Editor

Parties

Opening Night of the 7th Berkshire International Film Festival

Bess Hochstein reports from Great Barrington.The Mason Public Library was setting for scene one, act one of the 7th annual Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF), in advance of the opening night screening of Ethel, award-winning filmmaker Rory Kennedy's documentary portrait of her mother, Ethel Kennedy, the

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Community

Ventfort Hall's First Annual Spring Antiques Show

One of the goals of Rural Intelligence has always been to break through the imaginary glass walls that divide Berkshire, Columbia, Dutchess, and Litchfield counties and to foster a sense of regional community and promote interstate commerce. Thus, we were overjoyed to learn that Ventfort Hall (Mansion and Gilded Age

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Arts

BIFF Thinks Globally, Presents Locally

The Berkshire International Film Festival, running May 31 – June 3, takes the international part of its name seriously. For her seventh annual Festival, founder Kelley Vickery has slated more than 70 independent films from more than 15 countries, from Estonia to Tanzania. BIFF’s global scope also encompasses talent and

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Style

Hillsdale General Store: A 21st Century Country Emporium

The words "general store" function like a Rorschach Test: Everyone conjures up a different image of the quintessential rural retail experience. But let's face facts: Now that places like CVS and Cumberland Farms sell everything from eggs and milk to shoe polish and work gloves, the

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Parties

CLC Wraps Up 25th Anniversary Down on the Rockefeller Farm

Dale Stewart reports from Livingston. The calendar may not agree, but the official start of summer in our region was marked on Sunday, May 27, with the Columbia Land Conservancy's annual Country Barbecue. Nearly 1000 revelers flocked to David Rockefeller’s Clum and Patchen Farm, which was dotted

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Arts

Lungs at Barrington Stage

Brooke Bloom and Ryan King in Barrington Stage Company's production of Duncan Macmillan's Lungs, directed by Aaron Posner, the debut production at BSC's newly acquired theater space, the St. Germain Stage. We are in the midst of an extended period in theater, film, and

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Parties

Oh, Canada: An Artful Canadian Invasion at MASS MoCA

Fiona Breslin reports from North Adams. The opening of Oh, Canada, MASS MoCA’s sweeping survey of Canadian contemporary art, was cause for celebration on Saturday, May 26, as work in all manner of media by more than 60 artists (including Hanz Wendt, with Jackie LaChance of Montreal) filled the

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Parties

Annual TriArts Gala Proves Habit-Forming

Bess Hochstein reports from Salisbury.It’s difficult to pinpoint the most charming aspect of this year's gala for the TriArts Sharon Playhouse, held on Saturday, May 26. Certainly the gracious venue, the Salisbury School boathouse, is incomparable, with its lakeside setting which provides stunning views. The items

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Arts

Festival Explores Interplay of Jewish and African-American Music

As every great American composer, from Gershwin to Duke Ellington to Leonard Bernstein, would have explained without missing a beat, Jewish and African-American music not only have a lot in common — they helped create the distinctly American art forms of jazz, blues, and popular music of yesterday and today.

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Food

Simple Spring Pasta to Follow a Rare Dinner Out

Berkshire native Alana Chernila, local politician, mother of two, and author of the new cookbook, The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying & Start Making (Clarkson Potter), dispenses change and cooking ideas at the Great Barrington Farmers’ Market. She shares her peak-of-the-season recipes with Rural

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Food

AgriCulture: Garlic — From Cultivation to Revolution

AgriCulture bloggers Peter Davies and Mark Scherzer are the owners of Turkana Farms in Germantown, NY. This week, Peter writes: My grandmother in Wales always insisted, with great disdain, that eating garlic was “vulgar,” which was in those days a generally held opinion in Britain. So finding myself at the

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Style

Diane Love & Robert Frye's Modern Mountaintop Farmhouse

It looks more like a house of self-restraint than self-indulgence, but Diane Love designed her pared down-country retreat in southern Columbia County to be her all-purpose personal haven. Blessed with self-awareness, Love knows that her happiness depends on her ability to be many different people

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