Winter trails on the grounds of the Clark Art Institute are open for the exploring; photo by Sara Farrell Okamura.
Winter trails at the Clark Art Institute are open for the exploring; photo by Sara Farrell Okamura.

Bask in Arts and Outdoors this week in Northern Berkshires

It is the end of January. The sky is an opaque slate grey. Temperatures are sinking into minus territory, not counting wind chill factor. What should you do to fight mid-winter inertia? Go out! There are lots of amazing activities to do in Northern Berkshires from snowshoeing at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown to free day at MASS MoCA in North Adams to exhibits that just opened this month. Check the notices below; you will begin to see the light.

PROJECT SNOWSHOE

Clark Art Institute
225 South Street
Williamstown, Mass.

During snow season, the Clark’s campus is transformed into a winter wonderland. With 140 acres to discover, there’s plenty to see outside the gallery walls. Borrow a pair of our complimentary snowshoes and begin your adventure! Before or after your hike check out the amazing exhibits at the Clark, from Turner & Constable: The Inhabited Landscape to Extreme Nature.

Rafa Esparza
Staring At the Sun

MASS MoCA
1040 MASS MoCA Way
North Adams, Mass.

Los Angeles artist Rafa Esparza creates a space using the labor intensive skill passed down from his father of making adobe bricks.  This project examines his relationship to the land and to the Los Angeles River. The installation also includes his recent paintings.

Kathline Carr, Dawn Nelson, and Sarah Sutro
“Colour and Form: Beauty in Abstraction”

MCLA Gallery 51
Massachusetts College of Art
51 Main Street
North Adams, Mass.

Opening: Thursday, January 24, 2019, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Work explores the beauty, complexities, and depth of abstract art, and how it inspires our curiosity.  Support local artists!

Portfolio

Outside Gallery
10 Ashland Street
North Adams, Mass.

Friday & Saturday 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m., Sunday 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

You don’t have to be a hedge fund success story or a part of the 1% to buy artwork. A selection of original work by Outside’s artists thoughtfully curated, flat formated and affordably priced, Portfolio allows you to bring a piece of outside into your home.

FREE DAY

MASS MoCA
1040 MASS MoCA Way
North Adams, Mass.

Saturday, January 26, 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

The galleries will be filled with art-making activities, lively discussion, and pop-up performance. Create some art, take a tour, catch some live music in the elevator, and learn about the history of our life on Marshall Street.

MountainOne and Berkshire Gas sponsor free day.

January 26th curator talks are funded in part by Mass Humanities, which receives support from the Mass Cultural Council and is an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities

The Clark Art Institute lends out snow shoes, on the honor system, at no cost so that visitors can experience the grounds during Winter slumber; photo by Sara Farrell Okamura.
The Clark Art Institute lends out snow shoes, on the honor system, at no cost so that visitors can experience the grounds during Winter slumber; photo by Sara Farrell Okamura.

Assets for Artists
An Artists residency at MASS MoCA
1320 MASS MoCA Way
North Adams, Mass.

3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Studios at MASS MoCA is celebrating with an extended Open Studios in conjunction with the MASS MoCA free day festivities. Come as early as 3pm and stay into the evening for some great art, conversation and, of course, tasty snacks. This month, our artists have joined us from across the globe, traveling from Italy, Portugal, South Korea, and all corners of the U.S. Come see what they have been up to in North Adams!

Directions to the Studios: When you park in the main visitor lot at MASS MoCA, Building 13 is right in front of you. You’ll see Ferrin Contemporary and CYNTHIA-REEVES galleries on the first floor. Enter through the side door (on the end of the building farthest from Rt. 2) and take the stairs or elevator to the second floor.

Triptych (Eyes of One on Another)

MASS MoCA

8:00 p.m.

Thirty years after Robert Mapplethorpe’s death, we still cannot turn away from his photographs. Triptych (Eyes of One on Another) brings together the work of composer Bryce Dessner (The National) and a team of extraordinary collaborators including director Daniel Fish and Ashley Tata, librettist Korde Arrington Tuttle, and Roomful of Teeth for a work-in-progress presentation which — through music, projection, and theatrical lighting — puts us inside the artist’s bold, voracious view of how nature and humans look, touch, feel, hurt, and love one another. A Q+A will follow.

Seating is general admission. Preferred tickets are general admission seats located in the first rows of the theater.  First! Come early to visit the museum. The galleries are open –and teeming with activity– from 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. The museum is open for Free Day 2019! A full bar serves Bright Ideas Brewing beers and Berkshire Mountain Distillery spirits.

Sara Farrell Okamura

Sara Farrell Okamura, a resident of North Adams, is an artist, arts educator, and writer.

Collage, "Paper Workers," by Sheila Velazquez.
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Detail: "Border Wash," by Rafa Esparza; a Mexican immigrant laborers sprayed with DDT at processing center in Hildago, Texas - After Leonard Nadel, 1956, 2019; photo by Sara Farrell Okamura.
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staring at the sun, Rafa Esparza

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