Community Calendar

Would you know what to do in the case of an emergency?
The Citizen Preparedness Corps gives residents the tools and resources to prepare for any type of disaster or emergency, respond accordingly and recover as quickly as possible to pre-disaster conditions.
Citizen Preparedness Corps training began in February 2014. Trainings are led by the New York National Guard working with experts from the Division's Office of Emergency Management and Office of Fire Prevention and Control.
The course provides an introduction to responding to a natural or human-caused disaster. Participants are advised on how to properly develop family emergency plans and stock up on emergency supplies. One member from each family that pre registers and attends will receive one Preparedness kit. To register, visit www.prepare.ny.gov

Every Saturday in July, join us for fun and interactive programming inspired by the art of Norman Rockwell and Walter Wick, creator of the I SPY books for children. Try your hand at making art inspired by these beloved illustrators. You’ll want to return again and again with a variety of fun and engaging experiences for the whole family; it’s the perfect way to spend some quality time together on your Saturdays this summer!
For more information, visit https://www.nrm.org/events/list/?tribe_eventcategory%5B0%5D=795&hide_subsequent_recurrences=1

3 Saturdays
July 12, 19. 26, 2025
12 – 1:30 pm

Grades 5-8

Join our drawing class for aspiring young artists and explore the FUNdamentals of drawing! The class will cover traditional drawing techniques and materials such as pencils, colored pencils, charcoal, pens, and other dry media. Students will practice and learn various drawing skills, such as still life, architectural drawing, and portraiture. Get ready to enhance your drawing skills and unleash your creativity!

-----------------------------------------

Please register at least 2 weeks in advance to guarantee your spot.

-----------------------------------------

We believe in access to art education for all. It takes the whole community to generate the equity our pay-what-you-can tuition generates. Behind the scenes, we work to bridge the financial gap between what our students can pay and what we need to sustain our programs. Please consider carefully before you use our discount codes.

Scholarship Codes:
For 25% discount use code "25OFF"
For 50% discount use code "50OFF"
For 75% discount use code "75OFF"

This economic justice map from The Sliding Scale: A Tool of Economic Justice by Alexis J. Cunningfolk is useful to assess where you may fall on the financial spectrum of pay what you can.

To request 100% off tuition, please contact chris@mkad.art

New York, NY: Pleiades Gallery announces the opening of Flying Colors, an exhibit featuring the paintings and monoprints of Joyce Weidenaar. The Artist Reception will take place on Saturday, July 12 from 3-6 PM. A New York based artist, Weidenaar is also a ballroom dancer, and will host a ballroom dance in the gallery on July 26 from 3-6 PM.
“Form over Function” is often not a compliment, but in Joyce Weidenaar’s paintings and monoprints, that’s exactly the point. Weidenaar sees shapes and colors of ordinary objects and heightens them to create visual poetry.
Weidenaar’s paintings are bursting with color. The subject matter is often something ordinary – fans, or kites, or crushed soda cans – but presented in surprising compositions that engage and amuse the viewer. Objects are rendered realistically but their framing and coloration brings out abstract qualities that call for a more discerning look.
Her monoprints explore the myriad texture possibilities of found materials. Feathers, leaves, mesh, Halloween netting, onion bags, and crazy yarns are all employed to generate mysterious images in her abstract prints.
“I am always on the lookout for an unusual subject for a painting or material for a print. I relax my mind and focus on a form itself, apart from its meaning or association. If the shape is inherently interesting, it’s a good candidate to be transformed into something unusual. And if there’s some whimsy in the final product, so much the better. I want my work to generate a surprise, or a smile.”
The show will be on display from July 8-August 2 at Pleiades Gallery at 547 W. 27th St., Suite 304, NY, NY. Entry is free and the gallery is open Tuesday-Saturday from 12-6 PM. The opening reception on Saturday, July 12, 2025, from 3-6 PM is free and open to the public.
Weidenaar has been pursuing her art full time since 2015, after retiring from a business career. Her works have been seen in numerous solo and group exhibitions nationwide. She is a member of National Association of Women Artists, The Art Students League of New York and the West Side Arts Coalition. Her paintings and prints are viewable on Instagram (@joyceweidenaar) and on her website (Joyce WeidenaarArtworks.com).

The First Fridays Artswalk in downtown Pittsfield continues its 5-month season (May through September) on Saturday, July 12 from 1 to 4 pm (this special Saturday Artswalk is due to the First Friday falling on July 4th).

Participating venues on Saturday, September 12 include Berkshire Art Center, Berkshire Theatre Group, Clock Tower Artists, Dottie’s Coffee Lounge, Framework by Downtown Pittsfield, Inc., Hotel on North, Marketplace Cafe, NUarts gallery + studios, Roots and Dreams and Mustard Seeds, and the Soda Chef.

Download the Downtown Pittsfield App in the App Store or on Google Play to follow a virtual walking tour of art on your cell phone.

Direct link: https://downtownpittsfield.stqry.app/tour/55868

First Fridays Artswalk is supported in part by The Feigenbaum Foundation.

Event Highlights (South to North):

Artists at the Clock Tower, 75 South Church Street, Third Floor
Karen Carmean, Deborah H Carter, Lucie Castaldo, Joan Palano Ciolfi, Randy Foulds, Marion Grant, Nava Grunfeld, Caroline Kelley, Mollie Kellogg, Eric Korenman, Bruce Laird, Lisa Loustaunau, Mark Mellinger, Linda Petrocine, Shany Porras, Sally Tiska Rice, Ilene Richard, Audrey Shachnow, Stanley Singer, Ariel Smith, Jordan Stone, Sharon Walthew, Stefanie Weber, and Carmel Wilson.
Open Studios: Saturday, July 12, 1 to 4 pm

Berkshire Theatre Group/Colonial Theatre, 111 South Street
"Creative Diversity”
Guild of Berkshire Artists
Closing Reception: Saturday, July 12, 1 to 4 pm

Marketplace Cafe, 53 North Street
Surreal landscape paintings by Sean McCusker
Opening Reception: Saturday, July 12, 1 to 3 pm

Roots and Dreams and Mustard Seeds, 119 Fenn Street
Cosmic CoArt Cooperative and the Cosmic Butterfly Procession Project
Annalisa Jacobsen, Peppa, Aisha B., Drake, Jean Minuchin, Macarena, Beth Fairservis, Matt Brinton, Nicole Fecteau and Olly
Reception: Saturday, July 12, 1 to 4 pm

Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, 28 Renne Avenue
Community Access to the Arts' annual exhibit “I Am a Part of Art”
Not Open on Saturday, July 12

Berkshire Art Center/Brothership Building, 141 North Street
Window Display
“Making Space for Joy: Works by Deb Koffman”

Soda Chef, 161 North Street
Window Display
Nicole March Art

Hotel on North, 297 North Street
Sally Tiska Rice
Opening Reception: Saturday, July 12, 1 to 4 pm

NUarts gallery + studios, 311 North Street
View the Hall Gallery featuring the works of resident artists
Saturday, July 12, 1 to 4 pm

Framework by Downtown Pittsfield, Inc., 437 North Street
Recent paintings by Huck Elling
Opening Reception: Saturday, July 12, 1 to 4 pm

Dottie’s Coffee Lounge/Dorothy’s Estaminet, 438/444 North Street
COLOR FORM AND TEXTURE:
Works by contemporary artists J. D. Logan, Diane Firtell, and Scrap Wrenn
Opening Reception: Saturday, July 12, 1 to 4 pm

Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. and Framework will feature a brand-new exhibition featuring a collection of Huck Elling’s recent paintings exploring color, patterns, and pursuit of joy. The exhibition will be on view July 7 through July 24, 2025, at Framework by Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. (437 North Street).

This year, Huck was selected to create the poster for the 2025 Pittsfield Fourth of July Parade. The theme being “Young at Heart”. The original artwork will be on view as part of this exhibition.

“I have always been motivated to make art which inspires human connections,” says Huck. “For more than twelve years I have been fortunate to be working as a professional artist, in a variety of mediums, methods and scales, and at the heart of everything I do is the desire to inspire curiosity, connection, and joy.”

“Public Art has the specific beauty of belonging to everyone, it is art without barriers. As a Public Artist, I am motivated by activating communities, through identifying the architectural and visual landscape and enhancing it with art projects including the people of the neighborhood. Together we create lasting contributions to the vibrancy of the community.”

There will be an opening reception with the artist during the special Saturday, July 12 Artswalk from 1 to 4 pm.

The exhibition will be on view Monday through Thursday, 10 am to 2 pm, July 7 through July 24, by visiting the
Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. offices at 431 North Street.

For more information, visit downtownpittsfield.com or call Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. at 413-443-6501.

The gallery at Framework by Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. is funded in part by a grant from the Pittsfield Cultural Council; a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

The mission of Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. is to strengthen and promote Downtown Pittsfield, Inc.’s membership through advocacy, collaboration, and celebration.

Join us for presentations and a discussion with a panel of experts. This year's theme focuses on community science and participatory projects.
​
Registration is not required but encouraged.

Explore the studios of the 2025 cohort of artists-in-residence at Art Omi, intermingled with pop-up performances, site-specific installations, and other creative activations. Open Studios offers an intimate glimpse into the work of international artists from a range of disciplines and techniques—from painters to performance artists, sculptors to sound artists, you're invited to take a trip around the art world without ever leaving our Studio Barn!

Join us for the rambunctious Tony Award winning comedy I'M NOT RAPPAPORT starring Tony Award winner Judd Hirsch! Focused on a bench in Central Park, the play follows two feisty octogenarians—Nat, a fiery idealist clinging to his independence, and Midge, a superintendent dodging his tenants—as they resist being pushed aside by society. It’s a rich and relevant comedy, brimming with heart and humanity.

Directed by Tony Nominee Neil Pepe.

Presented under the Berkshires’ summer skies, Romeo and Juliet proves that even the ultimate case of love at first sight can lead to… well, chaos.

Meddling families and murderous duels meld to offer an evening of sword fights, swinging soirees, and secret weddings — but the play is also full of exuberant vulgarity, harsh brutality and above all, the tingling, unbearable delight of young love.