'Material Record' Gallery Opening at Bard College

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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — "Material Record," Jamie Goldenberg's exhibition at the Daniel Arts Center at Bard College at Simon's Rock, opens on March 8 at 5:00 p.m. with a collaborative weaving project and opening reception. 
 
The artist will briefly teach the principles of weaving and ask visitors to weave on her loom using yarns from her studio that she dyed over the past eight years. The interactive weaving will be available for the duration of the show. 
 
The final community-woven piece will be displayed at the closing event, which will take place on April 17 at 6:00 p.m. in the Black Box Theater at the Daniel Arts Center. Jamie Goldenberg will be in conversation with Simon's Rock librarian KellyAnne McGuire. In "Archiving as Artistic Practice," Goldenberg and McGuire, also a fiber artist, will discuss process-based artmaking, the impulse to keep records, and how creativity is essential to our experience as human beings. 
 
The exhibition is a collection of woven, stitched, and dyed works created between 2016 and 2024. Each piece tells the story of the specific moment and place where it was created. The collection explores themes of awe, uncertainty, grief, and reverence for the natural world. Each piece is an experiment in which the artist holds equal regard for her given circumstance and the impulse to act upon it.
 
Goldenberg describes the process of creating her piece, Marigold Curtain, 2017: "Every week, for several months, I harvested marigolds from my garden, dyed wool, and then wove it on my loom. Throughout this time the parcel of land and materials remained consistent while the seasons and my own personal circumstances (sun, frost, grief, parenting, distraction) shifted. These fluctuations imprinted on the texture and color of the fibers. When I took the weaving off of my loom and stitched the piece together I found myself looking at proof of my survival."
 
Jamie Goldenberg has spent most of her life in New England. She received a BA in photography and critical theory in visual arts from Bard College at Simon's Rock. She was a 2015-16 resident at the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn, NY, instructor at Parsons School of Design, and has attended residencies at Penland School of Crafts and Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. She currently owns a craft shop and classroom in Great Barrington where she aims to make artmaking as accessible as possible to anyone who wants to learn and create.
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Lt. Governor Driscoll Visits Great Barrington Businesses

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Housing Secretary Ed Augustus and state Rep. Leigh Davis are ready to chop wood out back of Pleasant and Main. 

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll did some holiday shopping on Main Street last week after announcing millions of federal Community Development Block Grant funds

She was glad to see an array of small-business owners thriving, and the eclectic items that Great Barrington has to offer. 

"We know that the vibrancy of communities can often be defined by what's happening on Main Street," she said. 

"It's great to be here in Great Barrington and see so many independent entrepreneurs who are running really, not only fun, but businesses that are doing well, and we want to try and find ways to uplift and support that work moving forward." 

State Rep. Leigh Davis coordinated a business tour with Pleasant and Main Cafe and General Store, Robbie's Community Market, and Butternut Ski Mountain. While downtown, Driscoll also stopped at Coco's Candy and Rob's Records and Audio. 

Earlier that day, the Healey-Driscoll administration announced $33.5 million in federal CDBG funds at the Housatonic Community Center. Great Barrington, in conjunction with Egremont and Stockbridge, has been allocated $ 1.25 million to rehabilitate approximately 14 housing units.  A new Rural and Small Town Housing Choice Community designation for its Housing Choice Initiative was also launched. 

Davis emphasized the significance of the state announcing these dollars in the small village of Housatonic.  

Craig Bero, founder of Pleasant and Main, prepared desserts and hors d'oeuvres for the group at his cozy cafe across the street from the Housatonic Community Center. Bero opened more than a decade ago after migrating from New York City, and Pleasant and Main offers sustainable, organic meals for an affordable price while enjoying the museum of antiques that is the restaurant. 

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