Art Exhibition on View at BCC: Dreaming of Light and Line

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Community College (BCC) presents "Dreaming of Light and Line,” an exhibition of oil paintings and silver pen drawings by Sean McCusker, on view in Koussevitzky Art Gallery through March 31, 2025. 
 
The gallery is open Monday–Friday, 9 am to 5 pm. Admission is free. 
 
According to a press release: 
 
Sean McCusker has been creating surreal landscapes inspired by the hilly Berkshires for over 20 years. His oil paintings, full of light and color, are made up of roughly 30 thin layers, each one adding complexity. The translucent layers create a glowing composition of dark shadows suspended in light. The artist describes his painting style as one that "attempts to depict emotion as a solid object.” Many of his paintings center around a single figure set against a vast empty space. The light illuminating the darkness is always just out of the figure's reach.   
 
"I wanted to capture that moment of intensity just before or right after something extraordinary happens; that sense of either surrender to the inevitable or relief after a hard-fought battle," McCusker said.
 

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Hot plate Brewing Co. on Becoming Top 3 Best New Brewery

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

Hot Plate is located at 1 School St. 
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Hot Plate Brewing Co. was recently recognized as No. 3 in USA Today's list of  "Best New Brewery."
 
A panel of beer experts selected their top picks and then readers cast their votes to determine the "10 Best" breweries founded since 2022, according to the publication. No. 1 was Frazier Creek Brewing & Distilling Co. in Stuart, Fla.
 
Hot Plate, which opened in 2023, is owned by couple Sarah Real and Mike Dell'Aquila.
 
"I started home brewing first, Sarah was just much better at it than me," Dell'Aquila laughed. He got a home brewing kit in 2013 and a couple of years later Real decided to try and brew as well.
 
"Hot Plate was sort of born when we were living in Brooklyn and the city came and turned off the gas in our condo building because there had been a code violation so that meant no heat, no hot water, no functioning stove," he said. "But Sarah had already decided that she really wanted to pursue this."
 
Real bought a hot plate to start brewing, a hot plate that is hanging up at their brewery today. 
 
Dell'Aquila said he wanted to change the industry through diversity, equity, and inclusion.
 
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