Sarah Todd reports from Pittsfield.A heart cockle shell the size of a skyscraper. A desert sunrise dividing a sand dune into even slopes of light and dark. At the Berkshire Museum’s opening reception on Saturday, February 9 for exhibits by Ansel Adams and Andreas Feininger, striking, Modernist nature photography carried the day. In the room devoted to Feininger’s portraits of anglerfish teeth, carpenter ant carvings, and conch shells, curator Maria Mingalone (left, with mother Edie Mingalone) explained how the LIFE photographer played with close-ups and scale to reveal the detailed beauty of natural objects. “He makes seashells monumental,” she said. Next door, Adams’ dramatic photographs of Yosemite National Park, Sonoma Valley, Arizona's Monument Valley, and other western wonders offered a welcome antidote to the piles of snow lurking just outside the Museum’s doors. In the reception hall, there were more provisions to help ward off winter chills: guests huddled around a crackling fireplace, grazed on cheese and olives, and warmed up with free cups of wine.
The Berkshire Museum's Emma Kerr, Jenn Gomez, and Leanne Hayden; Berkshire Landmark Builders owner Jim Delorenzo and interior designer Karen Cedar.
Photographer Bill Wright and Shout Out Loud founder Jeanet Ingalls; Annie Brody of Camp Unleashed and landscaper Tamarack Garlow.
Potter Arla Bascom and Benjamin Downing; artist Peggy Rivers, Berkshire Museum's Director of Campaign and Major Gifts Laurie Werner and Executive Director Van Shields, and museum board member Buzz McGraw.
Gladys Montgomery of Sotheby's International Realty, artist Joe Goodwin, Casablanca owner Tony Chojnowski, and Megan Wilden, Pittsfield's director of cultural development.
Museum Facsimiles designer Ken Green, Lenore Newman, who owns Soho vintage boutique Patina, and her husband Mark Newman; student-photographer Nick Teensma and his father, graphic designer Hans Teensma.
John and Chris Greenhut; jewelry and clothing designer Wendy Darling and film location scout Jennet Cook.
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Matteline deVries-Dilling, founder of Lite Brite Neon, one of the evening's honoree of this year's Upstate Benefit adresses the gala from the Caboose's caboose.
- Karen Pearson. Courtesy Art Omi.
Olana senior vice president and landscape curatorMark Prezorski, president Sean Sawyer, The evenings honoree Kristin Gamble and New York State Assemblymember Didi Barrett.
- Oxygen House Photo
