Opinion
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Malcolm Rogers on Contemporary Art
No Longer an Oxymoron for the MFA
By: - Sep 21st, 2011For most of its more than hundred year history Boston's Museum of Fine Arts had relatively little interest in the work of living artists European or American. That proved to be a costly error when it bought its first Picasso. It missed the boat on Abstract Expressionism, Pop and Minmal Art. With the opening of the Lind Wing for Contemporary Art Malcolm Rogers, the director of the MFA, assured us that the museum will be a player in contemporary art.
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Netflix Mea Culpa
Response to Subscriber Outrage
By: - Sep 19th, 2011Netflix screwed up big time. Jacking up prices and turning off long time customers. The stock took a dive and the company is in big doodooo with consumers. Now CEA Reed Hastings comes clean and wants us back big time. Read this and weep.
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Boston Cultural Calendar 9/19 to 9/25
Harvard Film Archives to MFA
By: - Sep 19th, 2011Directed by Susan Vogel (2011, 53 min.). Filmed over three years in Venice, Nsukka, and the United States, this is a powerful portrait of Africa’s most widely acclaimed contemporary artist El Anatsui. Fold Crumple Crush gives an insider’s view of the artist’s practice, the ingenious steps and thousands of hours of labor that convert used bottle tops into huge, opulent wall hangings. Anatsui explains how his artworks have become a marriage of painting and sculpture—objects that speak of African history but also reach for the ethereal—and he talks about his aspirations for artworks he has yet to make.
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Mary Zimmerman Directs Candide
Bernstein Musical at Boston's Huntington Theatre
By: - Sep 19th, 2011Tony Award winner and MacArthur Fellow Mary Zimmerman is directing and adapting Leonard Bernstein's Candide which opens this week at the Huntington TYheatre in Boston. It is her third production of the musical. She has also directed controversial new productions for the Metropolitan Opera which have been broadcast Live in HD. She is soon to announce more work with the Met. We discussed the production of Candide. There will be another interview that focuses on her feisty responses to criticism of her operas and views on the role of critics.
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Barrington Stage Company Reports Record Season
$ 1 Million Plus in Ticket Sales
By: - Sep 13th, 2011Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the award-winning theatre in Downtown Pittsfield, MA, under the leadership Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and Managing Director Tristan Wilson, announces that its 2011 season was the most successful season since its founding in 1995.
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Joe Manning on The Lewis Hine Project
The Mill Children at the Eclipse Mill Gallery
By: - Sep 12th, 2011Lewis Hine used his camera to expose the issue of child labor in America. In 1911 he created nine images of children about to start their 12 hour shift at the Eclipse Mill in North Adams, Mass. Through October 8 the Eclipse Mill Gallery is showing the special exhibition The Mill Children. The project was organized by gallerist Ralph Brill with Realist Painter William Oberst, Abstract Painter Dawn Nelson, Historian Joe Manning, Composer/Musician Matt Hopkins, Filmmaker Steven Borns and Educator Anne French. Wespoke with Joe Manning about his ongoing Lewis Hine Project.
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Willard V. Jenkins on NEA Jazz Masters
Grammy and NEA Cutbacks Evoke Protests
By: - Sep 10th, 2011Recognition and support for the diversity of American music is under attack. For the 2012 Grammy Awards the number of categories has been reduced from 109 to 78 with a particular elimination of ethnic performers. There are similar consolidations for the NEA. We discussed this with Willard V. Jenkins who helped to bring the NEA Jazz Masters Jimmy Cobb and Gunther Schuller to the 2011 Tanglewood Jazz Festival.
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Williamstown Theatre Festival Touts Record Season
Ten Cents a Dance Closes August 28
By: - Aug 22nd, 2011There is no question that the first season of artistic director Jenny Gersten has done well at the box office. In a release WTF announces that its sales for August are double what they were in August last year. Overall they are stating attendance at some 44,000. According to the wildly uneven reviews, however, Williamstown Theatre Company has slipped from its once dominant position among the four major Berkshire theatre companies.
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Boston Calendar of Cultural Events
August 15 to 21 an Overview
By: - Aug 15th, 2011Nelida Nassar provides an overview of cultural offerings for the week of August 15 to 21. From Harvard Film Archives to previews of the anticipated Broadway bound production of Porgy and Bess at American Repertory Theatre.
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Berg, Vivaldi and Menotti at the Santa Fe Opera
Summer Opera in the Burnt Sienna of Santa Fe
By: - Aug 13th, 2011A great case for opera during the summer is made by the Santa Fe Opera in New Mexico. Tried and true and up and coming talent come from all over the world to participate here. What a marvelous venue.
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Are Critics Obsolete?
Theatre Companies Facebook Text and Tweet
By: - Aug 09th, 2011Increasingly the marketing and pr strategy of theatre companies has turned to social networking sources like Facebook and Twitter to drown out the negative reviews of established print and on line critics. Today Williamstown Theatre Festival sent out an e mail blast with raves from unattributed sources. The majority of Berkshire theatre critics were less than thrilled by the world premiere of Touch(ed) by Bess Wohl. But, hey, who cares what critics think?
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Boston Calendar of Cultural Events
Things To Do This Week
By: - Aug 08th, 2011During the dog days of Summer, here are some interesting leads on entrainment and culture for the week of Augst 8 for those of you hanging out in Boston. Summer in the City may simmer, but there are many cool things to do in Boston.
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Boston Calendar of Cultural Events
Film, Music, Concert, Performance
By: - Aug 05th, 2011Boston Calendar of Events. Welcoming a new feature of Berkshire Fine Arts. Clip and save.
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Congressional Reform Act of 2011
Common Sense
By: - Aug 04th, 2011Consider how poorly Congress functioned with a serious issue like the debt ceiling. The American People are mad as hell and just won't take it any more. It's time to send a message.
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All Star Benefit for Shakespeare & Company
Broadway in the Berkshires August 15
By: - Jul 19th, 2011Shakespeare & Company Artistic Director Tony Simotes proudly announces the benefit performance of Broadway in the Berkshires Monday, August 15th at 6:00pm, Founders’ Theatre, 70 Kemble Street , Lenox , MA . Proceeds will go to Shakespeare & Company’s internationally-acclaimed Education and Training Programs.
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Netflix Charges More for Less
Ripping Off Consumers During Hard Times
By: - Jul 14th, 2011In the depth of the Great Recession with the recovery, what recovery, dragging on forever prices and fees are going up. It started with banks and airlines now Netflix is jacking up its prices. And because of all the yahoos in Washington messing with us the Government may not mail out our Social Security check this month. Hey, we're mad as hell and ain't gonnah take it any more.
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Critical Condition Arts in the Berkshires
Is Less More
By: - Jul 13th, 2011When Rocco Landesman, the head of the NEA, suggested that there are too many arts organizations with supply outweighing demand there was a response of outrage in the arts community. Here in the Berkshires it begs the question of sufficient audience and patrons to support four major theatre companies. It also begs the question of the role of critics? Are we just providers of consumer information for ticket buyers?
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Moca's Joe Thompson Discusses Wilco
Second Year of Museum's Solid Sound Festival
By: - Jun 25th, 2011There was risk taking and expensive infrastructure development, last year, when Joe Thompson, director of Mass MoCA, launched Wilco's Solid Sound Festival. Much of the start up costs will be absorbed with a commitment for the the rock band to return over the next few years. We spoke with Thompson about the impact of the event on the museum and Northern Berkshire County.
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Connecting the Dots in Northern Berkshire County
From Pissarro at the Clark to Wilco at Mass MoCA
By: - Jun 22nd, 2011This weekend the Wilco Solid Sound Festival will bring upwards of 6,000 rock fans to Mass MoCA. In addition to music this young audience will enjoy a massive exposure to contemporary art. It is just the kind of demographic that promises synergy and future audiences for other North Adams/ Williamstown arts organizations including the Clark Art Institute, Williams College Museum of Art and Williamstown Theatre Festival. It takes strategy, marketing and PR to promote visiting Northern Berkshire County as more than just a day trip.
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Summer Arts Previews
Hot Time Summer in the City
By: - Jun 21st, 2011Our Boston correspondent Barbara Brilliant has tips for what's going on in the city and region. With a preview of Porgy and Bess coming to American Repertory Theatre starring diva Audra McDonald.
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Carl Belz Three
Legacy and Future of the Rose Art Museum
By: - Jun 08th, 2011Asked about the attempt of former Brandeis president, Jehuda Reinharz, to close the Rose Art Museum and sell its renowned collection, the museum's former director, Carl Belz, responds "blah, blah, blah." In this final installment of a dialogue he speaks in greater depth of the contributions of former curator, Susan Stoops, now with the Worcester Art Museum, and the artist/ preparator, Roger Kizik.
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Carl Belz Two
Running the Rose Art Museum During Hard Times
By: - Jun 04th, 2011During the era of radical unrest and social change in the 1960s, the black listed professors of McCarthyism nurtured a generation of activists. Brandeis became notorious for the number of its graduates on the FBI Most Wanted lists. That greatly changed growth and philanthropy for the university. It had a significant impact on the Rose Art Museum and its limited resources. Then the Rose family gave $500,000 to start an acquisition fund and Belz initiated a series of annual exhibitions of a major artist,
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Former Rose Art Museum Director Carl Belz
Part One of a Dialogue
By: - May 30th, 2011During the tenure of Carl Belz as director of the Rose Art Museum I frequently reviewed the exhibitions and interviewed him for Art New England and other publications. During an extended dialogue Belz spoke in depth about presiding over one of the great collections of modern and contemporary art in the New England area.
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June at the Mount
Historic Lenox Estate Launches Its Season
By: - May 25th, 2011With the arrival of June, The Mount kicks into its summer season and an exciting array of events including a two-day publishing workshop, weekly ghost tours, daily exhibits, and the opening of the Terrace Café.
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NEA Head Rocco Landesmann's Our Town
Describes New Initiative in Mass MoCA Speech
By: - May 24th, 2011In a speech during the Creative Communities Exchange at Mass MoCA on May 20, Rocco Landesmann, head of the NEA discussed a new program. "The notion of “artist-citizens,†is what led me to propose $5 million of new funding at the NEA called “Our Town.†It’s called “Our Town,†frankly, because that’s a play, I am a theater guy, and getting to name things is pretty much the only prerogative of being chairman."
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