Arts Talk: News in brief
Updated 5:41 pm, Thursday, January 3, 2013
Hancock Shaker Village announces workshops
Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, Mass., will expand its season offerings beginning in February with workshops in quilting, woodworking, backyard poultry, beekeeping and photography.
The workshop schedule kicks off with appliqued quilting, a new course taught by award-winning quilters Connie Logan and Mary Rentz, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 9, March 9 and April 6. The classes will focus on wall quilts inspired by Shaker gift drawings, including tree of life, apple basket, and floral wreath motifs. The three-part workshop will provide basic quilting skills and instruction for beginners, as well as drop-in sessions for experienced quilters. Tuition is $22-$25 per session.
Workshops will continue through October. To register, or for information, call (800) 817-1137 or go to http://www.hancockshakervillage.org
Create a 'Remix' exhibit at Clark Art Institute
The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass., will launch "Race to the Remix," a 48-hour competition that will determine the third and final installation of the uCurate exhibition — an interactive program that invites users to design their own installations.
The race begins at 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 18, and concludes at 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 20. The winning exhibition will open to the public on March 23.
Participants must register online at http://www.clarkart.edu/race by 5 p.m. Jan. 15.
Each registrant will create a uCurate submission — using works featured in Clark Remix, an installation of some 400 works from the institute's permanent collection — after race requirements are posted to the website at 5 p.m. Jan. 18. Amateur curators have until 5 p.m. Jan. 20 to post their creation to the uCurate gallery on the Clark's website.
The Clark's curatorial team will judge all submissions created by registered participants. Submissions will be judged based on creativity and use of required elements. One winner will be selected.
The winning submission will be transformed into an exhibition that will be installed in the Clark's galleries. The "Race to the Remix" winner will be named a guest curator and interact with the Clark's curators to transform the virtual exhibition into an actual installation, which will be presented March 23-April 28.
For information, call (413) 458-2303 or go to http://clarkart.edu
UAlbany exhibit explores 'Diaristic Impulse'
The University at Albany Art Museum will present a group exhibition titled "Day After Day: The Diaristic Impulse," Feb. 5-April 6, at 1400 Washington Ave. in Albany.
An artists' reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12. A public program will be held at 7 p.m. March 5, with a reading by fiction writer Ed Schwarzschild, whose short story will appear in the exhibition catalogue.
The obsessive desire to record day-to-day activities, document private worlds, or chart the passage of time is reflected in work that serves as either a staging ground for more ambitious projects, or as an end in itself. At times confessional in tone, and presented in a range of media from journals and sketchbooks, to video and painting, these artists draw upon self-imposed rituals, secret narratives and personal longings to give tangible form to fleeting ideas, experiences and emotions.
For information, call 442-4038 or go to http://www.albany.edu/museum
Williams College exhibit traces art-literature link
A new exhibition at Williams College Museum of Art in Williamstown, Mass., titled "Painting Between the Lines" will investigate the relationship between literature and art by commissioning 14 contemporary artists to create work based on descriptions of paintings in historical and contemporary novels.
The exhibition will be on view at the college Feb. 16-June 9, and is the inspiration for Night: Lit Cafe, a free evening of art, music and fun, which will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. Feb. 21.
Writing and painting have been connected throughout history, but literature has of late become a diminished subject in the medium of painting, which has looked more to history, society, politics and itself for inspiration. Through reintroducing literature as a viable subject for painting, this exhibition looks at the relationship between these two artistic fields, their different modes of representation, the various ways text can be translated into image, and how they both, in unique ways, have the ability to elicit a response from those who engage with them.
Each painting will be paired with the respective text as well as a copy of the first edition of the book. Much like the act of reading itself, the visitor can observe the painting while reading the writer's description of the artwork and see an actual copy of the book the text was first published in. The college will also have a small lending library, where visitors can check out the books that inspired the artists in the exhibition.
"Painting Between the Lines" was organized by the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, and is curated by Jens Hoffmann. A publication will accompany the exhibition, featuring images and descriptions of all the newly commissioned paintings, as well as an essay by the curator on the relationship between painting and literature.
For information, (413) 597-2429 or go to http://wcma.williams.edu
Berkshire Museum exhibit looks at bats
Some people think of bats as scary, squeaky night-flying creatures, but these hugely misunderstood flying mammals don't deserve their reputation. Learn the truth about these gentle animals when the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, Mass., presents the exhibition "Bats: Creatures of the Night," Jan. 19-May 12.
The exhibit, which originated with Evergreen Exhibitions, features video, photography, life-like models and interactive stations, all relating the story of the only mammal that flies. Discover bat habitats and where the different species live around the globe. Match different kinds of bats with their preferred foods. Explore life-size models of a variety of bats, from the Fisher bat and the Honduran white bat to the gray-headed flying fox bat. View photographs of bats in action, featuring the Gambian epauleted fruit bat and the Mexican free-tailed bat.
Complementing the exhibition, Berkshire Museum will present a gallery focused on local bat species. Visitors will learn about the conditions that are threatening the North American bat population, including the latest information on the pervasive and destructive white nose syndrome.
The exhibit is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union. For information, call (413) 443-7171 or go to http://www.berkshiremuseum.org
Film series slatedfor Clark Art Institute
The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass., will launch its "Widescreen Wonders" film series at 2 p.m. Saturday, with a screening of "The Bridge on the River Kwai," David Lean's saga of British POWs in Burma during World War II.
"Widescreen Wonders" celebrates the biggest and best of popular movies, while showcasing the Clark's HD projection capacity. All films boast super-widescreen aspect ratios, and most are Academy Award winners. The series will screen six classic films on Saturday afternoons through March 23. All screenings are at 2 p.m. and admission is free.
The schedule is as follows: Jan. 26, "Ben-Hur," starring Charlton Heston; Feb. 9, "Lawrence of Arabia," featuring Peter O'Toole; Feb. 23, "The Deer Hunter," with Robert DiNiro and Christopher Walken; March 9, "Gandhi," starring Ben Kingsley; March 23, "The Last Emperor," Bernardo Bertolucci's opulent masterpiece.For information, call (413) 458-2303 or go to http://clarkart.edu
— Jennifer Patterson