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Cultural Pittsfield This Week: Sept. 22-28

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The 20th annual Country Fair will feature hot air balloon rides, chicken races, a hot sauce contest, a quilt show, demonstrations, artisanal crafts, a farmers' market, craft beer, BBQ, a farm animal exhibition, games for kids, live music by Whiskey Treaty Road Show and Singing School, and more in a magical setting.

Stay late Saturday night for a concert by Milton, and sign up for the Fork-to-Fondo bicycle race on Sunday.
New Opportunities for Massachusetts Artists!
 
Assets for Artists is accepting applications for its Matched Savings Grant Program and fall/winter Professional Development Workshops. Artists/makers in Mass. are eligible for grants of up to $2,000, as well as two free workshops (a personal finance "boot camp" and a business planning workshop), and one-on-one financial and business coaching. Applications are due by October 9!
 
MUSIC & NIGHTLIFE
Celebrate Alan Franco's birthday as Berkshire Salsa throws a neon dance party! Wear fluorescent and bright colors and accessories to make this event even more fun. Beginners Salsa Lesson at 8:30 p.m., followed by an Intermediate Salsa Lesson at 9:15 p.m. and tunes by DJ Rolo from 10 p.m. - 1 a.m. If your birthday is between Sept. 10 and Sept. 23, bring your friends and you enter free when they pay their cover. $10/Students $8.
Plus... 
FRI Garson&Sullivan at PortSmitt's | FRI Mary Ann Palermo & First Take at Hotel on North | FRI Blue Light Trio at Rainbow | FRI Hair Ballz at The A | SAT Mystical Music with Dr. Randy Weston at Berkshire Museum | SAT Milton at Hancock Shaker Village | SAT Tim Haufe Duo at Mission | SAT Warren Sieme at Rainbow | SAT A Night with Pam Ellis, Berkshire Medium at Rainbow | SUN Dover String Quartet at South Mountain Concerts | SUN Cards Against Humanity at Thistle & Mirth | MON Trivia Night Grand Finale at Thistle & Mirth | MON Jazz Night at Mission | TUE Paint a Pint Night at Thistle & Mirth | TUE BCAC Fundraising Disco Gala at Hancock Shaker Village | TUE Southern Tier Flight & Slice at Rainbow | TUE Pittsfield Soccer Club Dining to Donate at Zucco's | TUE Too Human at Berkshire Athenaeum | WED Gruppo Mondo at Rainbow | WED Nine Pin Knockdown at Thistle & Mirth
 
FAMILY FRIENDLY
The Berkshire Athenaeum presents a Where The Wild Things Are Curiosity Day! Special guest reader State Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier will be there, along with a "Wild Thing" from the book by Maurice Sendak. Enjoy fun STEAM activities, make a craft, engineer a boat, dress up in the Imagination Forest, and meet the "wild" reptiles. Every child receives a FREE book! 10 a.m. - 12 Noon. FREE, no sign-up required.
Plus... 
FRI WeeMuse: Adventures at Berkshire Museum | SAT Chow Time at Berkshire Museum | SAT Back to School Kids' Jam at The Funk Box | SUN Kids' Yoga begins at Berkshire Yoga Dance | MON Tiny Tots Story Time at Berkshire Athenaeum | TUE WeeMuse: Littlest Learners at Berkshire Museum | TUE Grandparents Day at Hancock Shaker Village | WED WeeMuse: Parent/Child STEM at Berkshire Museum | THU Farm Friends at Hancock Shaker Village | THU Preschool Play & Learn: Hats of Faith Reading at Berkshire Athenaeum | THU Lego Club at Berkshire Athenaeum
 
WELLNESS
 
Bike With Healers welcomes Dr. Stephen Alsdorf for a 1-2 hour long bike ride that includes an introduction and overview of the "healer's" specialities. The ride begins at 10 a.m. Meet in the gardens behind the historic Springside House at Hebert Arboretum.
 
Plus... 
FRI East Coast Swing Class begins at Berkshire Yoga Dance | SAT-SUN Farm-to-Fork Fondo at Hancock Shaker Village | SUN Goat Yoga at Hancock Shaker Village | TUE Lemme Run Intro Workshop at Berkshire Running Center | TUE FREE Turbo Kick Live Class at Berkshire Yoga Dance | TUE Fall into Fitness at Berkshire Yoga Dance | THU FREE Zumba Sampler Class at Berkshire Yoga Dance
 
PERFORMANCE
Barrington Stage Company presents the Creative Place International/And Theatre Company's production - back by popular demand! Jeff McCarthy stars as the self-described "radical lawyer" and civil rights activist William Kunstler. The perpetually rumpled lawyer whose best-known clients include the Chicago Seven, inmates involved in the Attica prison riots and members of the American Indian Movement, makes a case for his often unconventional style in this wise and revealing play. St. Germain Stage. 
Plus... 
 
GET CREATIVE

Yummy Treasures presents a technical class perfect for beginners! Learn the basics of necklace and bracelet stranding, as well as how to complete your project with a crimp and a clasp, and how to integrate different materials into your designs.This will be a 2-hour class beginning at 10:30 a.m. A more advanced 1-hour class will follow. Sign up separately for each class. $20/$30.
Plus... 
FRI Choose Your Own Workshop at Funky Phoenix | FRI or WED Paint Scarecrow/Snowman on a Pallet at The Dirty Brush | TUE Paint a Pint Night at Thistle & Mirth | THU Paint Party to benefit Eyeglasses for Pittsfield Students at Berkshire Paint & Sip
 
COMMUNITY
Party on the Patio supports the programs of Pittsfield's Gladys Allen Brigham Community Center. Spend an autumn evening enjoying world class wine and beer, delicious hors d'oeuvres, a silent auction, raffles and a great door prize. $30 per person, 5-7 p.m. A $75 VIP ticket includes a special reception at 4 p.m., VIP parking and a swag bag.
Plus...
FRI-SAT Giant Tag Sale at South Congregational Church SAT Fall Cleanup at Springside Park SAT-SUN Housatonic Heritage Walks SUN Domingo Brunch with PL Mack at Dottie's SUN Zimbelstern Auction at Zion Lutheran Church MON Community Preservation Plan Public Discussion at City Hall | TUE BCAC Fundraising Disco Gala at Hancock Shaker Village | TUE Pittsfield Soccer Club Dining to Donate at Zucco's | WED Dogs on North at Hotel on North
 
The Downtown Pittsfield Farmers Market is held every Saturday from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. at the First Street Common! 

This Saturday, find out how you can win a $25 gift card to the market, purchase bulbs for fall planting from Berkshire Conservation District and support the great work they do in our communityand enjoy music from The Echoes from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
 
LEARN
TUE & THU New Classes at New Moon Gifts
 
New Moon Gifts, located in the Allendale Shopping Center Underground, has a brand-new classroom space. The very first classes include Crystal Bowl Meditation on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. ($35) and Beginners Tarot on Thursday, also at 5:30 p.m. ($25).
Plus... 
SAT-SUN Make an Oval Box Carrier at Hancock Shaker Village SAT CBD Oil Uses & Benefits at Wellness Underground MON West African & Caribbean Drumming Class at The Lichtenstein MON Positive Psychology & Conflict Transformation at Knesset Israel TUE Basic Hands-on Genealogy begins at Berkshire Athenaeum TUE Resilience Movie & Discussion at Berkshire Museum THU Art Appropriation During WWII at Knesset Israel
 
FILM
FRI-MON School Life at The Little Cinema  
For years, John and Amanda Leyden have become legends teaching Reading, 'Rithmetic, and Rock 'n' Roll to young pupils at Headfort School, an enchanting 18th century Hogwarts-like boarding school in Ireland. The pace is hectic and the mood infectious as the eccentric couple works their magic in hilarious fashion. But for pupil and teacher alike, there's poignancy in discovering that leaving is the hardest lesson to learn.
 
 
ONGOING
See What's New at The Beacon TUE Resilience Movie & Discussion at Berkshire Museum
What's Showing at The Licht
Pittsfield's city-owned community arts center, the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, features nine working artist studios, a ceramics studio, a community room and an art gallery with changing exhibitions, classes, performances and more! 

28 Renne Ave. | Open Wednesday - Saturday from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.  
The Lichtenstein Center for the Arts presents Illuminated Broadsides: Word & Image, curated by Julio Granda.

In this exhibition, at least 25 poets and artists have collaborated to create works of art that incorporate a variety of printing methods - letter press/offset/silkscreen/inkjet - to achieve an unusual but beautiful marriage of word and image.
 
INFORMATION ABOUT THE PARKING METER PLAN
Five things to remember about the new downtown parking system:
 
1. Always enter your license plate number - even for the FREE first 30 minutes.
 
2. On-street parking is $1 per hour; lot parking is 50 cents per hour. There are also nearly 400 free parking spaces on the city's side streets.
 
3. You can pay by coin, credit card, or by downloading the Passport parking app.
 
4. You do not need to display the parking receipt on your dashboard.
 
5. Parking is FREE on evenings and weekends!

 

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Pittsfield CPA Committee Funds Half of FY24 Requests

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A few projects are not getting funded by the Community Preservation Committee because of a tight budget.

The projects not making the cut were in the historic preservation and open space and recreation categories and though they were seen as interesting and valuable projects, the urgency was not prevalent enough for this cycle.

"It's a tough year," Chair Danielle Steinmann said.

The panel made its recommendations on Monday after several meetings of presentations from applications. They will advance to the City Council for final approval.  

Two cemetery projects were scored low by the committee and not funded: A $9,500 request from the city for fencing at the West Part Cemetery as outlined in a preservation plan created in 2021 and a $39,500 request from the St. Joseph Cemetery Commission for tombstone restorations.

"I feel personally that they could be pushed back a year," Elizabeth Herland said. "And I think they're both good projects but they don't have the urgency."

It was also decided that George B. Crane Memorial Center's $73,465 application for the creation of a recreational space would not be funded. Herland said the main reason she scored the project low was because it didn't appear to benefit the larger community as much as other projects do.

There was conversation about not funding The Christian Center's $34,100 request for heating system repairs but the committee ended up voting to give it $21,341 when monies were left over.

The total funding request was more than $1.6 million for FY24 and with a budget of $808,547, only about half could be funded. The panel allocated all of the available monies, breaking down into $107,206 for open space and recreation, $276,341 for historic preservation, and $425,000 for community housing.

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