Mass MOCA

Mass MoCA in North Adams is sponsoring a week long residence and collaboration between two American choreographers- Kyle Abraham and Amy O'Neal- with two Japanese choreographers- Kitamari and Yukio Suzuki. Their collaboration will culminate in the performance of a work in progress on Saturday, April 25. This unique program is sponsored by the US/Japan Choreographers Exchange.

Despite a drastic 20% budget cut Kate Maguire, the artistic director and CEO of Berkshire Theatre Festival is excitied about the coming season and the return of Randy Harrison in Ibsen's "Ghosts." During an upbeat interview she stated that "I'm not a director. I love directors. I'm married to one (Eric Hill). I love directing directors and I wanted to build a director's theatre."

This past weekend provided a perfect Spring Break from the monotony of the Berkshire mud season. With offerings of comedy and drama, high art and low, these were the first tender shoots of the Berkshire's bountiful season that is preparing to burst into bloom.

The Christine Evans play "Trojan Barbie" now in its world premiere at the Amerian Repertory Theatre in Cambridge is an update of the Euripides tragedy "Trojan Women." The ruthless conquering Greek army resembles American troops in Iraq. Somehow a British tourist on holiday, Lotte (Karen MacDonald), is caught up in the mess. It takes a village.

Innovative theater artist Sebastienne Mundheim recreates a child's fantasy world at the Hunter Center of Mass MoCA in North Adams, using striking, large kinetic paper sculpture, dancers, live musicians, and video projection in a rich mix of the arts. It is said that Sea of Birds is like "Pan's Labyrinth", only on steroids and in person.

Stuart Chase, the director of the 106 year old Berkshire Mueum in Pittsfield discusses the recently completed $10 million renovation that was "on time and within budget." He also deaccessioned three paintings by the Russian, Grigoriev, that added $7 million for future acquisitions. Not bad during these hard times.

The North Adams based artists, Joshua Field and Melissa Lillie, made the rounds of the annual New York art fairs. They were disappointed by Bridge, excited by Scope, enjoyed Pulse, and thought Volta was just so so. Some highlights of their exprience as well as a couple of affordable travel tips.

From the outset, Mass MoCA has kept an eye out for future arts lovers through Kidspace. With the addition of Cribs, a new installation by Matt Bua, that commitment has grown.

The $50 million for the arts in the $787 billion stimulus bill has been added to the existing budget of $145 million for the National Endowment for the Arts. But that is small change compared to recent appropriations for the arts of $2 billion by Germany and $4 billion in France. There is a prevailing attitude that goverment support for the arts in the U.S. is an agenda of a "cultural elite" and "liberals." But after the disaster of the eight Bush years "liberal" is no longer a dirty word.

Given the poor economy, artistic director, Nicholas Martin, has reduced the number of Nikos Stage productions from five to three plays and shortened the seaon (July 1 through August 23) by two weeks. By making these cuts he has avoided any compromise of the quality of productions for one of the nation's most renowned theatre companies.

With the unanimous decision of the Board of Trustees, Jehuda Reinharz, the President of Brandeis University has decided to close the Rose Art Museum and sell its collection appraised at $350 million but worth about half of that estimate in the current art market. It is a desperate measure to stabalize the cash strapped university whose donors have been hit hard by the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scandal.

Happily, midwinter in the Berkshires is anything but quiet. In fact, that's when many of our resident cultural institutions do their best work. A survey of what's coming up between now and Spring.

On the coldest night of the Berkshire winter, Philip Glass was welcomed back to the Hunter Center at Mass MoCA with the warmth and love that only a family of admirers can provide. For two hours he chatted amiably with Boston Phoenix critic Gerald Peary about the films he has scored, and entertained the audience by playing several excerpts from his work.

With $4 a gallon gas and a sinking economy 2008 was a challenge for arts and tourism in the Berkshires. But our contibutors covered not only the Berkshires but arts and culture in New York, Boston, London, New Orleans and Shanghai. We reflect on some of the highlights.

In the span of the past few years the Tanglewood Jazz Festival has quickly become established as a Labor Day Weekend tradition in the Berkshires. For 2009 it will come following an extra week of programming featuring James Taylor. So the Second Line will rock and goove home titubating the last gasp of summer.

By the time he overdosed on drugs in 1966 Lenny Bruce was broke and wasted. He was routinely busted for obsenity and few if any club owners would book him. Also on any given night you never knew which Lenny would show up, the hilarious stand up comic, or the sincere but not really funny crusader and social commentator. Cuiffo presented more of the latter than the former.

In addition to the 120 images in "Liu Zheng: The Chinese" the curator, John Stomberg, has installed selections from related book projects from the 19th century through today.

For seven years, with limited resources and under great adversity, Liu Zheng traveled extensively through China. This resulted in a book of 120 images "Liu Zheng: The Chinese." The Williams College Museum of Art comissioned a complete set of prints for its permanent collection. They are being shown at the college for the first time in a riveting and insightful exhibition.

The materials in this Tara Donovan exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, Boston are as generic as styrofoam cups, drinking straws, compressed blocks of tooth picks and common pins. But the ideas and value of the work are beyond limits.

The beginning of winter is marked by theatre, music and dance throughout the world, but perhaps nowhere is it more heartfelt than here in the Berkshires. This Thanksgiving let us give thanks to our arts community and then get out and enjoy their offerings. Your guide awaits.

There was a full weekend schedule of events celebrating the opening of a new building on the campus of Mass MoCA which, for the next 25 years, will house "Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective."

This is the third, self published book by artist/ entrepreneur, Eric Rudd. The superb images in this picture book were photographed by Kelly Lee who worked for ABC News and The News Hour with Jim Lehrer in D.C. before he settled in the Berkshires.

Sting worked with the artist Stephen Hannock to create something unique for his hometown of Newcastle. It was more a collaboration than a commission.

On a gorgeous fall weekend, October 17 through 19, hundreds of visitors and familiies made the round of the annual North Adams Open Studios. The event this year was bigger and better.

Squeezing hairy chests into tight costumes and donning feathery headpieces, these Clown Princes of Ballet in full makeup danced sur les pointes across the stage of the Hunter Center at Mass MoCA. As both merry makers and serious dancers all they want is their turn in the spotlight, and endless applause.