Williamstown Chamber Names Thomas Interim Director

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
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Sandra Thomas was named interim director of the Williamstown Chamber of Commerce to keep things rolling.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williamstown Chamber of Commerce has chosen a familiar face to fill a leadership role.
 
The Chamber has named former Images Cinema director Sandra Thomas to serve as interim executive director while the group looks for a permanent replacement to Jennifer Civello, who announced her departure in November.
 
Thomas will serve for 90 days in the Chamber office starting this week, according to Williamstown Chamber President Jason Dohaney.
 
On Monday, Thomas agreed that the winter and early spring are particularly important times for the Chamber as it lays the ground work for the busy summer season.
 
"I think that's why the board wanted to keep things moving forward," Thomas said.
 
After more than a dozen years at Images, which she left last year, Thomas has a good feel for the Chamber's role in the business community.
 
"I've run a business on Spring Street, I've served on the board of the Chamber for a while and I have been involved with all of the Chamber events — from Holiday Walk to Summer Sundays," Thomas said. "I'm already working with [the website] Destination Williamstown, and I've been appointed to the [town's new] Economic Development Committee. It just made sense to take this on."
 
Thomas said she has not had a chance to meet with the current board to get its direction, but she suspects it will ask her to continue the work already begun by Civello.
 
"Jen did such a fabulous job in professional development and opportunities for membership and really getting the Chamber out there in the community," Thomas said. "The board wanted someone in an interim position to keep that momentum going forward."
 
Dohaney echoed that sentiment in an email announcing Thomas' appointment.
 
"Sandra has deep ties to our community and exceptional knowledge of the business environment and is someone we feel will be the perfect fit to carry on the good work of our outgoing director, Jennifer Civello," Dohaney wrote.
 
Thomas said the interim position is a good fit for her as she explores different professional opportunities after a long run at Images.
 
"I'm in an 'interim' phase in my work life right now," she said.

Tags: chamber of commerce,   interim appointment,   

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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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