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The Phelps Trail sign is one of several through the Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation that have QR codes posted to help guide hikers.

Williamstown Rural Lands Adds 'QR' Codes at Trailheads

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation is making it easier for hikers to access its trails on their own time with a system of downloadable maps and guides.

 
WRLF has posted at the trailhead of three of its trails a QR (Quick Response) code that will enable a hiker with a smartphone who simply scans the QR code to download a trail map and a trail description, providing information about the length of the trail and its degree of difficulty, and describing the natural features to be encountered along the way.
 
All a hiker needs to do is to go to the "App Store" and enter "QR Code Reader" in the search box.
 
After clicking on the icon for the QR Code Reader, the hiker just holds the phone in front of the QR code, and on the phone screen will instantly appear the WRLF website, and then the detailed trail description (with map).
 
Trails now equipped with QR codes are the Fitch Trail, at its trailhead on Bee Hill Road; the Pine Cobble Trail, at its trailhead on Pine Cobble Road; and the Phelps Trail, at its trailhead on Oblong Road.
 
The Fitch Trail passes through WRLF property onto state land and land belonging to the Boy Scouts, and connects to the RRR Brooks Trail in Flora's Glen. The Pine Cobble Trail passes through WRLF land to reach one of the best scenic overlooks in Williamstown. The Phelps Trail climbs through state-owned land to the crest of the Taconic Range.
 
QR codes, with directions to the trailheads, are also be posted at the trail kiosks at the foot of Spring Street and outside the WRLF Office at Sheep Hill on Cold Spring Rd.
 
It is expected that the QR codes may serve to attract new hikers, especially those accustomed to getting information from smartphones, to local trails. If public response warrants it, WRLF plans to post QR codes at the trailheads of other local hiking trails.
 
The next in a series of guided hikes offered by WRLF is Tuesday, July 19, on Stone Hill.

Tags: hiking,   Internet,   QR codes,   trails,   WRLF,   

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WCMA: 'Cracking the Code on Numerology'

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) opens a new exhibition, "Cracking the Cosmic Code: Numerology in Medieval Art."
 
The exhibit opened on March 22.
 
According to a press release: 
 
The idea that numbers emanate sacred significance, and connect the past with the future, is prehistoric and global. Rooted in the Babylonian science of astrology, medieval Christian numerology taught that God created a well-ordered universe. Deciphering the universe's numerical patterns would reveal the Creator's grand plan for humanity, including individual fates. 
 
This unquestioned concept deeply pervaded European cultures through centuries. Theologians and lay people alike fervently interpreted the Bible literally and figuratively via number theory, because as King Solomon told God, "Thou hast ordered all things in measure, and number, and weight" (Wisdom 11:22). 
 
"Cracking the Cosmic Code" explores medieval relationships among numbers, events, and works of art. The medieval and Renaissance art on display in this exhibition from the 5th to 17th centuries—including a 15th-century birth platter by Lippo d'Andrea from Florence; a 14th-century panel fragment with courtly scenes from Palace Curiel de los Ajos, Valladolid, Spain; and a 12th-century wall capital from the Monastery at Moutiers-Saint-Jean—reveal numerical patterns as they relate to architecture, literature, gender, and timekeeping. 
 
"There was no realm of thought that was not influenced by the all-consuming belief that all things were celestially ordered, from human life to stones, herbs, and metals," said WCMA Assistant Curator Elizabeth Sandoval, who curated the exhibition. "As Vincent Foster Hopper expounds, numbers were 'fundamental realities, alive with memories and eloquent with meaning.' These artworks tease out numerical patterns and their multiple possible meanings, in relation to gender, literature, and the celestial sphere. 
 
"The exhibition looks back while moving forward: It relies on the collection's strengths in Western medieval Christianity, but points to the future with goals of acquiring works from the global Middle Ages. It also nods to the history of the gallery as a medieval period room at this pivotal time in WCMA's history before the momentous move to a new building," Sandoval said.
 
Cracking the Cosmic Code runs through Dec. 22.
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