Topia artists bring ‘field of dreams’ to Adams

By Jeanne FederPrint Story | Email Story
ADAMS — Two performing artists with a dream have launched the Topia Arts Center at the old Adams Theater on Park Street, hoping to bring new-world art, music and theater to the long-dark venue. “Topia means land or field in Greek,” Artistic Director and choreographer Caryn Heilman said Tuesday, “and the Topia Arts Center will be a place where different paths can converge, grow and meld.” Heilman is co-founder of the center, with Executive Director Nana Simopoulos, a musician who specializes in world music. The old Adams Theater, Heilman said, is poetically representative of their ambitious creative vision. The center, which is being developed in three stages, will open Feb. 11 with a performance by aerialist Maite Sanjuan. But Café Topia, a new art bar, which functions as the entrance/lobby to the future 500-to-700-person theater, is just Phase One of the project. And the cutting-edge vision of Topia’s co-founders is palpable, even as construction is being completed on the café space. Smiling, Heilman pointed to the ceiling and the permanent hardware in place for future “aerial dance” performances. It’s hardly the first fixture one would see in the design of your average arts café — even in culturally-wise Berkshire County. Heilman performed with the Paul Taylor Dance Company before founding her own LiquidBody media, movement and dance company. Simopoulos, who plays sitar, bouzouki and didgeridoo and sings in Greek, Yoruba, Hindi and English, has played world music with many renowned international opera companies and symphony orchestras. From its large guitar-shaped bar, to the blue, star-studded ceiling (reminiscent of the magical dining room sky of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts School) Café Topia was conceived as an embodiment of the center’s artistic perspective. Every construction detail is connected to its ultimate creative and philosophical goals: The bar was designed by a sculptor, Stella Sarianidou, and the walls (done by local painter, Terry Mullen) are finished with sustainable “green” painting materials. Heilman, who is a resident of New York’s West Village and has a weekend house in Becket, said she and Simopoulos loved the old Adams Theater. “We liked the sense of community in Adams and the fact that the theater was situated so well for pedestrian traffic,” she said. The theater started as a cinema in 1937 and closed its doors in 1964. Major renovations are underway for the large space, which will have an unpolished industrial feeling, Heilman said. She projected it will take one to three years to open the second phase of the center. But starting on Feb. 11, Topia Café will be open seven days a week from morning to evening, with later hours planned for weekend nights. It will serve light organic fare and wine, starting with breakfast, in a cozy space much like the multi-purpose spaces in lower Manhattan. The center, a nonprofit, boasts an impressive board, with representatives from each branch of the creative arts. Cinematographer Anastas Michos, who recently filmed “The Forgotten,” joins Oscar-winning actress Marcia Gay Harden as board members from the film community. In support of the new venture, Harden will read from “Only We Who Guard the Mystery Shall Be Unhappy,” a play by Tony Kushner (writer of Angels in America), at the group’s first major benefit, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. at the Plunkett School auditorium. Topia will be a year-round venue, and plans for the theater include classes and educational ventures. “We are planning drumming circles, poetry readings and screenings, and we will curate programs that blend world music and dance,” Heilman said. “We have a teen board, and I’m working with a local Adams student, Tianna Fronsman, who is part of Unity and Grooove, which are affiliated with the Northern Berkshire Coalition. There will be yoga classes and after-school programs as well. “As for the theater,” she added, “in the beginning, we will a safe space for people to do some standing room performance and benefit concerts. There will be a circus arts festival with puppets, circus and aerial dance, utilizing the creative talents of Elsie and Serenity Smith, the performers who run Gemini Trapeze in Brattleboro and are connected to many of the great contemporary circus performers around the world.” She said the theater would be “essential human theater — multimedia, experimental and interactive — breaking down the fourth wall.” “We want to make the space adapt to the art, not the other way around,” she said. “We hope to be vibrant locally, nationally and internationally and think Northern Berkshire County is a good place to be for that goal.” Information and benefit tickets: 743-9600 or www.TopiaArts.org. Shows will be Feb. 11 and 12 at 9 p.m. and 11 p.m.; admission is free.
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Lanesborough Fifth-Graders Win Snowplow Name Contest

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — One of the snowplows for Highway District 1 has a new name: "The Blizzard Boss."
 
The name comes from teacher Gina Wagner's fifth-grade class at Lanesborough Elementary School. 
 
The state Department of Transportation announced the winners of the fourth annual "Name A Snowplow" contest on Monday. 
 
The department received entries from public elementary and middle school classrooms across the commonwealth to name the 12 MassDOT snowplows that will be in service during the 2025/2026 winter season. 
 
The purpose of the contest is to celebrate the snow and ice season and to recognize the hard work and dedication shown by public works employees and contractors during winter operations. 
 
"Thank you to all of the students who participated. Your creativity allows us to highlight to all, the importance of the work performed by our workforce," said  interim MassDOT Secretary Phil Eng.  
 
"Our workforce takes pride as they clear snow and ice, keeping our roads safe during adverse weather events for all that need to travel. ?To our contest winners and participants, know that you have added some fun to the serious take of operating plows. ?I'm proud of the skill and dedication from our crews and thank the public of the shared responsibility to slow down, give plows space and put safety first every time there is a winter weather event."
 
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