"Jump In!" - An Exhibit Inspired By The Housatonic River

On the Friday night of Labor Day weekend, the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts in downtown Pittsﬁeld and the Housatonic River Museum hosted the opening of a week-long exhibition called Jump In! The group show included photographs, paintings, drawings, sculpture, writing and video inspired by the waters of our region. It also included the premiere of A Sound Map of The Housatonic River, a commissioned sound installation by Annea Lockwood, a composer and former professor at Vassar College. The exhibit was curated by Jenny Hersch, the founder of the nascent Housatonic River Museum that will be built next to historic Wahconah Park in Pittsfield. The interactive and immersive museum promises to offer visitors "hands-on experience as they develop a greater understanding of our watershed ecosystem, the impact of human behaviors on the sustainability of a healthy Housatonic River (and all river systems) and the power of this tremendous natural resource: watersheds to the water cycle, erosion to estuaries, water power and water pollution, river industry and river poetry, source to sound." Stefanie Weber (left) with her sculptural dress that incorporates a pollution map of the Housatonic.

Annea Lockwood, who created an audio installaton called A Sound Map of the Housatonic, with Steven Skoblow, who helped do the lighting for the exibition; Simon's Rock students Sabina Broberg and Clyde Rastetter.

Hilary Somers Deely with Jenny Hersch, founder of the Housatonic River Museum.

Painter Julio Granda with Sara Kataoka; Williamstown's Judy Grinnell and illustrator Robin Brickman

Kent Dolan with two of the artists in Jump In!: Jodi Luby, his wife, and photographer Kevin Sprague .

RI cultural correspondent Bess Hochstein with Timothy Michael Kushi, who is organizing "QQ on 10/10" in Pittsfield; Nicole Garzino of Simon's Rock and Hope Sullivan of IS 183 Art School of the Berkshires.