PITTSFIELD â Fourteen Berkshire County cultural nonprofits whose finances have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic have received much-needed financial assistance from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
They are among the 183 cultural nonprofits across the state that have received almost $10 million in COVID relief through the Cultural Organization Economic Recovery Grant Program, administered by the council in partnership with the state Executive Office of Housing & Economic Development. The program is part of the Baker-Polito Administrationâs Economic Recovery Plan, Partnerships for Recovery.
The Berkshire-based cultural nonprofits combined received $864,700 in funding through the program. Five Berkshire nonprofits, Berkshire Theatre Group, Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, Shakespeare & Company and Williamstown Theatre Festival, each received $100,000. The Berkshire Bach Society of New Marlborough received $42,000.
Norman Rockwell Museum s Rockwell Center plans two-day Zoom symposium berkshireeagle.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from berkshireeagle.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A summer of galleries filled with vibrant art is once again on the horizon.
And this year, museum officials are confident the upcoming exhibitions â several of which were postponed during 2020 â will happen.
âWe are looking to a brighter and uplifting 2021 and are excited by our eagerly-awaited new feature exhibition, âEnchanted: A History of Fantasy Illustration,ââ said Laurie Norton Moffatt, Norman Rockwell Museum Director and CEO, in a recent email. âSeveral years in the making, and postponed from last summer, this exhibition gathers hundreds of works of fantastical art and outlines the history of Fantasy art from its roots in ancient mythological stories to the contemporary illustration of today: think âGame of Thronesâ and âDungeons & Dragons.ââ
MR. BROWN’S PAPER BAG: A Rockwellian Peace
David E. Brown
Columnist
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone! Every year around this time, fond and magical memories of my childhood flood my consciousness when I hear the croonings of Johnny Mathis proclaiming the joys of the holiday season through song. And when he hits the first note of “O Holy Night” I am instantly transported to my boyhood living room with my brothers and sisters, smiles, great food and, of course, presents. More importantly, it revives a warm and wonderful feeling I had as a child that I was unconditionally loved by a God and a family so intensely, that I wanted for nothing. I have always considered myself extremely lucky that I had the opportunity to grow up in my old neighborhood and with my family. As the years quickly go by, life proves to me that this becomes truer each year.
Can each influence the other simultaneously?
The answer to those philosophical questions â a topic of debate for over a century â may be found in the exhibitions of the Clark Art Institute, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art and the Norman Rockwell Museum opened at the end of the state-mandated COVID-19-related closure of museums.
Although the shutdown pushed a majority of the summer s scheduled programming into 2021, exhibitions that did open in 2020 seemed to reflect society at every crucial moment of the year, both prior to and during the pandemic.
Here are 5 Berkshire art shows that best captured the essence of 2020 .