Exhibition Openings for Berkshire Artist Residency Program

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STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. Berkshire Art Center's 2024 Berkshire Artist Residency Program is coming to a close with three exhibition openings this summer and fall at Chesterwood, The Red Lion Inn and Ventfort Hall. 
 
This year, local artists, Dai Ban, Grigori Fateyev, Kyle Strack, Kara Smith, and Stacy Scibelli worked at their respective sites for three months using each unique historical setting as inspiration for their art-making.
 
Chesterwood Artists-in-Residence, Dai Ban, Grigori Fateyev and Kyle Strack, will have an opening of their exhibition, "Chesterwood Reimagined: Architecture and Sculpture in Dialogue", on Friday, Aug. 30, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the Morris Center Studio at Chesterwood. This group exhibition will be on view during Chesterwood's regular open hours, Wednesdays through Mondays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., until Sept. 22, 2024.  Entrance to the Morris Center Studio is free, however, admission tickets are required if you would like to tour the contemporary sculpture show on the grounds or visit the historic Studio.  
 
Red Lion Inn Artist-In-Residence, Kara Smith, will have an opening of her exhibition, "Room 322: A Visual Investigation", on Saturday, September 7th, from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Sun Room located on the first floor at The Red Lion Inn. Smith's exhibition will feature her newest collection of paintings, prints and mixed media work driven by an interest in memory, visual storytelling and modes of communication.
 
Later in the fall, Ventfort Hall Artist-In-Residence, Stacy Scibelli, will have an opening of her exhibition, "Spaceship Orion", on Thursday, October 17th, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Ventfort Hall. More details will be announced on Berkshire Art Center's website and social media. 
 
The Berkshire Artist Residency Program began in 2012 as a partnership with the Red Lion Inn. In addition to the Red Lion Inn, the program has expanded to include Chesterwood and Ventfort Hall. The heart of the Berkshire Artist Residency is to give local visual artists the opportunity to create new work inspired by their home county. Artists were chosen from a selection of diverse applicants and offered the opportunity to work on the grounds of each historic site to develop new work that intertwines with the fabric of our county. The Berkshire Artist Residency is supported in part by grants from the Stockbridge Cultural Council and Lenox Cultural Council, local agencies which are supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
 
Artists' work will also be available for purchase through Berkshire Art Center's Gallery Shop at berkshireartcenter.org/gallery-shop. 
 
Chesterwood is located at 4 Williamsville Road in Stockbridge, Massachusetts; The Red Lion Inn is located at 30 Main Street in Stockbridge, Massachusetts; and Ventfort Hall Gilded Age Mansion & Museum is located at 104 Walker Street in Lenox, Massachusetts.
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Neal, Markey Reflect on U.S. Political Climate

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

LEE, Mass. — U.S. Rep. Richard Neal and U.S Sen. Edward Markey shared the reflections on the nation's political climate during separate swings through the Berkshires this week. 

"I watched the whole thing and I've known Tim Walz for a long time and I thought that the debate showed the vigor of where we find ourselves," Neal said at Lee Town Hall after bringing news of a $1 million earmark for Lee's proposed public safety building. This was one day after the vice presidential debate.

"And I thought it was pretty interesting."

On Monday night, Democratic nominee Tim Walz and Republican nominee James David "JD" Vance debated at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York. The 90-minute program included foreign policy, reproductive rights, immigration, and more.

Neal observed that the candidates spent the evening talking about the respective presidential candidate of the other party. He did not identify a winner in this debate, which was not the case for the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in September.

"So in terms of outcome, I think media have a tendency to try to declare winners and losers and I thought last night, I don't think moves the needle much one way or another," the Springfield Democrat said.

"The presidential debate was entirely different. I thought even Republicans said they thought that the vice president won the debate."

"I think both candidates made the pitch for their presidential candidates very well," said Markey at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art on Thursday. "However, it's going to come down to Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, and I'm very confident that the energy level on the Democratic side is so high that we're going to get out the vote. It's a very small percentage of all voters who are undecided right now across the country, it's only going to come down to seven states altogether.
 
Massachusetts and California have already decided, the Democrat said, and so has in Texas and Mississippi. "So we're down to just seven states."
 
Most of the last presidential elections have come down to the general election as ties, he said, so it will matter who gets out the vote. He was heading to Pennsylvania on Friday to speak to Democrats.

Neal was asked about his thoughts on immigration and if the Democratic Party's stance has drifted to the right over the past few years.

"I don't think I would say that it's drifted right," he said. "I think it's drifted to a reality. I think and have professed for a long period of time, you need a process."

He said the problem is you need to know who is in the country and how they arrive.

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