Masks are optional unless otherwise stated. Please do what's comfortable for you.
Whether you celebrate Saint Nicholas Day, the Winter Solstice, Saturnalia, Yule, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, Fiesta of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Omisoka, St. Lucia Day, or Festivus, December is a month rich with holidays of all sorts. In that spirit the Arts Center invites you a festival with crafts, crunchies and caroling and holiday [...]
Now in its thirteenth season, the Cantilena Chamber Choir is the Berkshire region’s leading a cappella group. The Choir has been heard on a special WMHT Christmas Eve radio broadcast of Lessons and Carols recorded at Trinity Church in Lenox. They have collaborated with the New England Baroque Soloists, Aston Magna and The Empire Brass. [...]
Why is it that an old house, table, or tree may appear beautiful to us, while an old woman often does not? Age seems to augment beauty in many instances, but not when it comes to the human form. We humans create and appreciate various kinds of beauty, we seem to enjoy and exploit youthful [...]
Local authors Miriam Karmel and Tom Christopher talk about their new books. Garden Revolution is the title of Tom Christopher’s latest book (Timber Press, 2017) co-written with landscape designer Larry Weaner. Tom will be presenting in images and words a radically new way to garden. Tom is the author of more than a dozen gardening [...]
This morning of coffee and crosswords will include an overview of crossword history, introduce the basic principles of American crossword puzzle construction, and peek behind the scenes at the New York Times and the puzzles of the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. Crossword puzzle guidelines will be available for solvers curious about construction. Bring all [...]
"THOSE WHO CANNOT REMEMBER THE PAST ARE CONDEMNED TO REPEAT IT” George Santayana 1863-1952 Our resident historian, Bill Cohn, focusses his remarks on this legendary statement from philosopher George Santayana’s as well as historian Stephen Engle’s observation that today “we live in a world in which what people believe happened is all that matters” – [...]
Val Coleman will argue that the American constitution, indeed the United States itself, was finally secured and ratified by a rail-splitting prairie intellectual named Abraham Lincoln. Val is generally acknowledged as the poet laureate of Sandisfield, regularly publishing poems in The Sandisfield Times and elsewhere. His previous presentations on the history of poetry, and also [...]
Ilana Steinhauer, the current executive director of VIMBerkshires, speaks about the challenges facing VIM as it manages health care for the various populations it serves.
The Perfectionists How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World The New York Times bestselling author, Simon Winchester, traces the development of technology from the Industrial Age to the Digital Age to explore the single component crucial to advancement—precision—in a superb history that is both an homage and a warning for our future. The rise of manufacturing [...]
The Alamo was conceived in the middle of the 18th century as a mission to convert native Americans to Christianity like several other contemporary missions along the San Antonio River. The structure took its prominent place in history on 6 March 1936 when the several thousand strong Mexican army attacked the building complex and its [...]
