BITS & BYTES: Politics of land and food festival; Music on Main returns; Virtual earth work symposium; First Fridays Artwalk returns; Alchemy and Innocents; Eva Salina with Peter Stan

Common Ground, An International Festival on the Politics of Land and Food

Red Hook—  May 4th through 7th, Fisher Lab presents Common Ground, an International Festival on the Politics of Land and Food in association with the OSUN Center for Human Rights and the Arts at Bard. The festival is curated by Tania El Khoury and Gideon Lester. 

Highlights from the festival include Agúyabskuyela, a live performance by Kite. An Oglála Lakȟóta performance artist, visual artist, and composer, Kite explores the Lakȟóta tradition of sharing cakes at funeral wakes. Sharing cakes at funeral wakes is a practice common amongst the Lakȟóta people; often, these cakes have an image of the deceased imprinted in the frosting. She explores this tradition in a performance in which she decorates funerary cakes made from local indigenous ingredients while speaking with friends, relatives, and elders about traditions, kin, land, and species they have lost. As we face death in the world, Kite hopes to turn towards protocols for mourning to process the death of beings, human and non-human. Cake and coffee will be served.

The performances are May 4th at 7:30 p.m., May 5th and 6th at 6 p.m., and May 7th at 2 p.m. at the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Red Hook Post 7765 on Elizabeth Street in Red Hook, N.Y. Running approximately 60 minutes, tickets are $10 and $5 for Bard students. There is a shuttle available. Visit Fisher Lab online for tickets and more information.  

Another highlight of the Common Ground festival is Communion: a ritual of nourishment and commemoration, a world premiere live performance by Kenyon Adams. A participatory blues Eucharist inspired by Kenyon Adams’s early experiences in the Black Protestant churches of his childhood. Created in collaboration with chef and artist Omar Tate (featured in the Netflix series High on the Hog), food and culture writer Osayi Endolyn, and visual artist Ambrose Rhapsody Murray. The ritual layers poems, movement, art, music, and food. This work is part of the artist’s own reckoning with death in the pandemic and the ways it has disproportionately affected BIPOC communities, as well as the ongoing violence against black bodies within American society. Communion is the second installment of a ritual trilogy, Watchnight: We are Almost to our Destination. The first part, Prayers of the People, was presented in 2018. 

The performances are May 5th and 6th at 8:00 p.m. and May 7th at 4:00 p.m. at the Fisher Center, Sosnoff Stage Right on Manor Avenue in Annandale-On-Hudson, N.Y. Running approximately 60 minutes, tickets are $26 and $5 for Bard students. The meeting place for Communion will be the LUMA lobby. Guests will be led to the performance space inside the theater. Visit Fisher Lab online for tickets and more information.  

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First Congregational Church UCC in Stockbridge announces the resumption of its Music on Main concert series

Stockbridge— The Board of Music of the First Congregational Church UCC in Stockbridge announces the resumption of its Music on Main concert series with a chamber music concert on May 7th at 3 p.m. The concert features cellist Peter Seidenberg and pianist Hui Mei-Lin, performing music of Beethoven, Boulanger, Chopin and Britten.

Peter Seidenberg made his solo debut with the Chicago Symphony, and has since appeared as soloist with many orchestras including Century Orchestra of Osaka, New American Chamber Orchestra, De Paul Chamber Orchestra, New York Chamber Soloists, and the Eastman-Rochester Philharmonic.

Hui-Mei Lin made her New York solo debut at the Weill Recital Hall at the Carnegie Hall as the winner of the Artists International Competition. She was described by the New York Times as “an excellent pianist throughout.” Concert tours have taken her to Italy, France, Canada, and various cities in Taiwan.

The concert will take place Sunday May 7th at 3 p.m. at the First Congregational Church, 4 Main Street in Stockbridge. The suggested donation is $30 at the door. The concert will benefit the Musician’s Concert Fund at the church, which will subsidize and support future concerts in the Music on Main series and allow those future concerts to donate their proceeds to local charities.  For further information, please call the church office at 413-298-3137.

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The First Fridays Artswalk in downtown Pittsfield returns; artist vendor and performer application being accepted 

Pittsfield— The First Fridays Artswalk in downtown Pittsfield returns May through December of 2023 on the first Friday of the month from 5 to 8 p.m. Thanks to grant support from the Pittsfield Cultural Council, the Mass Cultural Council, and The Feigenbaum Foundation, First Fridays Artswalk will expand in 2023 with new programming including an Art Market on Dunham Mall, live music in Persip Park, and live art demonstrations. The popular Free Kids’ Paint & Sip will also return.

DPI is currently accepting applications to be a vendor at The Art Market on Dunham Mall, May through October 2023. The market will be outside in Dunham Mall on the first Friday of the month from 5 to 8 p.m. Vendors should be local artists or artisans offering a range of items, some at affordable price points. Vendors will need to provide their own table and 10×10 tent, and be available for set-up starting at 4 pm. There will be a $25 vendor fee per market that will go towards First Fridays Artswalk programming costs. Interested vendors should be able to show samples of their work. Vendors may apply online. There will be a special Pride Month Art Market celebrating LGBTIQA+ artists and artisans on Friday, June 2. Please note in your application if you are applying for this market.

Downtown Pittsfield, Inc., in partnership with First Fridays Artswalk and Christine Bilé, will also be curating musical performers for Persip Park during the First Fridays Artswalk, May through October 2023, with a special Pride Month performance on June 2. If interested in performing, please contact rbrien@downtownpittsfield.com.

At the May 5th event, singer-songwriter, Katherine Winston, who will perform from 5 to 8 p.m. at 175 North Street. Katherine is an American Idol alum whose music is a stunning blend of country, folk, and pop. Inspired by the likes of Stevie Nicks, Kacey Musgraves, and Brandi Carlile, she will pull you right in with her honest, relatable lyrics and her emotional, powerful voice.

Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church will host a Free Kids’ Paint & Sip on from 5 to 7 p.m. at 67 East Street. This free Spring-themed Paint & Sip is best suited for ages 5 to 12, although younger and older children are welcome. All materials, instruction, snacks, and juice will be provided. Children are welcome to drop in anytime over the course of the event, and all children must be accompanied by an adult.

Erin Laundry, owner of Pittsfield’s Bottomless Bricks, will host a free, drop-in LEGO® Community Quilt Art Project on May 5 from 5 to 8 pm at 437 North Street. The community is invited to make art using LEGO® elements by visiting the Creation Station at Framework to decorate a LEGO® square to be added to a Community Quilt. This event is open to all ages, and it is free to participate.

For more information on First Fridays Artswalk, visit downtownpittsfield.com or call Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. at 413-443-6501. Download the Downtown Pittsfield app in the App Store or on Google Play to follow a virtual walking tour of art on your cell phone.

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Berkshire Botanical Garden’s 2023 art season continues with Alchemy and Innocents

Stockbridge— Berkshire Botanical Garden’s 2023 art season continues with Alchemy and Innocents: Works by Anastasia Traina, May 5th through June 25th in the Leonhardt Art Galleries. The opening reception is Friday, May 5th from 5 to 7 p.m. 

In Alchemy and Innocents, Traina, a writer, director and artist, illuminates the botanical world and its hidden creatures by building a Nouveau-Victorian landscape inhabited by magical insects and fauna placed into realistic botanic backdrops. Her inspiration is the nature found in her backyard, fairy tales from around the globe, natural history, and Victorian culture.

By embracing watercolor, graphite, colored pencil, hand- pressed paper, kiln cast glass, and pate de verre, the work seeks to excite and inspire audiences to rediscover the efflorescing beauty already around them, giving us an even more profound sense of wonder and appreciation for the extraordinary reality within our own little corner.

Traina traveled the world at a young age and become a successful actress, writer and director in theater and film, she eventually found herself at a crossroads. She soon discovered other media through which to tell her story. She forged her way into glass sculpture and botanical art.  Her work includes the fairy, flora and fauna of the botanical art world, sculpture, glass kiln casting, and the lost art of pate verre. She studied botanical art at the prestigious New York Botanical Garden, graduating with high honors and has gone on to show this work in multiple galleries and fine art magazines. Traina was awarded funding to study at the famed Corning Glass Studios and Urban Glass Studios in Brooklyn, N.Y., and is a 2022 recipient of the Martha Boschen Porter Fund.

Gallery hours for Alchemy and Innocents are seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge. Visit Berkshire Botanical Garden online to learn more. 

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Race Brook Lodge presents Eva Salina with Peter Stan

Sheffield— On Friday, May 5th, Race Brook Lodge presents Eva Salina with Peter Stan.

Eva Salina is a groundbreaking interpreter of Balkan Romani songs. Her rich, supple voice moves effortlessly through the intricate and demanding expression of Romani songs, intertwining vintage pop songs with her singular interpretations. Peter “Perica” Stan is a Serbian-Romanian Roma accordionist known for his playful innovation and soulful, intuitive improvisations. In their collaboration, Eva Salina & Peter Stan pick up the threads of an interrupted legacy of empowered female voices in Balkan Romani music. Seeking to amplify voices of past generations of Romani women musicians, Eva and Peter employ tenderness, grace, and friendship in keeping these songs alive and evolving, while tending to living traditions and sharing with new generations.

The event is Friday, May 5th from 7 to 11 p.m. at Race Brook Lodge in Sheffield. Tickets are $20-$40. Please note that this event was originally scheduled for March 3rd and all tickets that have been purchased will be honored on May 5th without any fuss. Visit Race Brook Lodge online for tickets and more information. 

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Bard College at Simon’s Rock presents Virtual Earth Work Symposium

Virtual— On Friday, May 5th from 8 to 11:30 a.m., Bard College at Simon’s Rock presents Earth Work Symposium, a virtual event hosted by students and faculty in Global Political Ecology. Presentations and discussions will be led by an international panel of experts on transdisciplinary earth studies and nature conservation.

The expert panel, moderated by Chris Coggins, features Yifei Li: Militarized Metaphors in China’s Environmental Governance; Mukul Sharma: Climate Change, Caste, and Dalits in India; Mareike Winchell, Political Theologies of Fire: Ontological multiplicity and climate in Bolivia- Writing and Thinking Workshop & Open Discussion; and Roan McNab, Guatemala’s Laguna del Tigre Conundrum: Can “failed” conservation areas affected by organized crime be healed by advancing environmental and social priorities?

To attend this virtual festival, visit Simon’s Rock online for Zoom link, Meeting ID, and Password.