, tools, and textiles that best illustrates the Shakers’ enduring influence on them. Local cultural leaders such as Nancy Fitzpatrick, Leslie Ferrin, and Pittsfield Mayor James Ruberto also chose items for the exhibit; CEO Ellen Spear chose the iconic Shaker cape. By coincidence, a scene from the indie film Come Life was being shot on opening day; as guests arrived they were treated to traditional song and dance with the iconic Round Stone Barn in the background.
Berkshire Museum executive director Stuart Chase with Pittsfield City Councilor John Krol and Allison Krol, who works for state senator Benjamin Downing; Berkshire Theatre Festival’s Development Director Craig Smith and Hancock Shaker Village CEO Ellen Spear.
Photographer Kevin Sprague poses with a phrenological plaster head the HSV collection, which gallery owner Leslie Ferrin chose as the Shaker object that most inspires her; Leslie Ferrin and Millay Society executive director Peter Bergman.
Ben Hillman, writer Gina Hyams, event planner Amy Rudnick, Brian Butterworth (rear) of the Red Lion Inn and Amy Butterworth of IS 183 Art School of the Berkshires.
Magda Gabor Hotchkiss, a longtime librarian at the Shaker Village, with Stephen Miller, a frequent guest curator; Marilyn & Ron Walter, a HSV trustee.
The Red Lion Inn’s Nancy Fitzpatrick with Gordon Chandler, who recently installed a sculpture of General Knox in Otis, MA.
Lauren Joy, Eloise Joy, Lily Joy, and Elyse Etling, an HSV trustee who is chairing the 50th anniversary gala andopening the Pronto Cooking School in Lenox; writer Judith Lerner, artist Eric Drury and photographer Sue Geller.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 05/31/10 at 12:18 PM • Permalink
TriArts Gala at the Salisbury School Boat House
On May 29, TriArts— the hybrid semi-professional theater at the Sharon Playhouse that usually features professional actors in the leading roles with college theater majors in many of the supporting roles—had its annual summer preview and benefit at the stunning Salisbury School Boathouse on the Twin Lakes. Dazzled by the setting, guests seemed giddy and bid generously on the silent and live auctions. Ryan Speakman (left) who will be playing Curly in TriArts production of Oklahoma! (August 5 - 22 ) performed as did several TriArts board members who will appear in Divas Do (More) Broadway, the company’s annual sold out weekend of show-stopping tunes performed with razzle dazzle by local ladies. The TriArts season opens with The Wedding Singer (June 24 - July 11) and follows with William Finn’s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (July 16 - 25.)
Aglet Theatre founders Gloria Miller & Macey Levin, who are having their own fundraiser on June 19; Debra Frank and Marcie Aiuvalasit
TriArs artistic director Michael Berkeley with chairman of the board Pat Best and Arnold Fisher.
Ruth & Bill Ehrlich; wine merchant and real estate broker Andrew Gates and Eugenie Warner.
Jim Montanari and Dan Dwyer of Johnnycake Books; Millerton florist Kamilla Najdek and her husband, Donald Najdek, of EcoBuild.
Priscilla McCord, who is organizing the Jill Clayburgh/Edward Herrmann staged reading of a Gail Sheehy play on June 5, with fellow TriArts board member Deborah Reyelt; board members Carol Kalikow and Mimi Estes.
Jodie Harney, Brigitte Harney, and Elyse Harney; Amber Cameron, who’s the dance captain for The Wedding Singer and Oklahoma! with Ryan Conlin.
Board members Emily Soell, Priscilla McCord & Mimi Estes who performed at the preview party.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 05/30/10 at 10:18 PM • Permalink
Berkshire Playwrights Lab Rocks the Mahaiwe
The Berkshire Playwrights Lab kicked of the summer theater season at its gala at the Mahaiwe on May 21 with an evening of staged readings of seven new one-act plays featuring actors such as Jay Thomas, Dan Lauria, Treat Williams, Elizabeth Franz, Lauren Ambrose and Kristen Johnston. BPL’s artistic directors—Joe Cacaci, Jim Frangione, Bob Jaffe and Matthew Penn—welcomed the audience with a one-act play about four artistic directors debating how to welcome the audience to a gala. After the performance, BPL hosted a jam-packed reception at Allium for the cast, crew and supporters.
Church Street Art’s Denise Ulick and actress Stephanie Hedges; Fiona & Camille Breslin flank their mother, Barbara Schulman of Wheeler & Taylor.
Lola Jaffe, president of the board of the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, with MAX Ultimate Food’s Dan Mathieu, who will be catering the opening night of BIFF, and Tom Potter.
Actor Treat Williams, who appeared on stage in Kelly Masterson’s short play Rehab as part of the gala, with actress Karen Allen, who owns an eponymous fiber arts store on Railroad Street in Great Barrington; talent agent Don Buchwald with actress Kristen Johnston, who appeared in the short play The Woman from 43 by Dean Imperial at the gala.
Actress Lauren Ambrose, who appeared in the short play If by Anna Ziegler at the gala, with her husband, photographer Sam Handel.
Berkshire Record editor David Scribner with his wife, playwright Juliane Hiam; Roman Montano and Jen Harvey-Montano of Berkshire Property Agents.
Ted Dobson of Equinox Farm and Roberto Flores of Good Dogs Farm; gala co-chairs Amy Rudnick and Laurily Epstein with screenwriter Maria Nation.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 05/23/10 at 11:07 AM • Permalink
The Sun Shined for Trade Secrets’ 10th Anniversary
The weather is always a major topic of conversation at Trade Secrets, the massive plant and antique sale to benefit Women’s Support Services, and this year was no exception. The high winds toppled small trees and topiaries and chilled bones even as the brilliant sunshine had everyone squinting at 8 a.m. when the first of the 400 early buyers—twice as many as in previous years—started shopping. There were large contingents of well-groomed women from Greenwich, CT, and plenty of dressed-down gardeners from the Berkshires and Columbia County. Vendors reported brisk sales as shoppers from three states—including Edith Hilpman, Hunter Runnette and Elizabeth Hilpman (above) could not resist buying from local nurseries and antiques dealers to raise money for an agency that offers assistance to victims of domestic violence in our region.
Carol & Bob Sadlon of The Moviehouse in Millerton; vendors Elena Letteron & Anne Johnston of Germain in Great Barrignton
Bob Hyland & Andrew Beckman of Loomis Creek Nursery in Hudson.
Trade Secrets founders Deb Munson & Naomi Blumenthal with Jesse Blumenthal; Jessy & Jordan Haggard with their mother, Kimberly Rock of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation.
Dana & Joan Osofsky of Hammertown Barn.\
Marionette maker Daniel Oates and ceramist Dana Brandwein, who has opened a “pop-up shop” at Germain in Great Barrington; volunteers George & Mary Elling of Falls Village.
Route 7 Grill grandparents Diana & Norton Blumenthal; Jimmy Callan, Linda Brinkley and Andrew Stuehrk.
Eugenie Warner and Andrew Gates of Little Gates & Co. Wine Merchants in Millerton.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 05/15/10 at 04:52 PM • Permalink
Charity Begins at Home for Construct Inc.
As affluent as the Berkshires are, there are many people who struggle financially in the rural culture capital, and Construct Inc. provides comprehensive housing, support and educational services to anyone in the Southern Berkshire region who has lost his or her home or lacks the financial resources to maintain safe, decent and affordable housing. On Monday night at Eisner Camp in Great Barrington, some two-dozen restaurants, wine shops and food retailers set up stations in the camp’s mammoth dining hall, offering up a donated feast so that the event’s net of $68,000 would truly help those in need. Ravjeet and Maniraj Chahal (left) helped their family, who owns Aroma Bar & Grill in Great Barrington, by charming partygoers and handing out take-out menus.
Rabbis Deborah Zecher of Hevreh and Jack Stern, who’s on the board of Construct Inc.; Maizy Hillman and her mother, Amy Rudnick.
Filmmaker Erica Spizz, Cafe Pomo d’Oro owner Scott Cole and Farm Girl Farm’s Laura Meister.
Construct Inc. board member Jen Harvey-Montano & Tim Lovett, her partner in Berkshire Property Agents; screenwriter Chan Gibson and painter Cynthia Wick.
North River Press publisher Laurence Gadd and Cia Elkin.
Sherri Gorelick & Wendy Weinberg of Barrington Bites, the new cupcake boutique inside the Chef’s Shop in Great Barrington; Allegra Scott Graham & David Rothstein of the Stagecoach Tavern.
Christine Callander of Gabel Real Estate with Construct Inc. board member Barbara Schulman of Wheeler & Taylor.
Peace, Love & Chocolate owner Ali Aronoff and her husband, psychologist Jonathan Aronoff; Robin Ban, who owns Seeds in Great Barrington, with her husband, sculptor Dai Ban.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 05/11/10 at 11:50 AM • Permalink
Rhinebeck’s Paper Trail Always on the Cutting Edge
To call Paper Trail a stationery store is misleading, because owners Maureen Missner and Serine Hastings not only sell classic and cutting-edge notepaper, greeting cards, books, and gift wrap but also artworks made of paper. On Saturday May 8, the store had an opening party for an exhibition of paper constructions (left) made from old books by Ramon Lascano and fanciful paper dresses by Linda Filley that have become the store’s signature window display. When the high winds knocked out the power along Montgomery Street during the party, Missner and Hastings did not resort to lighting candles. “Not with all this paper!” said Hastings.
Paper Trail co-owner Serine Hastings and screenwriter/professor Norman Steinberg; featured artist Ramon Lascano with Paper Trail co-owner Maureen Missner.
Steven Maggio with Susan Fowler Gallagher of Black Sheep Farm; Paper Trail’s Jackie Bunzel with featured artist Linda Filley.
Anna Cafro, a visiting professor of Italian & Spanish at Bard College, with artist Ramon Lascano.
Beatrice Perry of Southwood Farm with Wilderstein president Steven Connell; Mary Udell and Julia Spiegel.
Mimi Dunne, New Yorker cartoonist Danny Shanahan, and Janet Stetson.
Mike Bennett and Pam Sheehan; lawyer Susan Bodine and Bard professor Anna Cafro.
Paper dresses and and a table of paper shoes by Linda Filley.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 05/09/10 at 08:01 PM • Permalink
Stewards of the Hudson Gather on its Bank
It was a party with a beautiful purpose. On Saturday, as the mighty and the almost meek met on the grounds of Joan Davidson’s elegantly unpretentious riverfront property for their annual update on efforts to preserve the glories of the Hudson River Valley, speechifying politicians didn’t stand a chance against the silent profundity of the view (above). Nonetheless, two United States Congressmen and a State Parks Commissioner preached to an appreciative choir, giving thanks where it was due throughout the crowd, none more so than to the hostess herself.
New York State Parks Commissioner Carol Ash and Joan Davidson, who chaired last year’s Hudson River Quadricentennial Celebration committee.
Scott Murphy, Democrat from New York’s 20th District, and Maurice Hinchey, Democrat from New York’s 22nd.
Documentary filmmaker Jay Corcoran and advertising exectuive Gary Delemeester; Donald and Ann Crews
Christopher, Laura and David Detrick; marketing consultant Fred Doner and artist Michele Oka Doner
Theodore Weiss, his mother Martine Arfwidson, Mikita Weiss, and Gun Nowak, of the Face Stockholm cosmetics company; Betsy Howard and the writer Hugh Howard
Hermes Mallea, Dr. Elizabeth Beautyman, and her husband Gordon Travers, board chairman at The Mount; Elizabeth Beautyman and Gordon Travers‘s famously fabulous footwear.
Stef-Albert Bothma with Sophie and James Male with Buster Brown; the photographer Valerie Shaff, Martine Arfwidson and her children, and Sheva Fruitman
Edward Tivnan and Maisie Tivnan; Flore Campion and the cartoonist Barbara Slate
Singer Johnnie Moore, artist Laetitia Hussein, writer and social activist Sam Pratt, and writer David Gargill; Commissioner Carol Ash and Rural Intelligence’s Marilyn Bethany
Michael Roberts, The Shaker Museum and Library’s Jeff Daly, Russ Pomeranz, president emeritus of the Columbia County Historical Society, Tini Pomeranz (foreground), Susan Tripp, and David Tripp
Ellen Leanse and Niland Mortimer; Our Hudson Tomorrow coordinator Alexia Lalli, Deborah Sale and Ted Striggles
Winka Dubbeldam and Jonathan Marvel; Ron Wagner, Tim Husband, curator of Medieval art at the Metropolitan Museum‘s Cloisters, and Timothy VanDam
Rural Intelligence’s “Wandering Eye” Carey Maloney and Conrad Hanson; Lee Elman and Judy Ney
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 05/09/10 at 08:21 AM • Permalink
CATA’s “Sticks & Stones” Is A Big Hit
Cultural Correspondent Bess J.M. Hochstein reports from Lenox: Community Access to the Arts (CATA) provides creative opportunities for people with disabilities to express themselves and engage in crafts, fine art, and performance. This year’s May Day fundraiser, at Shakespeare & Company’s nearly sold-out Founder’s Theatre, put scores of the organization’s participants on stage in a finely tuned program of dance, theatrical, and comic vignettes called Sticks & Stones, referring to both the natural materials explored in set design and used as props, as well as the singsong response to schoolyard taunts. The performances awed the audience and encouraged them to open their pocketbooks during the ensuing live auction – led by actor Eddie Allen, with able assistance from Roger Reed (aka Roger the Jester), both of whom later slipped into dresses to serve as “Pocket Laddies” – which raised more than $40,000. After the show, guests enjoyed a preview of summer weather while sipping the event’s signature cocktail – the CATAtonic – concocted by Berkshire Mountain Distillers’ Chris Weld, husband of event co-chair Tyler Weld; supping on creative tasties by Kate Baldwin Food; and stepping out to old-timey music by The Leisure Class, with a surprise appearance by actress Lauren Ambrose. An early evening event became a late night out as the sun dipped behind the hills and happy guests found it difficult to leave such a pleasant affair. Elements of the set have been reinstalled at Pittsfield’s Ferrin Gallery for an exhibition called Branching Out, which opens Thursday, May 6.
Berkshire Property Agents co-founders Jen Harvey-Montano & Tim Lovett with Suky Werman of Stonover Farm; CATA executive director Sandy Newman with lawyer Vicki Bonnington.
Rosie & Sadie Chernila, ages five and seven; Ella Shatz with her grandmother Leslie Shatz
Actress Lauren Ambrose, who sang a couple of songs with The Leisure Class, and her husband, photographer Sam Handel, whose work is currently on exhibit at the Lenox restaurant Nudel.
Actress Dana Bledsoe with Patricia Nooy and Eliza Alsop; Sarah Nicholson and Patrice Collé.
Great Barrington antiques dealer Elise Abrams with Meghan & Jeffrey St. John; Geoffrey & Valerie Maynard, who was on the gala committee.
Tyler Weld, who was co-chairman of the event, with her husband, Chris Weld of Berkshire Mountain Distillers.
CATA marketing director Liana Toscanini & and CATA dance teacher Dawn Lane; CATA teaching artists Yael Shacham & Lara Gonzalez, who perform as Marafanyi.
Event co-chair Janet Reich Elsbach with Mark & Liz Williams; Pilates & gyrotonic Instructor Donna Rainone with artist Gail Shaw, Nola Humes and daughter Amy Humes.
Pocket Laddie Roger the Jester; Pocket Laddie Eddie Allen.
Kathy & Neil Chrisman, who was chairman of the Jacob’s Pillow board of trustees for fourteen years.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 05/05/10 at 06:32 AM • Permalink
Berkshire Botanical Garden’s Fantasy Garden Sheds Show
Trustees and friends of the Berkshire Botanical Garden gathered on Saturday evening to preview the show of garden shed/follies that will amuse visitors there throughout this season. Five designers turned simple Amish sheds (generously donated by The Barn Raiser) into crowd-pleasing flights of fantasy, with nary a trowel in sight. Everyone who attended wanted one, only confirming trustee Matt Larkin’s hunch that nobody ever outgrows their desire for a playhouse in a secret part of the garden. For a closer look at the sheds, see our Garden page.
Sarah Thorne, who, with her husband Peter Thorne, designed and executed the “Berkshire Artist’s Retreat”; Pine Cone Hill‘s “Swedish Reading Retreat” team members Jess Fitzgerald and Keith Wilson with Emily Wilson
Skippy and Vaughn Nixon adroitly execute the Berkshire Botanical Trot—crossing West Stockbridge Road without spilling.
BBG board vice chair Madeline Hooper and BBG Executive Director Molly Boxer
Dick Bories and James Shearron, designers of the “18th-century Privy” with Crisse MacFadyen; Michael Devine beside his “Garden Blogger’s Retreat”
Abigail Elwood, Aaron Dunn and Scott Sawyer; Donna and Patrick Annunziata
Guests listen as Matt Larkin (right), BBG trustee and curator of the exhibition, points out the authentic classical detailing on the “18th Century Privy”
Shed designer Chase Booth, whose woodland fantasy was inspired by the great camps of the Adirondacks, with Elaine Grant, and Steven Mateer; David and Anne Griffin
BBG trustee Honey Sharp and Steven Somkin; Joyce and Gerald Moore, whose garden was recently featured in Country Living magazine.
Matt Larkin, Madeline Hooper, and Mark Mendel
Mitch Nash, BBG trustee Maria Nation and Caitlin Nash; Marion Gilliam founder-and-publisher of Orion Magazine, which recently nabbed the 2010 Independent Press Award for General Excellence (think: top prize), and Matt Larkin
Barbara and Len McCue; Pauline Nash, Chase Booth, and Steven Chickery
Susan Dennison, Thomas Burak and Mary Frances Benko; Susan Silver and BBG trustee Judie Owens
Celisha Racicot and Michael Chapman; Maisie Deely and Daniel Dempsey
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 05/02/10 at 02:29 PM • Permalink
Spring for Art Celebrates the Blossoming of Millerton
Eclectic, eccentric and electric are all adjectives one could use to describe Millerton’s Spring for Art evening on May 1, when nearly every business in town—from Elyse Harney Real Estate and Gilmor Glass to Little Gates & Company and the Motorworks—exhibited work by local artists, and served wine and cheese. The warm weather contributed to the street-party atmosphere as giddy merchants anitcipated a busy summer season now that Millerton has evolved—to the shock and delight of many who’ve been around town for more than a decade—into a day-trip destination.
Carol Sadlon of The Moviehouse on the porch of Simmon’s Way Village Inn with owner Marty Reynolds.
Antique textiles authority Titi Halle and furniture maker Peter Felske; Stephanie & Peter Katz and their daughter, Arrabella.
Exhibiting artist David Valyou with Keelie Christman.
Melissa Davis of Little Gates & Co. wine merchants offers homemade tea sandwiches to Dick Solomon; green designer Nick Xatzis and actress Corena Chase.
Custom-guitar maker Shane Kramer, who exhibited his guitars at Motorworks, with Athena Fliakos of Mass Bliss; Noah Kramer mugs for the camera with his parents, Jennifer & Alex Kramer of Motorworks, which hosted an after-party with a rock band in the garage.
Real estate broker Barbara Roth flanked by Wesley & Evan LePatner.
Millerton’s own Marcus Welby, Dr. Kristie Schmidt, with Bonnie Hundt of the Hylton Hundt Salon; Ella Schmidt with her puppy, Elvis Puglsey, and her father, the artist Henry Kimowicz, who showed one of his cardboard sculptures at Gilmor Glass.
Great Barrington’s doyenne of vintage clothing Petria May with Elizabeth Kasevich; TriArts board member Carol Kalikow with interior designer Matthew Patrick Smyth who recently redecorated the White Hart Inn.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 05/02/10 at 08:59 AM • Permalink
‘Material World’ Opens at MASS MoCA
On Saturday, April 24, MASS MoCA unveiled Material World: Sculpture to Environment in which seven artists made site specific installations on the museum’s second and third floor galleries. Using ordinary materials, the artists chosen by curator Susan Cross created sculptures that are meant to engaged. There seems to be a “hands on” policy at this exhibition that is the kind large-scale happening at which MASS MoCA excels.
Curator and Rural Intelligence advertising sales rep .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and art dealer/hedge-fund analyst Pip Deely; Rick Laurie and an awed Lyn Horton take in Tobia’s Purih’s Re-projection: Hoosac.
Milica & Boris Falatar on the second floor of White Stag, an enveloping forest of twisted and crumpled paper, by Wade Kavanaugh & Stephen B. Nguyen.
Evan Johnson and Kate Ewald; Liz Ellsworth and Jamie Kruse
Kaitlin Murray and Eli Jace explore the lower level of White Stag
Berkshire Property Agents’ Tim Lovett and Leslie Morgenthal; MASS MoCA curator Denise Markonish and Ven Voisey, the North Adams artist who is the Berkshire Museum’s artist-in-residence now through June 18.
Kimberly Lawrence and Daniell Gismondi.
Nova and Jarvis Rockwell; Veronica Jackson.
Eli Levenstein‘s Reading Room, which is made of bubble wrap, nylon cord, twine, goose down, telephone wire and other off-the-shelf materials, is meant to be used.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 04/25/10 at 07:29 PM • Permalink
The Kent Film Festival Kicks Off with Campbell Scott
The 5th annual Kent Film Festival is the Little Engine That Could—a four-day celebration of cinema in a town without a movie theater. Each year, founders Frank and Patrice Galterio and an army of volunteers transform the Kent Community Center into a theater with the aroma of freshly made popcorn filling the lobby. On April 21, the festival began with a benefit sceeening of Company Retreat, a locally-made film written and directed by the actor Campbell Scott, who was on hand to greet his fans and answer their questions about moviemaking.
Filmmaker Cima Sedigh whose documentary, Bakhtiari Alphabet, follows the migration of the ancient Bakhtiari tribe in southwest Iran, with Ron Dobey, a Kent Film Festival board member; Millerton florist Kamilla Najdek and personal trainer Masha Loucks.
Actor Chris Bachar, actress Laura Kirk and writer/director Chris Ordal, who worked together on the film Earthwork.
Film festival associate director J. Daniel Stricker with volunteer Steve Shaw; Laura Werntz with artist Aija Marie Ozols Gibson.
KFF co-founder Patrice Galterio, actor Campbell Scott who wrote and directed the film Company Retreat that was shown on the eve of the festival, and KFF artistic director Frank Galterio.
Rachel & Andrew Schiller; Kent School spanish teacher Kristelle Hicks and writer Jeff Palfini.
KFF interns Kylie Gellatly and Amanda Winans; Patrice Galterio with board member Jill Sinzi of Kent Coffee & Chocolate
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 04/21/10 at 09:32 PM • Permalink
Can We Talk About the Berkshire International Film Festival?
On April 15 at Haven in Lenox the 5th annual Berkshire International Film Festival (June 3 - 6) announced its 2010 lineup. BIFF will still be headquartered in Great Barrington, but it’s expanding to Pittsfield with screenings at the Beacon Cinema and the Little Cinema at the Berkshire Museum, too. Founder Kelley Vickery thanked her board and advisory council for supporting her vision to produce a film festival that would be to movies what Tanglewood is to music and Jacob’s Pillow is to dance. She announced that the opening night movie at the Mahaiwe would be Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, a documentary about the 75-year-old trailblazing comedienne who cracked the glass ceiling as the first woman to have her own late night talk show (and who has a weekend house in New Preston, CT). She also announced that the Berkshire Bank would award a $5,000 Next Great Filmmaker Award and that anyone can vote after screening the films on the Berkshire Bank website. Vickery thanked her party-planning committee that has secured the old firehouse in Great Barrington for BIFF’s opening night festivities.
Actress and knitwear designer Karen Allen with BIFF founder Kelley Vickery.
Barbara Newman and Diane Pearlman, executive director of the Berkshire Film and Media Commission; Cultural Pittsfield’s Megan Whilden with filmmaker Alejandro de Onís, a member of BIFF’s advisory committee.
Hancock Shaker Village marketing director Laura Wolf with photographer Kevin Sprague; Norton Owen, director of preservation at Jacob’s Pillow, with Pillow board member Hunter Runnette.
Orion Magazine executive editor Hal Clifford, who directed the short film Stone River, with Kim Houston and Jason Houston, who is the cinematographer for Stone River.
Housatonic gallery owner Lauren Clark with artist Cynthia Wick; Bev & Dave Hosokawa with Emily Cohen, co-chair of BIFF BFF and the opening night party.
Vicki Bonnington with Stonover Farm’s Tom Werman and Matt Mandel of Volunteers in Medicine.
Sarah Paul, producer of the short film Speck’s Last, with BIFF executive assistant Lauren Ferin; Berkshire Bank’s Matthew Pedrotti with Berkshire Living‘s Amanda Rae Busch.
Sisters Amy Butterworth of IS 183 Art School of the Berkshires and caterer Katie Baldwin; WAMC’s Dr. Alan Chartock with Michael Ballon of Castle Street Cafe.
BIFF board member Kevin Sprague demonstrates how he used his own hands to make the film festival’s logo; Haven owner Shelly Williams proffers smoked salmon with pearls of “faux caviar” she made from olives.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 04/20/10 at 09:40 AM • Permalink
Hudson Opera House’s Movable Feast 2010
Executive Director Gary Schiro was everywhere at once, yet still managed to elude our camera, keeping things moving at a brisk pace at the Hudson Opera House’s Movable Feast fundraising gala on Saturday, April 17. Following cocktails at the Opera House, guests moved on to twenty-four dinner parties, most within walking distance of HOH. Good thing too, because, after dinner, they were expected to return for dessert, coffee, and a raffle drawing. Funds raised from the Movable Feast this year will support more than 1025 cultural programs for children and adults, many of them free.
Former Jeffrey, NY visual director turned former Hudson gallery owner and now a painter John Findysz, a dinner host, with a guest, the actor Parker Posey
Florist Isabelle Bosquet-Morra and musician Andrew Appel; Joan Davidson and James Male
Tom Griffen, Robert Fullem, and Vesna Grossjohann; John Mathews, and dinner co-host Philippe Soule, along with HOH board president Tom Froese
Andrew Degiacomo, Tom Swope and Leonardo Sideri; dinner host Patricia Naggiar and psychologist Barbara Lewis
Amy Barr, Christine Callander, and the Red Dot’s Alana Hauptmann; Rosemarie Longo, HOH board member and dinner co-host Paul Barrett and Charlene Chai
Robert Rems, Stan Ackert and photographer David Rodgers; writer Edward Tivnan, Judy Ney, and Lee Elman
Hudson City superintendent of schools John Howe and WAMC’s Alan Chartock;
Julia Ritchie and Stephen Ritchie
Psychologist Carol Chinn, Harriet Shur and Hudson’s seasonal cashmere king Bernie Shur; Ann Scott, Liliandloo owner Melinda Slover, Peggy Anderson, and Dini Lamot
John Walter and Jodi Walter; Jennifer Merschdorf and Fairview Wines & Spirits owner Risa Dimm
Phil Myrick, Jeffrey Gannon, and Thea Krumme; HOH Deputy Director Joe Herwick, Martha Holmes and Chuck Currie
Jen Drake and Sarah Gilbert; Alexandra Anderson, architect Rob Whitlock and Roby Whitlock
Important necklaces: Dawn Vennekohl‘s is from her own shop, Hudson Vintage, Judith Flamenbaum‘s from Hudson’s Ornamentum; and Walter Flamenbaum
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 04/18/10 at 08:06 AM • Permalink
A Double-Header Season Opener at Ferrin Gallery
Cultural correspondent Bess Hochstein reports from Pittsfield: As if there were any question, Leslie Ferrin has proven beyond doubt that she’s the most energetic art dealer in the Berkshires. On Wednesday, April 7 she and business partner Donald Clark hosted a reception for Lenox artist Paul Graubard, whose colorful, folkloric paintings comprise his solo show, Stories from the Bible and Other Places. Three days later, she hosted the opening reception for The Things They Left Behind, a dual-artist show of ceramic sculpture by Michael Boroneic and Gerit Grimm, who shared a winter residency at Ferrin’s Project Art work/live space in Cummington, MA. What’s next? A discussion/reception on April 21 with octogenarian artist John Stritch about his show Berkshires. The Land. The Music; and one of her monthly Dish & Dine evenings on April 23 offering local fare (by chef John Dudek of Bascom Lodge) served on locally made dishes (by Mary Ann Davis) to accompany a topical discussion with multimedia artist Ven Voisey and Berkshire Museum executive director Stuart Chase (left with Ferrin) on the eve of Voisey’s becoming the second artist-in-residence at the Museum. Meanwhile, Ferrin is raising two teenagers and maintaing a hectic travel schedule: she curated The Hermaphrodites, an exceptionally well reviewed show at Wexler Gallery in Philadelphia; she’s presenting at SOFA New York this week, and she’s preparing for Art Chicago .
Writer and stylist Gladys Montgomery with artist Michael McCarthy; artist Robert Henriquez with Michael Boroniec.
Artists Mara Superior and Megan Hart.
Artists Eric Drury and Stefanie Weber, who is performing at Jae’s Spice on April 17; art critic Keith Shaw and artist Michael Zelehoski.
Sandy Newman of Community Access to the Arts with Suky Werman of the Barn Gallery at Stonover Farm; painter Eamonn Barry and photographer David Ricci.
Artist and interior designer Tatyana Nagdor with Chuck Kearney.
Artists Joel Curran and Joe Sam; Brian McMahon and Dr. Henry Rose.
Dan Wojtkowski and Donald Clark; Jocelyn Lussier with her father, artist Stephen Lussier.
John Stritch and Michael Boroniec.
Najwa Drury and Susan Geller; Becca Bushy and artist/teacher Michael Bushy.
Cathy Deely and Linda Kaye-Moses; Suky Werman and Leslie Ferrin.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 04/13/10 at 06:08 PM • Permalink
bluecashew Hosts Frances Palmer and John Barricelli
On Saturday afternoon, our favorite potter, Frances Palmer, and her Connecticut friend and neighbor, author of the just published The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook John Barricelli joined Gregory Triana and Sean Nutley at the bluecashew Kitchen Pharmacy, in Rhinebeck for a festive signing, sipping, nibbling, meeting and greeting. Everyone’s mood was elevated sky high by, apart from the usual caffeinates, lots of sweet and chocolate-y things to eat. Both Barricelli’s confections and Palmer’s pottery elicited moans of pleasure and murmurs of, “Exquisite!”
Author of the The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook, John Barricelli and the potter Frances Palmer
Judy Gomberg, Barbara Schreiber, Ramon Lascano and Aida Wilder; bluecashew’s Vincenzo Buscema and his sister Gina Buscema
Judy Byrd-Blaylock and Geri Covington; Denise Morett and Tom Gibbon
Colleen Boardman, Christin Cleary, and Jen Fox; Frances Palmer and Donna Stanley
bluecashew co-owner Sean Nutley, event planner Gaylinn Fast, photographer and graphic designer Jessica Lewis, and Chris Bernard; bluecashew co-owner Gregory Triana, Susanne Columbia and Jim Farmer
Matthew Palin, Jessica Price, and Jason Selden; Roscoe Betsill, Pauline Kelly, and Cecilia Gallini
Nells Li, fashion executive Nelson Li and fashion designer Si Si Li; Craig Snyder, Renee Snyder, and John Barricelli
Josh Porter, Stella Porter and Ellen Porter; Debbie Wetmore and Samantha Wetmore
bluecashew co-owner Sean Nutley, The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook photographer Ben Fink, and Joe Tully; Diane Williamson and Mike Williamson
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 04/11/10 at 07:23 AM • Permalink
A Summer Preview Party for Vassar’s Powerhouse Theater
It was the ideal weather to be thinking about summer theater in the Hudson Valley. New York Stage & Film and Vassar invited its local supporters and advisory board for a preview on April 7 of the upcoming season, and the guests spilled out onto the terrace of the Alumnae House, where waiters from Gigi Hudson Valley in Rhinebeck passed addictive hors d’oeuvres. Johanna Pfaelzer, artistic director of New York Stage and Film, and Edward Cheetham, producing director of the Powerhouse program, announced that they would be mounting a main stage production of Pulitzer-, Tony- and Oscar-winning writer John Patrick Shanley’s new play, Pirate, which is “theatrical as hell,” according to Pfaelzer. Their other mainstage production is We Are Here by playwright Tracy Thorne. Luke McFarlane, who plays Scotty on ABC’s Brothers & Sisters, will star in a workshop production of Life with Men—and Other Animals, which is being directed by Peter Schneider. There will several other workshops and readings (including new work by Richard Nelson, Romulus Linley, and Patricia Wettig), and Pfaelzer made it clear that summer at Powerhouse is all about developing new work. She said that audience reaction is critical to the creative process, and she urged everyone to buy tickets to everything (on sale online May 19) and let their opinions be known.
Powerhouse’s Ed Cheetham and New York Stage and Film’s Johanna Pfzaelzer; New York Stage and Film board members Sylvia Steiner and Ina Meibach.
Becky Baxter-Foard and Phoebe Foard.
Drama professor Chris Grabowski with Corinne & Dave Fuimarello; student journalists Carrie Hojnicki and Mitchell Gilburne of The Miscellany News.
Lydia J. Higginson, deputy director of Dutchess County Tourism, with Tanner Townsend, the manager of Babycakes Cafe, and Ken Snodgrass, executive director of the historic Locust Grove Estate in Poughkeepsie.
Maria Marewski, founder of the Children’s Media Project, and Joanne Feigenheimer, executive director of the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center; lawyer Niki Pagones and Carol Gordon, chief operating officer of Rhinebeck Savings Bank.
Phyllis Bressman and Lynn Baker of the Powerhouse Hudson Valley Advisory Board; Vassar graphic designer Charles Mosco and Nicole Roylance, coordinator of public education for Vassar’s Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center.
Vassar students Jeremy Bloom and Nicole Wood.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 04/07/10 at 08:27 PM • Permalink
A Riotous Night in the Reading Room of the Lenox Library
There was no one shushing anybody at the Lenox Library on Saturday night for the first Burlesque for Books fundraiser. Indeed, the reading room was filled with laughter along with hoots and hollers from the balcony as the brilliant Sugar Shack girls did their brainy brand of burlesque, which was narrated by an actor impersonating Walt Whitman. Event chair Karen Lee had put flickering votives on the bookshelves and the library felt like a very urbane supper club. The opening act was the magnetic duo of Kristen Gray & Michael Raye; they were followed by two silent lovesick clowns played by Karen Lee and Mark Hohlstein, who were accompanied by guitarist John Clarke. Though skeptics had worried that the benefit was beyond the pale, the evening proved to be sassy, smart and sophisticated. And over-the-top, too.
Junior Leaguer Nicole Garzino and Kris Anderson, who designed the stage set for the evening; waitresses Vaiana Cane and Karis Howes.
Photographer Cassandra Sohn, who teaches at IS 183, and her husband, Alex Sohn, a law student; Buzz Gray with his daughter Kristen Gray, who sang during the first part of the evening.
Boston University professor of music, musicology and ethnomusicology Jeremy Yudkin with his wife Kathryn Yudkin.
Kris Galli and photographer Edward Acker; Steve & Lillian Gleason form Austerlitz.
Stephanie & Scott Hedges.
Tamy Heeren who owns Fancy Pants, a consignment store in Lee that was one of the evening’s sponsors, with her husband, Keith Heeren, and Karen Lee, the evening’s chair; Nancy Kalodner and Doug Shufelt.
The view from the balcony.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 03/28/10 at 08:53 PM • Permalink
Berkshire Grown’s Annual Maple Dinner at the Red Lion Inn
The annual Berkshire Grown Maple Dinner is an exercise in counterintuitive programming. Held in late March (when there are few local vegetables) on a Monday night (when weekenders can’t buy tickets), the dinner gets bigger every year, and more than locavores packed into the main dining room of the Red Lion Inn on March 22. They ate a five course feast that began with hors d’oeuvres (such as maple glazed smokey bacon donuts) by Katie Baldwin Catering; fennel-and-apple soup by John Dudek of Bascom Lodge; maple-glazed free-range chicken ballotine by Peter Platt of Old Inn on the Green; celeriac-and-arugula salad with maple cured Berkshire pig by Brian Alberg of the Red Lion and Daire Rooney of Brix Wine Bar; maple glazed crispy duck confit with Equinox Farm red mustard greens by Chris Bonniver of Gala Restaurant & Bar; Kombucha maple sugar cake with ginger-maple gelato by Dan Smith of John Andrews.
Carole Murko of Heirloom Meals with Kay Taygan visiting from Cape Cod; Berkshire Mountain Distillers’ Chris Weld and Colin Coan.
Caterer Katie Baldwin who made the hors d’oeuvres with host chef Brian Alberg of the Red Lion Inn.
Jonathan Ball of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Pittsfield with Barbara Schulman of Wheeler & Taylor in Stockbridge; Nancy Thomas of Mezze and Allium with Ted Dobson of Equinox Farm.
Nancy Kalodner Benchmark Realty, Sheryl Lechner, the outreach coordinator for Berkshire Grown, and event planner Amy Rudnick.
Bob & Karen Youdelman; Berkshire Grown executive director Barbara Zheutlin with vice-chair Laurily Epstein.
Roberto Flores of Good Dogs Farm in Sheffield with Honey Sharp; Gussie Greer with her son Sam.
Chris Masiero of Guido’s Fresh Marketplace and photographer Lincoln Russell.
John Dudek of Bascom Lodge on Mt. Greylock with Chris Bonnivier & Mike Kelly of Gala Restaurant at the Orchards in Williamstown; Daire Rooney of Brix Wine with Peter Platt of Old Inn on the Green in New Marlborough.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 03/24/10 at 02:39 PM • Permalink
Culture Mix! NW Connecticut Arts Council Welcomes Spring
The stunning glass-box Nutmeg Conservatory of the Arts—one of the country’s premiere ballet schools—was the setting for the Northwest Connecticut Arts Council’s spring Culture Mix, which brought together artists, actors, teachers, politicians and culture aficionados in downtown Torrington, CT. Local caterer Jill Nicolson outdid herself with a lavish cocktail buffet, which was held in one of the high-ceilinged glass-walled studios with views of rolling hills in the distance.
Marc Trivella, vice president of the Nutmeg’s board of directors, with state representative Michelle Cook and Torrington attorney James P. Steck; art teacher Rosemary Barrett with Stewart Wilson, executive director of the Artwell Gallery in Torrington.
Adelka Polak, a mixed-media performing artist, with Heidi Kirchofer and Joel Melendez of Matica Arts.
Patrice Galterio, founder of the Kent Film Festival, which runs April 22 -25, 2010, with Carol Marti of the 550 Gallery in Bethlehem; Ron Alexander, principal for training and academics at the Nutmeg Conservatory, with Amy Wynn, executive director of the Northwest Connecticut Arts Council.
JoAnn Ryan, president of the Northwest Connecticut Chamber of Commerce, with farmer Michael Keilty of Northeast SARE (Sustainable Agriculture, Research & Education.)
Screenwriter Brenda Nielson with composer Joshua Stone; Fran Keilty, owner of the Hickory Stick Bookshop in Washington Depot, with Vita West Muir, executive director of the Litchfield Jazz Festival.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 03/22/10 at 01:14 PM • Permalink
Home of the Brave: A Photographer Honors Berkshire Veterans
Cultural correspondent Bess J. M. Hochstein reports from Pittsfield: The stars aligned for photographer Bill Wright about six weeks ago, when he approached Megan Whilden, Director of Pittsfield’s Office of Cultural Development, about mounting an exhibition of portraits of local military veterans in the city’s Lichtenstein Center for the Arts. A previously scheduled show failed to materialize, and Wright’s proposal fit right in with Pittsfield’s Big Read community bookreading project, which is focused on Tim O’Brien’s Vietnam War novel, The Things They Carried. So the gallery made an exception to its group-show orientation and helped put out the call to local men and women who have served in all branches of the military to participate in Wright’s Berkshire Veterans Photography Project, including George Moran (left) who served in Navy during the Vietnam War. Twenty-one of Wright’s powerful, larger-than-life portraits hung on the gallery walls as subjects and their families gathered for the show’s opening on Friday, March 12. Among the guests was Wright’s oldest subject, Margaret Haggerty, who served in the Army during World War II; she turns 100 this month. Wright, who served in the Air Force during the Gulf War, continues to work on his Berkshire Veterans Photography Project, which he hopes to turn into a book. He asks that local veterans contact him for a free portrait sitting: brkvets@gmail.com.
World War II Army nurse Margaret Haggerty, who turns 100 later this month, surrounded by Pittsfield’s Veteran’s Services Director Rosanne Frieri of the Air National Guard; Melissa Mazzeo, At-Large City Councilor; and Navy veteran Terry Probst, who chauffered Haggerty to the opening; Vietnam veterans Henry Morris of the Army and John Harding of the Marines, a retired Pittsfield schoolteacher and deejay.
Graphic designer Joe Wilk, business partner of photographer Bill Wright, with Carly Beery, a surgical technologist at Fairview Hospital.
Laura Roudabush, Barrington Stage Company’s director of marketing, with Jess Conzo, program coordinator for MCLA’s Berkshire Cultural Resource Center; Jernee Edgerton, Youth Coordinator for the City of Pittsfield, with Ryan Weightman, Cultural Pittsfield Program Coordinator and Gallery Manager.
Bart Dery, who served in the Navy from 1987 - 1995, with his portrait.
Printmaker and art teacher Michael Bushy and Becca Bushy with Aaron Wood and artist Stephanie Gravalese-Wood, the new communication and education coordinator for The Colonial Theatre; Photographer Bill Wright, an Air Force Desert Storm veteran who pans to publish a book based on his Berkshire Veterans Photography Project, with friend and fellow photographer Adam Kurtz, who printed and framed Wright’s portraits in record time.
Cultural Pittsfield’s Megan Whilden with Shirley Edgerton, program director for the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services in Berkshire County and executive director of Youth Alive!
Teacher Jack Curletti with Carrie Wright, the photographer’s wife, who owns Emporium on North Street; artist Jazu Stine with Connecticut College senior Thomas Winstanley.
Paige Wright, 7, daughter of the photographer and star of “Manic Mondays with Paige,” with her aunt Christine “Murray” Duhancik; Eric, Liam, and Dana Michele Seddon, an optician and flight engineer with the Air Force whose portrait is in the show.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 03/14/10 at 08:14 PM • Permalink
Parties: BIFF Goes to the Oscars
Cultural correspondent Bess J.M. Hochstein reports from Pittsfield: No one gushed about who they were wearing, and no one volunteered that they had to return their jewels to Harry Winston, but guests at the Berkshire International Film Festival’s Oscar night party at the Beacon Cinema had been asked to wear red-carpet-worthy attire, and, for the most part, they complied. There was indeed a red carpet leading to an interview/photo opportunity platform. After passing through that gauntlet, guests ascended an escalator to the second floor, where an Academy-Award-inspired buffet, prepared by clever caterer Kate Baldwin, awaited. Attendees sipped the evening’s special champagne cocktail, the Red Carpet Fizz, while nibbling on Vegetables Julienne & Julia, Jeff Bridges Mix, Steak Ava-Tartar, The Hurt Locker Habanero Hummus, The Blind Sliders, and The Lovely Boneless Buffalo Wings, plus desserts such as Inglorious Custerds and Coco Before Chanel cocoa-dusted beignets. The crowd filled out ballots with their best guesses for the top award winners, then filled the theaters broadcasting the 82nd Academy Awards Ceremony live via satellite, sneaking out for snacks during the commercial breaks. Next up for the BIFF is the announcement of the festival’s fifth anniversary program; the expanded schedule runs June 3 - 6 on screens in both Great Barrington and Pittsfield.
David Schecker, BIFF founder and director Kelley Vickery, and Vicki Bonnington; Lisa Newman on the red carpet with her mother, Leni Aronson.
Lisa Newman of Cookiehead Cookies with Jackie Gentile of the Provost’s Office at Simon’s Rock; Mary Parkman with artist and Berkshire Bank graphic designer Mark Tomasi.
Artist/designer Karen Beckwith and BIFF programmer Lillian Lennox; Matt Larkin and Aaron Dunn of Black Barn Farm.
Seven Salon & Spa’s Maurice Peterson and Mark Johnson flank BIFF administrative assistant Lauren Ferin.
Barbara Newman, who is presently working on a film about cowgirls, with Diane Pearlman, executive director of the Berkshire Film & Media Commission; BIFF designer Amanda Bettis and Carrie Saldo.
Lauren Zivyak and Lincoln Russell; Lou Boxer, Emily Cohen and Molly Boxer.
Albany attorneys Samuel and Molly Breslin with Phil and Emily Cohen.
Anthony James Madrid, who tended bar at the event, with his mother Fedlina Madrid, VP of marketing at Berkshire Bank, a sponsor of the BIFF; Doug Schufelt and Nancy Kalodner.
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 03/09/10 at 08:14 AM • Permalink
Radioactive Bodega: IS 183’s Post-Apocolytpic Dance Party
Ever wonder what fashion look would rise from the ashes of a nuclear catastrophe? No? Actually, neither have we, but enthusiastic supporters of IS 183 clearly gave the matter a lot of serious thought when they assembled their costumes for the art school’s Radioactive Bodega fundraiser in Pittsfield on Saturday, March 6. They shopped. They pulled it together. They worked it in front of mirrors the length and breadth of Berkshire County and beyond. In the end, everyone glowed, especially when they smiled, except for the Mad Max manqués who preferred to glower. Best survival tip: the colander as the protective headgear. So handy.
Alice Keegan, Jim Armstrong, Jeanne Baccoli, and Patty Mangano; Arthur Cape, Didier Steven, Lauren Fitts, and David Slick
Ellen Kelly, Maggie Welch, Sheila Irvin, Shannon Nichols; Jay & Bill Tobin
John Thier; Alan Bauman, IS 183 board member Mary Garnish, Seth Rogovoy
Melissa Lillie, Danielle Steinmann and Mary Garnish; Ryan Weightman, Petria May, and Hilton Hollis
Michelle Quigley, Heather Pictrowski, Chris Connell, Dawn Connell, and Matthew Pictrowski
Nancy Fitzpatrick and Lincoln Russell; Tom Werman
Reid White; Lisa Cavender and Nick Kiersted
Mary Nash and Kelley Vickery; Matthew & Catherine Mendel
Kerry Wrenn; Eric & Carol Haythorne
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 03/07/10 at 07:12 AM • Permalink
Hudson Valley LGBTQ Center Toasts “Falsettos” in Rhinebeck
It’s the rare community theater company that has the chutzpah to put on William Finn’s landmark Tony-winning musical comedy about neurotic New York Jews at the dawn of the AIDS crisis. But the Center for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck is a rarity—a gutsy community theater that does everything with the polish of a serious regional theater and its razor-sharp production of Falsettos (which runs through February 28) made me laugh and cry just as it did when I saw it on Broadway in 1992. The audience on Saturday, February 20, was especially enthusiastic because the performance was a benefit for the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center, which hosted an after party in the lobby (where the guests included, above, AnnChris Warren with Victoria Howland, who plays the kosher caterer in Falsettos.) At the curtain—an inspired homage to the AIDS Memorial Quilt—actor Bill Ross, who played Marvin, told the audience that the Center had gotten some local criticism for staging this show, and he hoped that everyone would spread the word to help fill every seat for the final weekend and prove that there is community support for theater that tackles difficult subjects. In fact, the Center’s next production is another powerful exploration of the AIDS crisis: Rent, the 1996 rock musical, will run at the Center for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck from March 12 - 28.
Lance Ringel, president of the board of the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center which hosted the after-show party, with Bill Ross, the actor, who plays Marvin in Falsettos; stage manager Donna Betts with Andrew Weintraub, the president of the board of the Center for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck.
Thomas Netter, age 12, who plays Jason whose bar mitzvah is a major plot point in Falsettos, flanked by Anita & Faith Otey.
Stagehand Bryan Mechtly with director Kevin Archambault; Jim Nurre, who plays Whizzer, with Molly Parker-Myers, who plays Dr. Charlotte in Falsettos.
Maria Hickey, who plays Trina and sings the show-stopping number “I’m Breaking Down,” with Lisa Lynd, who runs The Center’s Kids on Stage Theater Program.
Actor Donald Corren and set designer Richard Prouse; writer Jay Blotcher and social work student Scott Jeune.
J.R. Cassidy, Chris Coad, Brian Lange, who’s on the board of nearby Wilderstein, and literary agent Matthew Carnicelli.
Sue Brooks and vocal coach Tony Regina; Cheryl DelVecchio with Frank Fasano.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 02/20/10 at 11:44 PM • Permalink
A Picture Perfect Opening for Boldini at The Clark
Cultural correspondent Bess J.M. Hochstein reports from Williamstown:
To open its winter exhibition, Giovanni Boldini in Impressionist Paris, on February 13, The Clark threw a somewhat French-accented party—largely by dint of the food: fondue (both cheese and chocolate) served in the café; classic Gallic dishes, such as croque monsieur, coquilles St. Jacques, and saucisson-en-croute, passed as hors d’oeuvres; plus large framed-mirror platters of morbier, brie, and other fromages and patés. The party’s theme, “Picture Yourself at The Clark,” referenced Boldini’s renown for society portraiture. The theme was well integrated into party activities; guests queued up to have artists Julia Dixon and Michael Rousseau sketch their portraits and to slip into a photo booth, and photographs taken throughout the evening were projected on a lobby wall. Of course the Boldini show was the main event, and these romantic paintings surely helped guests get in the mood on the eve of Valentine’s Day.
Carol Palmer of Boston and Ghetta Hirsch of Williamstown.
Williamstown Theatre Festival trustee Jid Sprague with Dr. Keith Edwards and his wife, Judy Edwards.; artist Rebecca Weinmann & stilt walker Abigail Elwood.
The Clark’s executive director, Michael Conforti, with Kelly Pask, director of exhibitions and curator of decorative arts, Kathy Morris and Julie Chase, director of special projects for The Clark.
Peter Hansen and his wife, Petra Krauledat, chairman of the board of Hancock Shaker Village; Williams College student Sara Ahmed & Ayla Butt.
Artists Jeff & Jane Hudson, who run the Hudsons boutiques at MASS MoCA and on Spring Street in Williamstown.
Hancock Shaker Village CEO Ellen Spear and her husband, Brad Spear, the classical music radio commentator; Rus Peotter, general manager of WGBY, and his wife, Jennifer.
Tony Patterson of Iredale Mineral Cosmetics, and Carolann Patterson of Williamstown Theatre Festival; lovebirds N. Richard Gershon & Monique Gershon of Canaan, NY.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 02/16/10 at 01:00 PM • Permalink
Art! Beer! Wings! The Radioactive Bodega Preview Party
It was, appropriately, an evening of cultural dissonance. Supporters of IS 183 Art School of the Berkshires (including Karen Lee and Jeremy Goodwin, left) gathered at the boozy Brick House Pub in Housatonic, MA, to preview some of the fine art that will be part of the silent auction at the school’s annual masquerade fundraiser on March 6. The festive dance party’s counterintuitive theme—“Radioactive Bodega”— inspired the organizers to show fine art in an improbable frat house setting, a saloon where the light fixtures over the pool tables say “Budweiser” and the specialty of the house is Buffalo chicken wings.
Sandy Cleary-Wade and her childhood friend, photographer Kevin Sprague; Marnie Barris & Jeanet Ingalls
Berkshire Living‘s Mary Garnish with law student Alex Sohn & Cassandra Sohn, who teaches at IS 183.
Leslie Milton & David Rosenthal; IS 183 stalwarts Vicki Bonnington & David Schecker.
IS 183 executive director Hope Sullivan with Radioactive Bodega silent auction co-chairs Robin Seeley & Orit Kadosh.
Williamstown Theatre Festival’s Carolann Patterson with Katie Johnson of Barrington Stage Company and Reed White; Albert Halpern of SoMA Catering with Debbie Guhl.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 02/13/10 at 07:37 PM • Permalink
Welcoming A Royal Gardener to the Berkshires
You rarely see men wearing ties in the Berkshires, but then you rarely see a royal gardener in our neck of the woods. The trustees of the Berkshire Botanical Garden had a cocktail party on February 12 to welcome Debs Goodenough, Head Gardener to HRH Prince Charles, who would be speaking the next day at BBG’s sold-out winter lecture in the auditorium at Monument Mountain Regional High School. Everyone who met Ms. Goodenough (left with BBG trustee Ian Hooper) agreed she was delightfully down to earth.
BBG trustee Honey Sharp with builder Lou Boxer; BBG executive director Molly Boxer with artist Betsy Dovydenas.
Bob Hyland of Loomis Creek Nursery in Hudson, NY, with BBG vice-chair Madeline Hooper
Connecticut gardener and volunteer fireman Scott Robinson and farmer Roberto Flores; BBG trustee Judie Owens and BBG director of horticulture Dorthe Hviid.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 02/13/10 at 07:03 PM • Permalink
Barrington Stage Company’s Carnivale at Jae’s Spice
Nicole Garzino reports from Pittsfield: Why fly south when you can enjoy a red-hot, rock-n-roll salsain Pittsfield? More than 100 masked revelers did just that on Saturday, February 6, dancing the night away to the Latin groove of Los Sugar Kings at last weekend’s benefit Carnivale for Barrington Stage Company’s upcoming summer season. Hosted in the baubled and bedazzled Upstairs at Jae’s Spice, this caliente dance party came complete with Latin-inspired treats, including Brazilian BBQ, handmade guacamole and the freshest fruit-laden sangria. The party-goers included William Finn, the Tony Award-winning creator of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, state senator Benjamin Downing, the event’s honorary chair, and masked maidens such as (above, from left to right) Jessica Ridgley, Andrea Lewis and Tina DaFonde
Leslie Milton, director of major gifts for New York’s Tenement Museum, and David Rosenthal; Mary Ann Quinson, president of Barrington Stage Company’s board or trustees, and Elaine Grant.
Renee DeRagon of Berkshire Shenanigans, Rachel Plaine, and Paul Dodds.
Barrington Stage board member Reba Evenchik and Tony Award winning composer William Finn; Liz Wedge, Mike Clary and Barrington Stage capital campaign manager Manisha Tanzman-Rivas.
Photographer Keith Emerling, Orit Kadosh, and Kris Anderson.
Mark Siegars and Fran Steiner; Dr. Norman Boyd and Barrington Stage artistic director Julianne Boyd.
Ada Flores, Mario Flores, Dr. Michelle Monnin, Dr. Boris Murillo, Alfredo Najera and Clara Najera.
Molly Paluilis and Aleah Kozlowski; one of Los Sugar Kings.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 02/10/10 at 08:22 AM • Permalink
Williamstown Theatre Festival Brings ‘ART’ to The Clark
The venerable Wililiamstown Theatre Festival is making an effort to have more of a year-round presence in the Berkshires. Now that it has a Williamstown-based general manager, Joe Finnegan (left with Kristen Johanson), it’s reaching out to full-time residents and a staged reading of Yasmina Reza’s ART at the the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute attracted some 300 people to see John Bedford Lloyd, Campbell Scott and James Waterston, who headed to Mezze for drinks after the show.
David Wohabe, WTF board president Matt Harris, Denise Wohabe.
WTF artistic associate Justin Waldman and actor Campbell Scott; Molly Kerns & Rebecca Rice.
David & Wendy Horton with Fran & Ira Lapidus, a WTF trustee.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 02/10/10 at 08:21 AM • Permalink
The “Radioactive Bodega” Pre-Party
The IS 183 Art School of the Berkshires annual costume ball has become a cult even that attracts more than 400 partygoers of all ages. The theme of the party is always playful—Sushi-a-Go-Go in 2007, Rock the Opera in 2008, the Hair Ball in 2009—and is open to a wide variety of interpretations. But this year’s theme, Radioactive Bodega, has even some of the most creative minds around stumped. Some people associate “radioactive” with movies like Mad Max and Blade Runner, while others think immediately of Three Mile Island. As for “bodega,” if you’ve ever lived in New York City, a bodega evokes brightly colored cans of Cafe Bustelo, mouse traps and shelves of patron saint candles. To help guests figure out what to wear to the party on March 6 in Pittsfield, IS 183 supporters held a fashion show at the Lenox Athenaeum on January 31 to share costume ideas; you can find more inspiration at the Radioactive Bodega website.
Photographs courtesy of Kevin Sprague.
The ever-inventive and wacky David Schecker & Vicki Bonnington.
Caity Delphia and Evan Moriarty model their high-concept outfits.
The group all plan to attend the silent auction fine art preview party on February 12 at the Brick House Pub in Housatonic, though they may not be in costume.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 02/03/10 at 03:20 PM • Permalink
Jason Houston’s Solo Exhibit Opens at the Ferrin Gallery
Cultural correspondent Bess J.M. Hochstein reports from Pittsfield: Thursday, January 21 was something of a double-header for Jason Houston (near left with gallery owners Donald Clark and Leslie Ferrin.) The evening began with the reception for his solo photography show, Family of Mine, at Ferrin Gallery, and continued at the Alchemy Initiative with The Widow Wears Red Pajamas, Billie Best’s moving monologue/memoir about dealing with the death of her husband and her life without him, which was illuminated by photos from the book Dying Beautifully, a collaboration between Houston and Best. Houston is celebrated in this area for his grittily beautiful photographs of farmland and farm hands, his globetrotting documentation of environmentally delicate ecosystems, and his work as photo editor of Orion Magazine. Over the span of five years, Houston turned the lens on his own family during holidays and other gatherings of the clan. The eleven large-scale, color-saturated prints in this new show—the antithesis of family snapshots—served as both focal point and backdrop during the reception to celebrate his work.
Marion Gilliam, founder and publisher of Orion Magazine with Catharine Deely; Petra Krauledat, chair of the Hancock Shaker Village board, with Jonathan Secor, director of MCLA’s Gallery 51.
Allison Sinkler and Valley Advocate blogger Sarah Werthan Buttenwieser; Minc House marketing director Carrie Saldo and Suky Werman of Stonover Farm in Lenox.
Gladys Montgomery with Berkshire Living’s Mary Garnish and photographer Sue Geller.
North Adams artists Ven Voisey and Thor Wickstrom; artists Gerit Grimm and Michael Boroniec.
Stuart Chase and Maria Mingalone of the Berkshire Museum; Elba Passerini with artist Paul Graubard in front of one of his works.
Jason & Kim Houston in front of the exhibit Family of Mine.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 01/25/10 at 05:15 PM • Permalink
Pittsfield Photographers Keep the Focus Local
It wasn’t too long ago when “Pittsfield, snow and January” all mixed up together pretty much guaranteed quiet. No longer. Last Friday, more than 200 people showed up at the Lichtenstein Gallery for the opening reception of BerkshireCity: Pittsfield on Film, which proves that Pittsfield is pulsing with creative energy, even through the dark days of winter. Revelers (including, from left, Berkshire International Film Festival founder Kelley Vickery, actress/singer Lauren Ambrose and her mother, Anne Garland) came from as far away as New York City to take in the juried exhibit, a collection of Pittsfield images by some 26 contemporary photographers. The artistically and thematically diverse works detail the surprising beauty found in empty lots, neighborhoods after dark, and pop-culture carnivals. Created in partnership with the Berkshire Film and Media Commission (BFMAC), the exhibit will live beyond its time on the walls (the show runs through March 6.) Pittsfield’s Office of Cultural Development is building a film database, hoping to attract film location scouts. Megan Whilden, director of cultural development, plans to make the exhibit an annual showcase of Pittsfield’s beauty and brawn. “We envision different themes each year,” says Whilden, “in order to highlight the diversity that is found in the Pittsfield landscape and to fill in the gaps in our film location database.” —Nicole Garzino
Musician and performer Autumn Doyle, artist Rebecca Weinmann, and Kristen Luttinen; photographer Jay Hathaway, Justin Larimore and Jennifer Lopez.
Photographer Heather Cachat and Tamara Gardner; Pittsfield Mayor James Ruberto and cultural development director Megan Whilden.
Diane Pearlman, executive director of the Berkshire Film & Media Commission, photographer Sue Geller, and Michelle Green, the new director of the Storefront Artist Project; Tammy MacKinnon, photographer Karl Volkman and photographer Kelly Lee.
Pittsfield city councilor Mike Ward, artist Grier Horner, and city councilor Pete White.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 01/19/10 at 05:13 PM • Permalink
Stars Align at Biskind Book Signing
Friends and cinephiles gathered on Saturday evening at The Chatham Bookstore to hear Peter Biskind read from his new book, Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America, an authorized (the subject’s attorney’s posturing notwithstanding) biography. Biskind’s first selection illustrates why Beatty is worthy of the serious consideration as a filmmaker. The second, and all of the hilarious off-the-cuff anecdotes that followed, show just how infuriatingly manipulative the actor/producer/director is, toward no one more than his biographer. Asked his favorite moment in the five-year process of writing the book, Biskind replied, “When it was done.”
Ross Levi, Peter Biskind, Sesame Campbell, and Sheila Sable
Writers Barbara Weisberg, Roselle Chartock, and David Black; Clellie Lynch and Rob McKeever
Calliope Nicholas; Dr. Ilze Butners, graphic novel author/illustrator Barbara Slate and Evalds Butners
Jan Moseman and Mary Busch; Jerry Berger and author Elizabeth Hess, Biskind’s wife.
Joanna Peters and James Raimes; Chatham Wines & Liquor’s owner Karen Kazmar and Spencertown Academy Executive Director Mary Anne Lee
Author Ruth Reichl and Ann Raimes; author Wesley Brown and architect Ben Puccio
Children’s book author and illustrator Emily McCully and Nation Magazine Editor and Publisher (retired) Victor Navasky; Clellie Lynch and Danny Lynch
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 01/17/10 at 08:05 AM • Permalink
Dressed for Chill at the Stockbridge Sleigh Rally
It was 8 degrees at 11 a.m. on Sunday, January 10, at Orleton Farm in Stockbridge, where the spectators huddled around a huge bonfire (which was stoked by shipping pallets) and sipped hot cider and hot cocoa to stay warm. Host Harvey Waller, the president of the Colonial Carriage & Driving Society, had promised a Currier & Ives day, and he produced a picture-postcard event. Many women wore their furriest and fuzziest winter clothing, but even the best dressed were chilled after an hour or so of standing outside and many guests took advantage of Waller’s offer to go into his barns and view his stellar collection of exquisitely restored antique carriages.
Marylee Wagner draped sleighbells over her coat; Tjasa Sprague in one of her trademark long skirts.
Heather Pictrowski of Pittsfield-based Rosacea Care; Hilary Deely in an heirloom coat.
A two-horse carriage was part of the opening Parade of Sleighs.
Elizabeth Petty and Valerie Fagan
Sue Ryan and Chris Trombley
One of the most Currier & Ives competitors wore a top hat.
Musician Vicki Richards; Evangela Terpak with Scarlett, her Newfoundland.
Guests gathered around the bonfire stoked with discarded shipping pallets.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 01/10/10 at 05:37 PM • Permalink
A Magical Midwinter’s Night of Music at The Mahaiwe
Before the Mahaiwe Center for the Performing Arts opened in 2005, you had to wait for summer to hear the superstars of classical music perform in the Berkshires. So it was appropriate that Emanuel Ax volunteered to play a tribute concert on January 2 in honor of Lola Jaffe, who spearheaded the $9 million renovation of the Great Barrington theater, where the stage has been named for her. The surprise of the night was that Ax had asked Yo-Yo Ma to join him, and the two world-famous and community-minded musicians serenaded Jaffe with pieces by Chopin and Schumann. The not-for-profit Mahaiwe sold so many premium tickets—raising more than $100,000— that the after party had to be split in two with receptions on stage at the Mahaiwe and around the corner at Allium.
The incomparables: Emanuel Ax, Lola Jaffe and Yo-Yo Ma photographed by Michael Lavin Flower.
Philanthropic consultant Philip Deely and actress Hilary Somers Deely; photographer Lincoln Russell & the Red Lion’s Nancy Fitzpatrick
Designer Nicholas Xatzís & blogger Athina Fliakos; Catherine Gevers of the Silk Road Project & Jill Hornor Ma.
Actor Andrew Belcher and Marilee Herring.
Bob Jaffe, the son of Lola and co-artistic director of the Berkshire Playwrights Lab and Emanuel Ax; Dru Graham and Patty Warble.
Tea expert John Harney and real-estate powerhouse Elyse Harney; Ben Laufer with his mother, psychiatrist Evelyn Attia, and Gabe Schneier.
MCLA president Mary Grant with Lola Jaffe and Nancy Fitzpatrick.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 01/03/10 at 08:26 PM • Permalink
A Night of Art to Be Reckoned With in North Adams & Pittsfield
MASS MoCA is the North Pole of the Rural Intelligence region, and you never know what the elves in North Adams will produce next. On Saturday December 12, in the football-field sized gallery known as Building 5, the museum unveiled an installation called Gravity Is A Force To Be Reckoned With (left) by Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, which is an upside down version of a glass house by Mies van der Rohe . “Emotion and science are simultaneously inverted and logic therefore challenged,” says curator Denise Markonish of the modernist house with furniture hanging from the ceiling. On the same evening, everything was hanging right side up in Pittsfield, where the Storefront Artist Project had its version of a Secret Santa party—12x12 on 12/12—where every $25 ticket you bought (and smart folks bought more than one) entitled you to choose a 12 x 12 inch work of art by a local artist as your ticket number was pulled out of a hat. “This is the best party—and best deal—of the year,” said writer/real-estate agent Gladys Montgomery.
Artist Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, who created Gravity Is A Force To Be Reckoned With for MASS MoCA, with his son Gabriel; furniture designer Brian Lee with MASS MoCA junior graphic designer Liz Plahn.
Artist Pasha Radetzki and MASS MoCA curator Denise Markonish
Jennifer Trainer Thompson and Dante Burch, MASS MoCA’s production manager for visual arts, on crutches after being injured during the installation of Gravity Is A Force To Be Reckoned With; Maria Siskind, Danielle Steinmann, Natasha Becker.
Williams College art professor Ed Epping with MASS MoCA director Joe Thompson.
Red Lion owner and MASS MoCA trustee Nancy Fitzpatrick with Seth & Mary Nash of BlueQ; Denise Markonish and MASS MoCA’s Katherine Myers.
MASS MoCA intern Maggie Church and Ann Clarke, dean of the Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts; blogger Sarah Buttenwieser, Pittsfield gallery owner Leslie Ferrin and artist Tom Patti.
Photographer Timothy Nazzaro and MASS MoCA’s Jason Wilcox who fabricated Gravity Is A Force To Be Reckoned With.
At the 12 x 12 sale, Catharine Deely hid behind her registration form; one wall of the art for sale at the Storefront Artist Project.
Real estate brokers Gladys Montogmery and Karl Volkman; artist Michael Boroniec and Berkshire Museum executive director Stuart Chase.
Photographer Jay Elling with artist Rebecca Weinmann; Pittsfield’s director of cultural development Megan Whilden and Igor Greenwald
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 12/14/09 at 01:54 PM • Permalink
The Wandering Eye: Clermont Christmas
The Wandering Eye, aka Carey Maloney, wandered into our Parties section from his usual perch in Style, to report on the goings on this season at Clermont, the Livingston property that is now a New York State historic site.
Beginning in 1728 (281 years and seven generations ago…), there have been holiday celebrations at Clermont In our neck of the woods, the Christmas Party at Clermont marks the kick off for the season.
Saturday evening, with a theme “Bounty of the Hudson”, the Friends of Clermont pitched in, decked the halls, and laid out a homemade spread that truly felt like a party that Honoria McVitty, the last Livingston to live at Clermont, might have thrown. Lots of laughter and good cheer lit up one of the Hudson Valley’s greatest houses.
Next Saturday, December 19, the Christmas at Clermont Open House will be your last chance to visit the house until it reopens on March 31. During the Winter, the Clermont State Historic Site continues its outdoor programming. Mark your calendars for the Sledding Party on January 25 and ‘Track and Traces: Looking for Signs of Winter Wildlife’ walk on February 21. See ya there! —Carey Maloney
Wint Aldrich and Tracie Rohzon; Matthew Carnicelli and Susan Boudreau
David Sharpe and Bruce Chilton; Marianne Thorsen and Frances Gaddipati
Clermont president Rick Griner, Hermes Mallea, Matthew Carnicelli, Brian Lange, and Carey Maloney
Barbara Coffey, Carolyn Coffey, Brian Venerus, and John Coffey; Ginny Sibbison and Fayal Greene
Dennis Nesel, Clermont director of education Kjirsten Gustavson, and Clermont president Rick Griner; Jane Lehmuller, Dziugas Grybauskas, Peter Sweeny, and Donna Matthews.
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 12/13/09 at 08:16 AM • Permalink
Hollywood on the Housatonic
Cultural correspondent Bess J. M. Hochstein reports from Lenox: When it comes to luring film productions to the area, the Berkshire Film and Media Commission (BFMC) takes its cue from real estate agents in citing the three most important factors: location, location, location. That was the message delivered to the crowd of more than 100 directors, actors, producers, crew members, film festival organizers, cineastes (including filmmaker John Whalan and BFMC executive director Diane Pearlman, left) and other interested parties who gathered in the lobby of the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre at Shakespeare & Company as the curtains rose on the BFMC. The launch party reinforced the image of the Berkshires as a potential center for filmmaking, rich in scenic landscapes, diverse architecture ranging from Gilded-Age mansions to falling-down barns, and experienced film professionals suitable for any role behind or in front of a camera. Add to these resources a soon-to-be developed soundstage conveniently located in the very building where the launch party was held—about 35,000 square feet of raw space in Shakespeare & Company’s Production and Performing Arts Center—and it’s clear that the Berkshires has the potential to be Hollywood on the Housatonic.
Actress and Great Barrington shopkeeper Karen Allen with actors Michel Gill and Jayne Atkinson.
Tony & Lucy Simotes of Shakespeare & Company; artists Colleen Surprise Jones and Meryl Joseph.
Photographer Kevin Sprague and Berkshire Visitors Bureau chief Laurie Klefos; Shakespeare & Company actors David Michael Joseph & Elizabeth Aspenlieder.
Publicist David Carriere, Berkshire International Film Festival founder Kelley Vickery and Gundula Brattke; Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson, Maggie Leonard and Vicki Bonnington.
Party plannner Amy Rudnick with her daughter, Maizy Hillman.
Bill Beautyman of Limelight Productions in Lee with legendary special effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull; Amy Lynn and Tim Lovett of Berkshire Property Agents.
Colin Rand with Kira Murdoch and Marc Maurino; film developer Audrey Davis and artist Jeanet Ingalls.
Body painter Bria Aponte and the Edna St. Vincent Millay Society’s Peter Bergman; Mary & Seth Nash of BlueQ.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 12/09/09 at 02:56 PM • Permalink
The Berkshire Creative Community Sparkles Together
Cultural correspondent Bess J. M. Hochstein reports from Lenox: Hundreds of members of the Berkshire “creative class” converged on the Seven Hills Inn on Thursday, December 3, for the second annual SPARKLE, the holiday edition of Berkshire Creative‘s signature SPARK networking event. As befits the season, deal-making took a back seat to merry-making as guests compared holiday plans, bellied up to endless platters of delectables from Haven Café and Bakery, Brix Wine Bar, and Chocolate Springs, and helped themselves to swag donated by BlueQ. Both the silent auction and the chance auction found a captive audience quite literally, because chance auction winners were required to be to there to hear if their tickets were pulled from a bag and claim their prizes. Among the winners was Nancy Fitzpatrick (above with Creative Pittsfield’s Megan Whilden), Berkshire Creative’s chair, who was delighted to win back an item she had donated and then wished she hadn’t—a funky canister that had long been part of the decor at her now-defunct Jack’s Grill. As the SPARK faded, many partygoers migrated across town to Haven Café & Bakery, where owner Shelly Williams was throwing a party in appreciation of her loyal clientele. A few still had spark enough in them to get in a dance before the evening ended.
Artist Rebecca Weinmann with Berkshire Creative’s Helena Fruscio; Caity Delphia and Evan Moriarty.
Catharine Deely and Jeff Klesier; Stephanie Iverson and MASS MoCA’s Katherine Myers;
Photographers Kevin Sprague and Scott Barrow.
Susan Geller and Diane Pearlman of the Berkshire Film & Media Commission; Tonio Palmer and David Crane of Excelsior Printing.
Singer Abia Tapia and Scott Edward Cole of Cafe Pomo d’Oro; Berkshire Museum’s Stuart Chase and The Clark’s Julie Chase.
Mission Bar + Tapas’s Carrie Saldo with Nicole Garzino, president-elect of the Junior League of Berkshire County.
Shakespeare & Company’s Elizabeth Aspenlieder, John Toole, and Mary Garnish of Berkshire Living; personal trainer Joanna Ezinga and Coco Black.
Haven owner Shelly Williams, who hosted the de facto after party, and her husband, Randal Williams, a yoga educator, flank Stephen Kramek.
Costume designer Arthur Oliver and interior designer Karen Beckwith; Joshua Needleman of Chocolate Springs and Annie Whalen of Bella Flora.
Bookish brothers: Simon’s Rock lit professor Brendan Mathews and his brother Colin Mathews of readMedia; culinary sisters: Daire Rooney of Brix and Caitrin Rooney of Nudel.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 12/07/09 at 09:51 AM • Permalink
MASS MoCA Takes Manhattan
One of the amazing things about MASS MoCA is that a cutting-edge museum with an international reputation thrives in rural, northern Berkshire County. As community-oriented as MASS MoCA is, it can not depend on locals to sustain it financially, which is why the museum holds an annual fundraiser in Manhattan. The guest list for the party on Monday, November 23, included art world heavy hitters such as Max Protech, Carol LeWitt, Carrie Mae Weems, Gregory Crewdson, and Doug & Mike Starn. Many of MASS MoCA’s patrons straddle the city and country, such as Meryl Streep and her husband, sculptor, Don Gummer, who have long had a house in Salisbury, CT, and the collectors Melva Bucksbaum & Ray Learsey of Sharon, CT. Like its north county neighbor the Williamstown Theatre Festival, which had its NYC benefit the week before, MASS MoCA choose a funky but glamorous location—the Angel Orensanz Foundation on the Lower East Side—so it could have its own hometown caterer, Nancy Thomas of Mezze and Allium, serve the dinner. What could be cooler than the folks from North Adams putting on a party that impresses even jaded Manhattanites?
(Photographs courtesy of MASS MoCA and Kalika Farmer.)
Meryl Streep, a member of MASS MoCA Director’s Advisory Council, and Chuck Close.
MASS MoCA trustees Nancy Fitzpatrick and Bobbie Crosby; Perri Petricca and Madline McKelvey
Christopher Jones with Taryn & Mark Leavitt.
Artists Steve Hannock and Don Gummer; MASS MoCA trustee Bridget Fawcett with art dealer Pip Deely.
Artist Vita Zaman and curator Nikki Columbus.
Chris Doyle, an artist in the Elegies exhibit at MASS MoCA, with Elegies curator Denise Markonish and Tim Hoolihan.; Susan Brown, Gary & Peggy Shilling and Duncan Brown, chairman of the MASS MoCA board.
George Bolster, an artist in MASS MoCA’s Elegies show, with artist Jane Philbrick, and curator Stephen Hepworth
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 12/02/09 at 08:18 PM • Permalink
The Beacon Cinema Says “Thank You” and “Welcome”
Cultural correspondent Bess J. M. Hochstein reports from Pittsfield: The brand new Beacon Cinema officially opened on November 19 with a raucous North Street block party and midnight screening of New Moon. But the very next Monday, November 23, the cinema closed its doors to the public to throw another party to thank the business community for its support of the six-screen complex, which is expected to be the linchpin for Pittsfield’s economic revitalization. A festive throng of politicians, public servants, educators, entrepreneurs, bankers, and culturati filled the lobby, enjoying copious platters of food from local favorites such as Patrick’s Pub, Pittsfield Brew Works, and The Dancing Vegan. After developer Richard Stanley expressed his gratitude to all who helped bring the Beacon to fruition, local literary lion Kevin O’Hara took to the podium to tell a few tales, and then the crowd donned 3-D glasses for a screening of Disney’s A Christmas Carol. Berkshire International Film Festival founder Kelley Vickery (above with Pittsfield Mayor James Ruberto), served as the evening’s unofficial hostess, even popping behind the counter to serve wine and let it be known that BIFF will use two of the Beacon’s screens (in addition to the Triplex and Mahaiwe in Great Barrington) for the festival come June.
David Comalli of Comalli Electric with The Colonial’s executive director David Fleming and his wife, Kathy; Fairview Hospital president Gene Dellea, Beacon Cinema owner Richard Stanley, and Bill Dunleavy, chairman of Legacy Banks.
Angelo Stracuzzi, president of Greylock Federal Credit Union, with Allison Johnson Krol, a staffer for state senator Ben Downing, and Pittsfield city councilor-elect John Krol, the host of Good Morning Pittsfield.
Susan Cowan and Norma Probst, director of marketing at Cranwell; Will Laidlaw of Pine Cone Hill with Lillian Lennox of the Berkshire International Film Festival.
Pittsfield’s director of cultural development Megan Whilden with Mayor James Ruberto.
BIFF’s Lauren Ferrin & Kelley Vickery with Carrie Saldo of Mission and Minc House; gallery owner Leslie Ferrin with photographer Jay Elling
A classical trio played in a quiet corner of the sparkling, jam-packed lobby.
Suky & Tom Werman of Stonover Farm in Lenox
Michael & Joan Haley with Kevin & Bellita O’Hara; Peter Lafayette of the Berkshire Bank Foundation and Berkshire Bank vice president Bill Davis.
Congressional candidate Andrea F. Nuciforo Jr. and Deanna Ruffer, Pittsfield director of community development; Pittsfield schools superintendent Jake Eberwein & Tricia Farley-Bouvier, executive director of Literacy Network of South Berkshire.
Assistant projectionist Dave Sandrini sports the 3-D glasses guests wore to watch A Christmas Carol.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 11/30/09 at 10:43 AM • Permalink
Night of 100 Plates: A Feast to Help Feed the Hungry
Cultural correspondent Bess J.M. Hochstein reports from Pittsfield: Art dealers Leslie Ferrin and Donald Clark were thinking of ways to give back to the community during the holidays, so they decided to host a festive dinner to benefit St. Stephen’s Table on November 21. The meal followed the opening reception for Ferrin’s annual, gift-oriented “Small Works” exhibition as well as a show called “Paper-or-Pottery-not Plastic”, which includes artist-designed paper plates ($100) and pottery plates ($35 -$100.) At one long banquet table that ran the length of the gallery, 60 guests dined on a Thai feast prepared by sculptor Joe Wheaton, who has mastered the cuisine of coconut curries & peanut sauce, lemongrass & galangal, mango & papaya, and sticky rice & chilis on frequent travels to Southeast Asia with his partner, Dick Lipez (aka novelist Richard Stevenson, above). A longtime volunteer at St. Stephen’s Table, Wheaton cooked the entire multi-course meal, though many others—including St. Stephen’s Table coordinator Dan Moon, a culinary instructor at Taconic High School—helped dish it out. The evening raised more than $2,500 which will provide 50 nights of meals for those who would otherwise go hungry.
The evening was the Ferrin Gallery debut of North Adams artists Laura Christensen and her husband, Gregory Scheckler, who sold five of his landscapes at the opening; social worker Alba Passerini with the Ferrin Gallery’s Donald Clark
Mitch & Caitlin Nash of Pittsfield-based Blue Q; Ken & Suzanne Nash.
Photographer Evan Soldinger with wife, metalsmith/jeweler Linda Kaye-Moses, author of Pure Silver Metal Clay Beads
Carrie Saldo of Minc House with Leslie Ferrin; interior designer Sarah Thorne and West Stockbridge woodworker Peter Thorne.
Writer and real estate broker Gladys Montgomery with Berkshire Eagle art critic Keith Shaw.
Artists Paul Graubard and Karen Chase; artist Colleen Quinn with the Berkshire Museum’s director of interpretation, Maria Mingalone.
Serving crew Dan Moon, Margot Paddock, Joe Wheaton, Ingrid MacGillis, and Dick Lipez getting ready to dish it out.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 11/23/09 at 05:07 PM • Permalink
“The French Blue” Book Party at The Mount
Cultural Correspondent Bess J.M. Hochstein reports from Lenox: It should come as no surprise that self-taught goldsmith and gemologist Richard W. Wise gets things done with a certain flair. Rather than hold the typical author’s reading and signing to launch his new book, The French Blue, Wise engaged actor George Bergen (left) to embody Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, a true-life 17th century adventurer and trader of precious gems, jewels, and pearls, whose life, loves, and escapades form the basis of Wise’s first novel. (His 2003 book, Secrets of the Gem Trade: The Connoisseur’s Guide to Precious Gemstones, has sold over 30,000 copies.) On Thursday November 19, at The Mount, Bergen-as-Tavernier swept out in feathered cap and period costume and engaged the standing-room-only audience in Edith Wharton’s drawing room with a dramatic reading from the would-be autobiography. Then Wise took the podium to answer questions from the crowd, many of which concerned the French Blue, the legendary 116-carat diamond, which survived centuries of recutting and other indignities until it landed in collection of The Smithsonian as the world-famous Hope Diamond. It seems as if everyone in the enthusiastic audience left with a signed copy of The French Blue in hand, and, perhaps dreams of precious stones that they might receive as gifts this holiday season.
Evan Anthony with The Mount’s executive director Susan Wissler; Richard W.Wise with his wife, Rebekah.
Martie & David Ekstrom of Resort Maps with Dara Kaufman, director of of member services for the Berkshire Visitors Bureau; Leslie Beck of Berkshire Living with Ethan Berg of the Winthrop Estate.
Celia Kittredge and Gordon Travers, chairman of the board of Edith Wharton Restoration, which operates The Mount.
Sara Hunter Hudson, the Mount¹s new chief development officer, with Susan Wissler; Kit Clucas with book publicist David Carriere.
Michael Ulick of the Church Street Gallery with Barbara Greenberg; goldsmith and designer Michael Corneau and diamond aficionado Stephen Hofer.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 11/23/09 at 01:44 PM • Permalink
Urban Renewal! Williamstown Theatre Festival’s NYC Benefit
It wasn’t surprising that many of the Williamstown Theatre Festival‘s hometown trustees made the trek from the Berkshires to New York City for the company’s fall benefit at the baroque Prince George Ballroom (left) on November 16. What was surprising—and gratifying—was to see Nancy Thomas and a crew from Mezze Catering, who made the journey from Williamstown to Manhattan to provide dinner for the 260 guests with a menu featuring foodstuffs from High Lawn Farm, Maplebrook Farm, Mighty Food Farm, and Peace Valley Farm. Honoring Tom Fontana, a writer and producer who got his start at Williamstown, the evening featured heartfelt toasts, songs by WTF stalwarts Kate Burton and Katie Finneran, and a star-turn by WTF’s new general manager, Joe Finnegan, as the evening’s auctioneer.
Actors Rightor Doyle, Wendie Malick, and Adam Lerman.
WTF trustee Jid Sprague with WTF artistic assistant Stephen Sanders; WTF board president Matthew Harris and general manager Joe Finnegan.
The traveling trustees: Polly Birrell & Steve Birrell from Williamstown; Cindy Elizter & Chip Elitzer from Great Barrington.
Composer Barry Wyner, actress Emily Shoolin, and producer Scott Delman.
Rachel Judlowe and composer Corina Manetto; Michelle Moeller Chandler and Nancy Kalodner.
WTF director of development Eric Kerns with marketing consultant Carolann Patterson; Lauren & Kipp Stevens.
Andrea Scheidt and her nephew David Stoll.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 11/17/09 at 09:39 AM • Permalink
Hark! Opening Night of the Berkshire Museum’s Festival of Trees
The Berkshire Museum’s Festival of Trees is like being in the toy department of some bygone department store (think Marshall Field’s or J.L. Hudson) except the only toys are the Alexander Calder push-and-pull toys in one of the adjacent galleries. For the 25th silver anniversary of the festival (sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union) the museum is not only displaying dozens of locally-designed trees but also antique and contemporary silver along with old black-and-white photographs of Pittsfield and contemporary abstract photographs by Sharon Lips. With plentiful hors d’oeuvres supplied by Ye Olde Forge restaurant, everyone at the opening night party enthusiatically ate, drank and made merry.
Mary Garnish of Berkshire Living in a fantastic necklace from the Sienna Gallery in Lenox, with Kris Ronald Anderson.
Artist Eric Drury, who made the seven-foot-star that is hanging in the Crane Room, with Jenn Smith of the Berkshire Eagle; June Ferrin, who made a tree of clear plastic spoons, with her daughter, Leslie Ferrin, the Pittsfield gallery owner.
Photographer Jay Elling of Pittsfield Contemporary with the Berkshire Museum’s director of interpretation, Maria Mingalone
Nina & Luke Dallenbach; Tristan Oppliger & Jennifer Poole, who sang Christmas songs a capella in the galleries.
Sharon Polito & Victoria May of Greylock Federal Credit Union, which sponsors the Festival of Trees, with Jayne Bellora; Amy Wolfe with Megan Whilden, Pittsfield’s director of cultural development.
Berkshire Museum trustee Donna Krenicki, executive director Stuart Chase, and board president Mary Huth, outside the Crane Room.
Cassie Carmon, Brianna Carmon & Candace Hall with the Berkshire Children & Families Tree; Jennifer & Mike Ward, a Pittsfield city councilor.
Mary & Henry Holt; Blue Q’s Paul Boulais with Alyssa Nelson.
Writer and critic Jeremy D. Goodwin with actress Samantha Cullen
Stefanie Motta of Pine Cone Hill with Mariclare Hulbert & Alison Hart of Jacob’s Pillow; Gae Elfenbein with State Representative Denis Guyer.
One of the galleries filled with trees.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 11/16/09 at 11:50 AM • Permalink
Wine & Cheese in the Poesis Workshop
It’s becoming a familiar story in our region: A young couple moves to the country and buys a house with a barn so they can work from home. Designer Rob Bristow (photographed with his friend Michelle Childs, left) and his wife, Pilar Proffitt, run a design business called Poesis out of their Lakeville barn, and they invited friends and neighbors into their workshop for cocktails amidst their exquisite, hand-made contemporary furniture. They were hoping to make room for new designs, which will be manufactured in the barn and unveiled in January at Ralph Pucci International in New York City.
WKZE Garden Show host Sally Spillane with Pete Hathaway, founder of Enterprise, a new deluxe step-down facility for recovering addicts in Salisbury, CT.
Photographers Anne Day and John Gruen; Eric & Liz Macaire, the former owners of the Bottle Tree Grocery, who own New York’s Bubble Lounge
Hostess Pilar Proffitt with Brigitte Harney of the Harney Tea Bar & Tasting Room.
David Becker of Friend of the Farmer.com and Pamela Winters; artists Karen LeSage and Allen Blagden, who has show opening at Kent’s Ober Gallery on Thanksgiving weekend.
Grace Bristow reads a book on a bookcase designed by her father.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 11/15/09 at 11:14 AM • Permalink
bluecashew Kitchen Pharmacy Opens in Rhinebeck
bluecashew Kitchen Pharmacy, a new store on Rhinebeck’s Montgomery Row, held a gala opening on Saturday, November 7. The culinarily ambitious, both pros and amateurs, were eager to check out the latest wrinkles in bakeware, cookbooks, electronics, dinnerwear, linens—no matter what ails your kitchen and/or dining room, “pharmacists” Gregory Triana and Sean Nutley have the cure. Guests nibbled tasty savories, including little squares of pizza from Gigi Trattoria, just across the street, and delicious bite-size cookies and cupcakes from a new caterer, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)‘s Mad Cravings.
Co-hosts Gregory Triana and Sean Nutley; Giselle Potter, Linda Park and Jane Hollinger
Stephan Hengst, Vicenzo Buscema & Sean Nutley; Jane Kellner & Charlie Kelley
Neil Millens, Elsebeth Thomsen, and Sean Nutley
John Storm, David Spichtig & Michael Curtis; Andrew Ziobro & Toni Hanson
Karen McGinn and Don Young; Emmy Josephs, Barbara Schatz & Geri Brodsky
Frank Futral and Sue Sie; Giovanna Mangabeira and Katerina Verganelakis
Isabelle & Jonathan Burkhart, Robin Holland and Mark Stern; Jan Cox and Sue Hartshorn
Jo Jo Ans and Stuart Allan; Steve Cohen and Jo Jo Ans
Mark Josefski and Karen Levine; Maryann Bohlen and Bette Cole
Heidi Abrams and Matt Pleva ; Maureen Missner and Ramon Loscano
Edible Hudson Valley publisher Nancy Painter; pastry chef Nelson Schoen
Metropolitan Home editor Linda O’Keeffe and Montgomery Row‘s Piper Woods; Steve Maggio, Angelo Bruno, Joseph Mills and Tony Sassone;
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), Clare Kelly-Barra, David Barra & Arlen Tarlofsky
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 11/08/09 at 09:11 AM • Permalink
Live and Let’s Give: A Shopping Party for Charley’s Fund
Benjamin & Tracy Seckler, who started Charley’s Fund to finance medical research to find a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, have loyal, generous family and friends who were shopping for a good cause on Friday night at the Live and Let’s Give Crafts Fair (through November 8) for Charley’s Fund. Tracy’s parents, Janet and Earl Kramer (flanking her in the photo left) were part of the volunteer sales staff. Held at Pittsfield’s Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, the event brought together three dozen artists and artisans and other generous souls who want to show their love for the Seckler family, who are fighting for nine-year-old Charley and the 20,000 other boys in the world who have Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.
Berkshire Museum executive director Stuart Chase, Live and Let’s Give organizer and ceramicist Michele O’ Hana, Pam Rich of Paul Rich & Sons, the furniture store that is a mainstay of Pittsfield’s downtown.
Louise Cianflone with her granddaughter Jordan Skowron of Minc House, the Pittsfield design group; ceramicist and Jiminy Peak ski instructor Lauren Mundy with photographer Jay Elling.
Artist Karen Keats and photographer John Dolan; Cultural Pittsfield’s Ryan Weightman with Vicki Bonnington and David Schecker.
Art dealer Denise Ulick, actress Elizabeth Aspenlieder, and actress/director Stephanie Hedges.
Michael Bushy, a printmaker who teaches art at Hillcrest at Highpoint, and his wife, Rebecca Bushy; Michaela Dohoney and Heather Veague.
Lisa Nappo, who owns Twigs in Lenox, with Julie Jones; part-time Columbia County residents Deena Lebow and artist Rodney Alan Greenblat.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 11/07/09 at 07:45 PM • Permalink
The Junior League’s Taste of the Berkshires
Cultural correspondent Bess Hochstein reports: The women of the Junior League take on serious tasks, promoting volunteerism to improve the lives of others. In Berkshire County, the Junior League confronts tough issues such as literacy, teen pregnancy, substance abuse, domestic violence, and alcoholism. But last Thursday, November 5, the organization focused on food and fun, throwing its formidable force behind a mouthwatering fundraiser, the second annual Taste of the Berkshires. The event transformed Pittsfield’s Masonic Temple into a global food court, where more than 20 chefs from across the county, such as Gennaro Gallo (left) of Prime in Lenox, dished up delectable fare. The menu ranged from the classic (New England clam chowder and apple crisp from the Shamrock Pub in Dalton) to the exotic (an Indian buffet from Williamstown’s SpiceRoot; Catalan chicken stew from Viva in Glendale; and Malaysian tidbits from Pittsfield newcomer Flavours.) The event set the stage for the debut of Perigee restaurant, opening this week in South Lee, from the culinary team behind Apogee Catering. Pittsfield Brew Works poured local ales, and serious sweet-tooths were satisfied as not just one but two Pittsfield carrot cake bakers offered up their enticing treats—which, by comparison, made Joshua Needleman’s Chocolate Springs confections seem like health food.
Nicole Garzino, president elect of the Junior League of Berkshire Country, and her fiance Kris Anderson; Luis Zambrano, the chef/owner of Viva in Glendale.
Canyon Ranch executive sous chef Laura Stanton and executive chef Steve Betti; Yvette Duval & Laura Shack of Firefly in Lenox.
Peter Masiero with his aunt Mary McGinnis of Mary’s Carrot Cake of Pittsfield.
Steven Wolfe, Dawn DeMartino, Amy Wolfe, commissioner on the Massachusetts Commission on Status of Women, Louis Bower-Bannister of Museum Facsimiles; Taste of the Berkshires co-chairs Heather McDermott & Betsy Strickler with Junior League members Wendy Coakley and Mary Beth Mitts.
Ricardo Cruz & Stephen Lawrence of SpiceRoot in Williamstown.
Sarah Sayers of Sarah’s Cheesecakes & Cafe with daughter Katrina Sayers, son Nickolas Sayers and Rachelle Noel; Dawn LaRochelle, owner of Perigree restaurant opening in South Lee, with Catherine Elliot of Apogee Catering.
Bill Heaton of Pittsfield Brew Works hands a pint to Jeff Viner of Viner Building; Junior League president Jennifer Glockner flanked by Nick DiSantis of Pine Ridge Construction & Bill West of Mill Town Tavern in Dalton.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 11/07/09 at 08:11 AM • Permalink
Art for Animals: When the Model Barks
Art lovers and other animals thronged Spencertown Academy on Sunday afternoon for a benefit to support local companion dogs. The Academy walls were rich in canine portraiture by young, not-yet-established artists from Taconic Hills Central School, as well as by an astonishing array of art stars such as Richard Serra, Laurie Anderson, Kiki Smith, Karen Halverson, Lou Reed, Bruce Weber, Sylvia Plachy, Valerie Schaff, Elliot Erwitt, the list goes on and on, who had donated portraits of their own pets. “Many of the established artists were inspired to make new pieces,” said Elizabeth Hess, Vice President of Art for Animals, “which speaks volumes about their commitment to the cause.” For the past decade, Art for Animals has donated the proceeds from