Bits & Bytes: Stockbridge Summer season Arts & Crafts Clearly show NPC chosen by Huge Y bag software WAM receives grant Rockwell Museum to host Jan Brett show

Blended media perform by artist Thom Cassotta, shown higher than, will be integrated in the 2021 Stockbridge Summertime Arts & Crafts Show. Graphic courtesy Stockbridge Chamber of Commerce

Once-a-year Stockbridge Summer months Arts and Crafts Present to return August 21–22

STOCKBRIDGE — The Stockbridge Summer season Arts and Crafts Present, now in its 29th yr, will be held Saturday, Aug. 21 and Sunday, Aug. 22 on the grounds of the City Offices and Bidwell Park, situated at 50 Major Road. The clearly show is cost-free and open to the public. Much more than 75 jury-picked artists and crafters will screen their get the job done, which ranges from paintings, sculpture, and images to ceramics, fiberware and jewellery. Hrs are Saturday from 10 a.m.–5 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

Amid returning artisans will be local painter Barbara Doncaster feltmaker Sue McFarland of Conway self-taught woodworker Frank Dobai from Moodus, Connecticut metalsmiths Margie and Bill Lombard of Port Orange, Florida James Takaki and Marie Walker of Brattleboro, Vermont, creators of sculpture, lighting, garden art, and custom metalwork master batik artist Ahmi Goldfarb of Livingston, New Jersey potter Rachel Brown of New Paltz, New York and wire sculptor Ron Stattner of Pink Hook, New York.

This yearly function is arranged by the Stockbridge Chamber of Commerce. For extra information and facts, speak to the Stockbridge Chamber by cellphone at 413-298-5200 by mail at P.O. Box 224, Stockbridge, MA 01262 or by electronic mail at [email protected].

—A.K.

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Nonprofit Middle of the Berkshires picked as August recipient of Massive Y bag method

Wonderful BARRINGTON — Nonprofit Heart of the Berkshires (NPC) has been picked to be a part of the Significant Y Group Bag System, which is intended to make it quick for clients to add to their community neighborhood while supporting the ecosystem.

For the thirty day period of August, when you buy a $2.50 reusable Community Bag at the Major Y situated at 700 Most important Street in Wonderful Barrington, $1 is donated to the Nonprofit Middle of the Berkshires except usually directed by the consumer through the Giving Tag connected to the bag. The Community Luggage are situated on shows about the store and at the checkout.

—A.K.

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WAM Theatre receives grant from Women’s Fund of Western Mass

LENOX — WAM Theatre announces it is one of the 20 nonprofit organizations awarded a Local community Investments for Bigger Adjust grant from the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts (WFWM).

WFWM dispersed grants as a result of this initiative to corporations operating with women of all ages and girls whose get the job done aligns with 1 or extra of these strategic pillars: economic protection freedom from gender-based mostly violence, harassment, and hurt and parity in positions of management, representation, and energy.

In fulfillment of WAM’s philanthropic mission, the group donates a part of the proceeds from their Mainstage productions to cautiously picked beneficiaries. Given that WAM’s founding, in 2010, it has donated extra than $80,000 to 22 neighborhood and worldwide organizations getting action for gender equity in locations this sort of as women instruction, teenager pregnancy prevention, sexual trafficking awareness, midwife instruction, and much more.

“Funding dispersed by these three grants systems make it possible for us to go on addressing the concerns in our neighborhood that have been discovered in our 2019 Standing of Ladies and Ladies in Western Massachusetts report,” mentioned Nicole Younger, group investments manager for the Women’s Fund.

That report highlighted problems faced by females and women of colour, a lot of of whom live in poverty and battle with despair and teen pregnancy at bigger fees than white females. It also showed that females in basic are significantly less represented than their male counterparts in politics, health and fitness treatment, and bigger schooling positions. In an effort to further racial equality, lots of grants were being awarded to organizations led by girls and Black, Indigenous, and people of coloration.

In line with this perform, WAM will conclude its 2021 season, from October 7–24, with the fall Mainstage creation of “Kamloopa” by Kim Senklip Harvey. The story follows two younger city Indigenous sisters and their encounter with a spirited shapeshifter en route to the premier powwow on the West Coastline. For tickets and far more facts, please check out the WAM Theatre website.

—A.K.

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Norman Rockwell Museum to host winter season show by Jan Brett

STOCKBRIDGE — Norman Rockwell Museum (NRM) announces the forthcoming winter season exhibition, “Jan Brett: Tales In the vicinity of and Considerably,” to be held November 13, 2021–March 6, 2022. Showcasing far more than 100 first illustrations, sketches, and individual artifacts, this relatives-friendly show explores the selection of Brett’s art and the travel encounters that have impressed her guides and characters. Spanning 25 a long time, “Stories Near and Far” is the most extensive exhibition of Brett’s picture e book art to day. Brett is 1 of the nation’s most broadly study writer/illustrators for children, with more than 42 million books in print.

“Jan Brett, our Berkshire neighbor, is beloved in the vicinity of and far,” said NRM Director/CEO Laurie Norton Moffat. “Like Norman Rockwell, Jan’s function evokes happiness and pleasure in folks of all ages. She can take us on adventures by way of villages in faraway locales, developing intimate and enchanting scenes to engage just about every reader and viewer and has encouraged tens of millions of children and mom and dad about the world.”

Brett’s worldwide viewpoint has been influenced by her travels, which have taken her from Arctic Sweden to Namibia, and from Costa Rica to China. The traditions and cultures of the nations around the world she visits and her individual menagerie of animals provide as a starting point for her tales, and the artist’s home is stuffed with objects and artifacts that she has gathered alongside the way — including a choice that will be shared publicly in this exhibition for the initial time.

1 of Brett’s favorite books, “Berlioz the Bear,” was established at Tanglewood, the summer months home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) in Stockbridge, positioned near NRM. Berlioz is a character based on her husband, musician Joe Hearne who has been a bass player with the BSO for 59 decades, and other people had been inspired by his fellow orchestra customers.

—A.K.