Stockbridge

The Berkshire Theatre Group has announced its 2020 summer theatrical season, with a casting sneak-peek. And Kate Maguire - Artistic Director, CEO, and new WAMC panelist – is here to tell us more.

The 2020 season – which marks ten years since the announcement of the merger between The Colonial Theatre and Berkshire Theatre Festival – includes classics, three world premieres, and plenty in between.

“Unborn Sun: The Paintings of John Gordon Gauld” is on view in The Leonhardt Galleries at the Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge, Massachusetts through February 7 and there will be a "Meet the Artist" Gallery Presentation and Tea Service this Sunday, January 19 from 2 to 4 p.m. 

John Gordon Gauld graduated with a BFA with Honors from the Rhode Island School of Design and is the recent recipient of the Martha Boschen Porter Grant from the Berkshire Taconic Foundation to fund his future work.

Stockbridge, Massachusetts has scheduled the 30th annual Norman Rockwell Holiday Celebration.

In celebration of Norman Rockwell Museum’s 50th Anniversary, they are looking back at the many ways illustrators portrayed news events and reflected popular culture in 1969. Norman Rockwell’s own work reflected the changing times with his iconic depiction of the moon landing, an album cover he painted for rock musicians, and a tribute to the final issue of The Saturday Evening Post.

The exhibition, "Woodstock to the Moon: 1969 Illustrated," combines original illustrations with vintage archival material. It will be on view at The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts through October 27.

We learn more from Jesse Kowalski, Norman Rockwell’s Curator of Exhibitions as well as from Louis Mitchell, the Creative Director of Character Design at Sesame Street’s Sesame Workshop. There are many items from the Sesame Street in the exhibition.

Three-time Pulitzer Prize-Winner Thornton Wilder’s "The Skin of Our Teeth" is now playing at The Berkshire Theatre Group’s Fitzpatrick Main Stage in Stockbridge, Massachusetts and runs through August 3. Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-Winner David Auburn directs the show.

"The Skin of our Teeth" is an optimistic tribute to the invincibility of the human spirit. To tell us more we welcome Harriet Harris who plays Mrs. Antrobus and Danny Johnson who plays Mr. Antrobus.

George L. K. Morris and Suzy Frelinghuysen, prolific abstract artists since the late 1930s, were leaders of the national and international art scene. Collectors and intellectuals, they created a Berkshire home that reflected their aesthetic worlds.

Upon her death in 1988, Suzy Frelinghuysen left instructions that the House & Studio and art collection be used for an educational purpose the House & Studio opened for visitation in 1998.

This summer, the Frelinghuysen Morris House & Studio presents an exhibition entitled “American Abstract Artists: A Collection: Unseen Works.”

Tomorrow at 3pm, Carol Troyen, Curator Emerita of American Paintings at The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston will present a lecture entitled “Protests and Patronage: Morris, Frelinghuysen, and the Promotion of Abstract Arts in the 1930s.”

We are joined by Frelinghuysen Morris House & Studio Director Kinney Frelinghuysen.

The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this summer and for the occasion there is a special Anniversary exhibition, “Private Moments for the Masses,” which offers a behind-the-scenes look at the autobiographical aspects of Rockwell’s art through beloved imagery that conveyed, in both subtle and direct ways, his own interests, anxieties, and real-life experiences.

An astute visual storyteller and a masterful painter with a distinct, personal message to convey, Norman Rockwell created fictional realities that offered a compelling picture of the life that many Americans aspired to. His carefully-constructed artworks for the covers and pages of popular publications engaged an appreciative audience for decades; but few would have imagined all that his art revealed about the inner workings of his personal and professional life.

Laurie Norton Moffatt is the Director and CEO of The Norman Rockwell Museum.

A political newcomer has foiled the re-election plans of incumbent Stockbridge, Massachusetts select board chair Donald Chabon. On Tuesday, town residents voted 302 to 214 to replace him with Roxanne McCaffrey, an almost 50-year town resident who with decades of experience in information systems. McCaffrey, who turns 70 this year, told WAMC that she decided that the town’s leadership needed an overhaul.

This Spring, the Red Lion Inn in the heart of the culturally-rich Berkshires of Western Massachusetts commemorates 50 years since its purchase, rehabilitation, and reopening as an historic hotel by Jane and Jack Fitzpatrick in 1969.

Festivities begin this weekend with a 50-Day Kick-off, culminating in a Porch Pop-Up for the Kentucky Derby featuring special Lucky Jack’s Mint Juleps, in honor of Jack Fitzpatrick.

Jane and Jack’s daughter Nancy Fitzpatrick took the helm in at The Red Lion from 1993 until her retirement in 2018. Nancy’s step-daughter, Sarah Eustis, now carries on the tradition. Sarah is CEO of Main Street Hospitality.

Nancy Fitzpatrick and Sarah Eustis join us along with Morgan Russell, Director of Guest Experience for Main Street Hospitality.

The Norman Rockwell Museum presents "The Art and Wit of Rube Goldberg," an exhibition exploring the humorous illustrations of the visionary artist, who has become famous for the creative inventions bearing his name. The exhibit opens tomorrow and runs through June 9th.

The exhibition will offer a revealing look at Goldberg’s creativity through original comic strips from the 1930s, where the artist created his complicated machines, as well as later political cartoons and instructional materials from the Famous Artists School, which are now part of the permanent collection of Norman Rockwell Museum.

Norman Rockwell Museum Curator of Exhibitions Jesse Kowalski, organized the exhibition and joins us this morning as does Steve Gerberich, a mechanical sculptor inspired by Goldberg, who will talk about his process at tomorrow’s opening, followed by a “make and take” art workshop, where he will lead participants in the creation of their own Rube Goldberg Machines.

Three months before the annual town meeting and election, there’s a lot going on in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

A high-profile firing in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, has inspired protest – and now, political action. 

The fire chief of Stockbridge, Massachusetts has been fired after falling prey to a scam. 

Renowned illustrator Gregory Manchess has created a lavishly painted novel about the son of a famed polar explorer searching for his stranded father, and a lost city buried under snow in an alternate future.

In "Above the Timberline," when it started to snow, it didn’t stop for 1,500 years. The Pole Shift that ancient climatologists talked about finally came, the topography was ripped apart and the weather of the world was changed—forever. Now the Earth is covered in snow, and to unknown depths in some places.

Original artworks from the book are currently on view at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA through February 24th. Manchess has worked as a freelance illustrator for nearly forty years on advertising campaigns, magazines, and book covers.

A historic Berkshire residence is unveiling a holiday light spectacular this weekend.

Nobel Prize-winner Luigi Pirandello’s “Naked,” in a new version by Nicholas Wright, is currently running on The Larry Vaber Stage at Berkshire Theatre Group’s Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

The play delves deep into the struggle of self-identity, and the tendency to skew reality to benefit desires of the heart.

Directed for BTG by Eric Hill, “Naked” follows the story of a woman, in the midst of questioning her existence, as the men around her impose their view of her into the world.

Hill joins us now along with actors Tara Franklin and James Barry.

This summer, the Norman Rockwell Museum is presenting the first comprehensive exhibition to look at the work of master illustrators Maxfield Parrish, N.C. Wyeth, and Norman Rockwell in relation to the history of Western art.

With more than 60 works by 25 American and European painters, along with more than 300 digital representations of some 50 other artists, "Keepers of the Flame: Parrish, Wyeth, Rockwell, and the Narrative Tradition" reveals the lineage connecting American illustration to some 500 years of European painting through the long line of teachers who have passed along their wisdom, knowledge, and techniques to generations of creators.

Organized by the Norman Rockwell Museum, the exhibition is on view through October 28. It is curated by Dennis Nolan, an award-winning artist and professor of illustration at Hartford Art School at the University of Hartford who joins us along with Norman Rockwell Museum Chief Curator Stephanie Plunkett.

The Norman Rockwell Museum is exploring an expansion into downtown Stockbridge’s historic Old Town Hall.

Stockbridge, Massachusetts planners want public input on a proposed 320-acre luxury resort redevelopment project that would require zoning bylaw changes. Neighbors say the plan will hurt the rural town’s quality of life.

Town lawmakers in Stockbridge, Massachusetts are being criticized for statements made during an unscheduled discussion about a proposed development at the DeSisto Estate. The 37 Interlaken development proposal would transform the historic school into more than 300 acres of residential housing, self-sufficient farmland and a luxury resort. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief JD Allen spoke with the developer’s attorney Jonathan Silverstein about a controversial proposed bylaw change.

The Berkshire Botanical Garden encompasses 15 acres of cultivated land in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

This summer, BBG has an exhibition entitled “PlayDate!” which features 11 distinctly unique play house structures ranging from the traditional "Kid's Cottage" made from recycled cedar fence to a fascinating structure called "Living from the Outside In," an outdoor mirrored room posing the question, "where does the outside end, and the inside begin?" The playhouses are on the grounds through September 24.

The Grow Show is Berkshire Botanical Garden’s annual "You Grow it and We Show it" event, this year held on August 12-13.

To tell us about these things, Animals in August, and  a recent grant from Berkshire United Way for Roots Rising – we are joined by Garden Executive Director Mike Beck and Director of Horticulture Dorthe Hviid. 

Stockbridge, Massachusetts has adopted a new alcohol policy.

Two of America’s most important visual communicators, Norman Rockwell and Andy Warhol embraced populism, created enduring icons, shaped national identity, and opened new ways of seeing during the twentieth century.

This summer and fall, Norman Rockwell Museum will present the first exhibition to examine the artistic and cultural influence of these celebrated image-makers and the continued influence of their indelible legacies—Inventing America: Rockwell and Warhol is on view at Norman Rockwell Museum from June 10 through October 29th.

To tell us about the exhibit and all things Norman Rockwell, we welcome the Director/CEO of the Norman Rockwell Museum - Laurie Norton Moffatt. Laurie Norton Moffat celebrated her 40th anniversary with the museum in June.

The plan to dredge and remove an invasive weed from the Stockbridge Bowl in Massachusetts is back on track. 

Stockbridge, Massachusetts has approved a new taxpayer funding method for infrastructure improvements at regional public schools. 

Established in 1934 by the Lenox Garden Club, The Berkshire Botanical Garden is a not-for-profit, membership-supported educational organization encompassing 15 acres of cultivated land in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

As un-Spring-like as it feels outside in the region today, we are going to learn about Berkshire Botanical Garden’s spring and summer plans and their The Center House Project expansion.

We are joined by Mike Beck, the Executive Director of The Berkshire Botanical Garden and Matt Larkin, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees. 

Chesterwood in Stockbridge, MA is a site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and was the summer home, studio and gardens of America’s foremost sculptor of public monuments, Daniel Chester French.

Its 38th annual outdoor sculpture exhibition, The Nature of Glass: Contemporary Sculpture at Chesterwood 2016, featuring 24 works by 12 internationally recognized glass artists. The exhibition, curated by Jim Schantz of Schantz Galleries Contemporary Glass, will be on view daily until September 18.

We are joined by Donna Hassler, the Executive Director of Chesterwood, Jim Schantz from Schantz Galleries Contemporary Glass, and artist Tom Patti.  

Mississippi plantation owner, the cantankerous Big Daddy, is celebrating his 65th birthday. His family has returned for the occasion, including his favorite son, the masculine Brick, and Brick’s wife, the lonely and longing Maggie.

Brick and Maggie’s strained marriage plagues Big Daddy’s mind, and he demands answers to why they haven’t given him a grandchild yet.

However, Big Daddy’s family holds a powerful secret, and an ulterior motive as to why they have returned to the plantation. The families’ troubled relationships and emotional lies become exposed in the timeless American treasure by Tennessee Williams, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Berkshire Theatre Group presents Cat on a Hot Tin Roof as part of their season this summer. The show opened on Saturday after a few previews and runs through July 16th.

We are joined this morning by Rebecca Brooksher and Michael Raymond-James – who play Maggie and Brick on BTG’s Fitzpatrick Stage.

A treasured pond in Stockbridge, Massachusetts is facing a number of environmental issues and a committed group of area residents want to make sure its picturesque existence remains.

The large Catholic gathering of Divine Mercy Sunday that brings thousands of visitors to Stockbridge, Massachusetts each year went off without major incident this past weekend. More than 20,000 people were expected, but numbers were lower because fields still wet from winter limited parking at the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy.