Clark Art Virtual Talk With Furniture Designer

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — On Saturday, Feb. 4 at 2 pm, the Clark Art Institute hosts a virtual talk with acclaimed furniture designer Jomo Tariku. 
 
Tariku will discusses his design process and his relationship to the history of design, including the use of drawing like those by eighteenth-century designers as seen in the "Promenades on Paper: Eighteenth-Century French Drawings" from the Bibliothèque nationale de France exhibition, on view through March 12.
 
The lecture is presented as part of the Clark's Conversations with Artists series.
 
According to a press release:
 
Ethiopian American artist and industrial designer Jomo Tariku is known for his modern African-themed furniture. Tariku's pieces include a variety of artistic designs that synthesize his own experiences of diverse culture, historical structures, architecture, traditional furniture, colors, artifacts, landscapes, wildlife, hairstyles, and more. As a child growing up in Ethiopia, Tariku was drawn to the eclectic art, souvenirs, and furniture pieces his father collected during his travels throughout Africa and beyond.
 
Tariku developed his skills as a craftsman while spending two summer breaks working at a furniture builder in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He went on to study Industrial Design at the University of Kansas. His craft expresses a modern harmony of heritage, humanity, and design sensibility. Tariku's namesake collection, launched in 2017, has been featured in numerous publications including Elle Decor, Architectural Digest, and Interior Design.
 
Tariku currently lives and works outside Washington, D.C.
 
Free, but advance registration is required. Registrants will receive a Zoom link upon registration. For more information and to register, visit clarkart.edu/events
 
This talk was originally planned as an in-person event but will now be held virtually.

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Mount Greylock School Committee Votes Slight Increase to Proposed Assessments

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee on Thursday voted unanimously to slightly increase the assessment to the district's member towns from the figures in the draft budget presented by the administration.
 
The School Committee opted to lower the use of Mount Greylock's reserve account by $70,000 and, instead, increase by that amount the share of the fiscal year 2025 operating budget shared proportionally by Lanesborough and Williamstown taxpayers.
 
The budget prepared by the administration and presented to the School Committee at its annual public hearing on Thursday included $665,000 from the district's Excess and Deficiency account, the equivalent of a municipal free cash balance, an accrual of lower-than-anticipated expenses and higher-than-anticipated revenue in any given year.
 
That represented a 90 percent jump from the $350,000 allocated from E&D for fiscal year 2024, which ends on June 30. And, coupled with more robust use of the district's tuition revenue account (7 percent more in FY25) and School Choice revenue (3 percent more), the draw down on E&D is seen as a stopgap measure to mitigate a spike in FY25 expenses and an unsustainable budgeting strategy long term, administrators say.
 
The budget passed by the School Committee on Thursday continues to rely more heavily on reserves than in years past, but to a lesser extent than originally proposed.
 
Specifically, the budget the panel approved includes a total assessment to Williamstown of $13,775,336 (including capital and operating costs) and a total assessment to Lanesborough of $6,425,373.
 
As a percentage increase from the FY24 assessments, that translates to a 3.90 percent increase to Williamstown and a 3.38 percent increase to Lanesborough.
 
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