Cultural correspondent Bess J.M. Hochstein reports from Pittsfield: It may seem jarring to exhibit strikingly contemporary artwork in the rustic 1780s barn that houses the Berkshire Historical Society. It begins to make sense when you learn that the barn is part of Arrowhead, the Pittsfield farm where Herman Melville lived in the mid-1800s and penned many of his most famous works, and that the show is an exploration of how the Berkshire landscape influenced Melville’s writing. (Most notably, the view of Mount Greylock from the window of Melville’s study is widely believed to been the inspiration for his notorius white whale, Moby-Dick.) Reflections on Melville, which opened on Friday, June 17 and runs through October 9, is the result of a year-long collaboration between photographer Kay Canavino and abstract painter Arthur Yanoff, produced by gallerist Ralph Brill (left, with his daughter, cookie dough queen Loren Brill). A companion exhibit, focusing on Melville's relationship with Nathaniel Hawthorne, opens at the Eclipse Mill Gallery on June 24 and runs through July 24.
Exhibition curator Samantha Pinckney, Scott Pinckney, and painter Arthur Yanoff; Patricia Lyga and photographer Kay Canavino.
Jacob Girardi and arts blogger Lesley Ann Beck; University of South Carolina J-school professor Bonnie Drewniany and Hallowell EMC general manager Donna Hallowell.
Berkshire Environmental Resource Center's Caroline Scully and life coach Millie Calesky; AIER economic research fellow Polina Vlasenko and creative director Marcia Stamell.
MCLA students Shannon Costello, Ali Johnston, and Karolyne Symonds.
Pittsfield's director of cultural development Megan Whilden with Berkshire Historial Society executive director Betsy Sherman; artists Cathy Wysicki and Joan Carney.
Artist Dan Mahoney with IS183 Art School director Hope Sullivan and Elke Mahoney; the Clark's director of special projects Julie Chase and 1Berkshire CEO Stuart Chase.
Twin brothers Edward and Peter Fath, who are juniors in high school; energy and environmental strategy associate Micah Brill and University of Michigan student Wade Brill, whose father Ralph Brill produced the exhibition.
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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
