Clark Art Presents Constant Smiles and Ava Mirzadegan

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Clark Art Institute's Music at the Manton Concert spring series concludes with a performance by Constant Smiles and Ava Mirzadegan on Sunday, May 5 at 5 pm.
 
The performance takes place in the Clark's auditorium, located in the Manton Research Center.
 
According to a press release:
 
Constant Smiles began in 2009 in leader Ben Jones' home of Martha's Vineyard. Inspired by the island's now-defunct community record store Aboveground Records, the group made their live debut as a noise duo opening for Ralph White (Bad Livers). Fourteen indie-folk albums later, Constant Smiles returns to their electronic roots with their latest release Kenneth Anger, evoking the eponymous filmmaker with hypnotic, '80s-inspired synth classics that examine how rituals and community can heal feelings of isolation.
 
Ava Mirzadegan opens for Constant Smiles. Mirzadegan writes quiet songs about heartbreak, longing, letting go, and befriending the night sky. Accompanied most often by fingerpicked nylon string guitar, her work rings of unembellished honesty.
 
Tickets $10 ($8 members, $7 students, $5 children 15 and under). Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. Advance registration encouraged. For more information and to register, visit clarkart.edu/events.
 
Presented in collaboration with Belltower Records, North Adams.

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Mount Greylock Super Asks for Cell Phone Ban

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional Schools' superintendent last week asked the School Committee to adopt a policy banning student cell-phone use in the district's three schools.
 
Jason McCandless last Thursday told the committee that his thinking about personal electronic devices in schools has evolved over the last year.
 
As recently as last spring, McCandless told the committee that he did not feel a ban was warranted. 
 
Now, he believes that no good comes from students using cell phones in school and, in fact, significant harm comes from the social media accessed on the devices.
 
In explaining the evolution of his position, McCandless said there is a connection to the district's efforts to create a more inclusive environment, efforts that were a major topic of discussion during the three-hour meeting.
 
"There is certainly a decent amount of racist, misogynistic, hateful in many of its forms material available online through various social media platforms," McCandless said. "I think we have kids saying things that they don't have any idea what it means because they have seen them in a video.
 
"From a civil rights perspective, from an anti-racist perspective, parents can't shield their kids from everything. … There's so much that we can't control, as educators, as leaders. This piece strikes me as something we can control. We don't allow students to bring knives into school. That's because they could hurt themselves, they could hurt others.
 
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