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Bunny Hop Race Will Support Homeless Shelter

By Rebecca Dravisiberkshires Staff
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Runners sport bunny ears in the first Bunny Run-Walk-Hop to End Homelessness in North Adams in 2013. This year's event is Saturday, April 19.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Spring often brings with it an increased stream of people needing emergency housing.

Which is why spring is also the perfect time for a fundraiser for Louison House, the only homeless shelter in Northern Berkshire County.

But this year as the shelter prepares for its second annual Bunny Run-Walk-Hop to End Homelessness fundraiser on Saturday, April 19, there's another reason to worry that the one 22-bed home in Adams might struggle to meet the needs of the region: the closure of Northern Berkshire Healthcare and the loss of more than 500 local jobs.

"We're definitely seeing that the need for our services is going to grow," said Lindsay Errichetto, the executive director of the Family Life Support Center, the nonprofit organization that operates Louison House. 

That's why the Bunny Run-Walk-Hop to End Homelessness is so important: Not only does it raise money, it also raises awareness that yes, there is homelessness in North County, and yes, there is a place for people in a transitional situation to turn to for help.

"This is a positive, high-energy event," Errichetto said. "But it's put our operations and the need for our services in perspective."

The 1-mile walk starts at 10:30 a.m. and the 5K run starts at 11 a.m. on Main Street in North Adams. The first 100 registrants will get a free T-shirt, there is a discount for early registration and there are prizes for fundraising. New this year will also be an Easter egg hunt for the kids. Runners can register at www.accu-specracing.com.

Last year the event raised $4,000, all of which went directly to Louison House's operating costs; this year's goal is $5,000.

"We were surprised to raise so much last year," Errichetto said. "We hope to get more."

More would be good, as the shelter is already full even as spring has just sprung and the fallout of the loss of the 500-plus jobs has only just begun.

"This is crippling. We're really bracing for that," she said.


Tags: benefit,   fundraiser,   homeless,   

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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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