Tag: North Adams

  • Issue:

    Exploring the ukulele’s deeper side

    Former journalist turns to song, recording and touring By JOHN SEVENContributing writer NORTH ADAMS, Mass.   North Adams singer-songwriter Francesca Shanks will hit the road this month for performances across the Northeast and Midwest with Joe Aidonidis, her one-man backup band.George Bouret photo As the ukulele has become a popular performance instrument, it’s also contended read more

    Exploring the ukulele’s deeper side
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    Sculptures that won’t sit still

    Artist’s wooden figures mix puppetry, animation at Mass MoCA show By JOHN SEVENContributing writer NORTH ADAMS, Mass.   Works by the artist Elizabeth King, whose half-scale wooden figures are known for their uncannily human movements, are featured in a new show, “Radical Small,” that opens March 4 at Mass MoCA. Courtesy photos/Elizabeth King With a read more

    Sculptures that won’t sit still
  • Issue:

    Nick Cave — A troubled heaven on earth

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    Artist’s massive wonderland at MoCA confronts themes of racism By JOHN SEVENContributing writer NORTH ADAMS, Mass.   A detail from “Until,” Nick Cave’s upcoming installation at Mass MoCA, reveals an elaborate landscape built from kitschy items the artist collects on secondhand shopping sprees — items that sometimes raise troubling themes related to race. Douglas Mason read more

    Nick Cave — A troubled heaven on earth
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    Common Folk Collective builds a community through art

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    Common Folk collective aims for permanent role in North Adams By JOHN SEVENContributing writer NORTH ADAMS, Mass.   The Common Folk artist collective, which has hosted a series of arts and community events over the past year around North Adams, has a new home on Main Street downtown. Courtesy photo With its new location at read more

    Common Folk Collective builds a community through art
  • Issue:

    Behind pop-art splash, shades of darkness

    Consumer objects hint at deeper meaning in artist’s new MoCA show By JOHN SEVENContributing writer NORTH ADAMS, Mass.   The colorful work of the artist Alex Da Corte has the bursting presence and aesthetic immediacy of pop art, but it’s what lies underneath that matters. Da Corte, who’s based in Philadelphia, has a new exhibition, read more

    Behind pop-art splash, shades of darkness
  • Issue:

    Through art, a conversation about race

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    Exhibit tackles issues raised by Black Lives Matter movement By JOHN SEVENContributing writer NORTH ADAMS, Mass.   Donte K. Hayes’ “Def Star Pick” was inspired by controversy over the choice of a black actor to play a stormtrooper in the new “Star Wars” movie. Courtesy photo Black Lives Matter, perhaps the most successful activist movement read more

    Through art, a conversation about race
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    Two mayors face uphill races in the Berkshires

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    Mayoral races top ballot in Mass., N.Y. By FRED DALEY Editor The mayors of Pittsfield and North Adams both appear to face uphill climbs for re-election on Nov. 3 after they each posted distant second-place finishes in preliminary elections held last month. The two races in the Berkshires, along with mayoral races in Hudson and read more

    Two mayors face uphill races in the Berkshires
  • Issue:

    Community creativity

    North Adams’ new Makers Mill offers space, equipment for artistry By JOHN SEVENContributing writer NORTH ADAMS, Mass.   Amanda Hartlage works at a loom at the new Makers Mill in downtown North Adams. The facility, which opened in June in a Main Street storefront, provides space and equipment for members to pursue a wide range read more

    Community creativity
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    Myth, religion and comic-book heroes in MoCA show

    By JOHN SEVENContributing writer NORTH ADAMS, Mass.   Visitors ponder a small part of artist Jim Shaw’s sprawling exhibit, “Entertaining Doubts,” which opened in late March at Mass MoCA. John Seven photo To walk around “Entertaining Doubts,” Jim Shaw’s sprawling new show at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, is to step into the mind read more

    Myth, religion and comic-book heroes in MoCA show
  • Issue:

    Fast friends

    Photographer seeks out the reality behind Facebook’s virtual world By JOHN SEVENContributing writer NORTH ADAMS, Mass.   Shannon Rose Riley and Joey Ramone the dog of San Jose, Calif., are among the subjects of more than 600 portraits by the photographer Tanya Hollander, who set out to meet and photograph all of her Facebook friends. read more

    Fast friends