Arts & Life
Rendevous with the paper of record: Northampton artist Katy Schneider paints official portrait of New York Times publisher
By STEVE PFARRER
Growing up in New York City, Katy Schneider recalls that the New York Times was pretty much sacrosanct in her home. Her late parents read the paper closely, her father often cutting out articles he particularly liked, and both referred to the...
Rattling those musical bones: Folk/blues veteran Chris Smither releases his 20th album ahead of 80th birthday
By STEVE PFARRER
When Chris Smither found his live gigs shut down during the worst months of COVID-19, he figured it might at least be a good opportunity to write some new songs — something the veteran folk/blues singer and guitarist admits is not the easiest process...
Valley artists offer new sounds for spring: Singer-songwriter Lisa Bastoni and folk-rockers Eavesdrop release new records
By STEVE PFARRER
The Valley continues to be a fertile place for music, with a number of groups and artists releasing new albums this spring. Here’s a look at two of the records, with female singers at the forefront.On the WaterLisa BastoniLisa Bastoni has been making...
Weekly Food Photo Contest: This week’s winner: Louise Lucht of Northampton
This Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake was made by Louise Lucht of Northampton, who noted that “the grated lemon (peel and all) that went into the crust and filling made it tart and delicious.”How to enter: Snap a pic of something delicious-looking and send it...
‘A generational healing experience’: Exhibit documents the struggles of Cambodian families fleeing the Khmer Rouge who found refuge and a new community in Amherst
By STEVE PFARRER
Not long after 20 years of war finally ended in Vietnam in 1975, another wave of horrendous violence erupted just to the west.The Khmer Rouge, the Communist party of Cambodia, seized control of the country and began a brutal “reeducation” campaign...
M/other’s time to shine: MICAfest runs in three Northampton venues through May
By STEVE PFARRER
The challenges mothers face can be legion, especially for those who work and have families and, according to any number of studies, still end up doing most of the chores at home, from raising kids to cooking, compared to their husbands and...
The Beat Goes On: The Iron Horse comes back to life, Joni Mitchell’s music is celebrated in Turners Falls, and more
By STEVE PFARRER
It’s finally happening. Nearly seven months after ownership officially changed hands, and following extensive renovations, the Iron Horse Music Hall, shuttered since late March 2020, threw open its doors this week with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a...
Speaking of Nature: Surprised by strawberries in the grass: Flowers will bloom whether you pay attention or not
By BILL DANIELSON
Every week I try to end my column with an inspirational line or two in the hopes of motivating my readers to get outside and see what’s going on in their own back yards. As I sit and peck away at the keyboard this morning I realize that the...
Dreams take flight (some assembly required): Local pilots build and help build their own aircraft
By STEVE PFARRER
If you build it … you can fly it, too.As Peter Elsea and Jason Lorusso have discovered in recent years, there’s a special satisfaction in building your own plane — or at least assisting in that construction — that can make the experience of flying...
Connected through art: Rocky Hill Cohousing community participates in art exchange with group from Australia
By JAMES PENTLAND
Residents of the Rocky Hill Cohousing community are no strangers to working on art projects together.But, for the Global Art Project for Peace, they’re taking another step — exchanging artwork with a group in another country.“We’ve done other art...
Valley Bounty: Fibers for farmers: Western Massachusetts Fibershed turns local ‘throw away’ wool into fertilizer pellets
By JACOB NELSON
Local wool for your wardrobe … and for your garden?That’s the idea behind a new project from Western Massachusetts Fibershed, an organization working to strengthen our local fiber economy, right alongside our local food economy.Peggy Hart is a core...
Weekly Food Photo Contest: This week’s winner: Betsy Johnson of Shutesbury
Betsy Johnson of Shutesbury must have some very happy neighbors — she made these “apricot pistachio sweet buns with orangey cardamom glaze” to share with them. How to enter: Snap a pic of something delicious-looking and send it with your name, town...
Get Growing with Mickey Rathbun: Venture beyond your garden walls: Plant sales and noteworthy gardens to visit this season
By MICKEY RATHBUN
After long weeks of yearning for gardening weather, we’re suddenly inundated by spring. Endless outdoor chores beg for our attention — composting, mulching, edging, scrubbing birdbaths and, at least in my garden beds, pulling out multitudes of maple...
Overlooked no more: Leverett artist’s woodcut prints celebrate remarkable women of the past
By STEVE PFARRER
It started in early 2018 with a special New York Times series of articles, “Overlooked,” obituaries about notable people whose deaths had gone unreported in the newspaper, which first began publishing obits in 1851.Leverett printmaker and collage...
An artist with a green thumb: The creative vision and resilience of Kathleen Chapman, designer of Tuesday Market poster
By PAT JAMES
Kathleen Chapman (“KC”) and I met under a clothesline near her patchwork garden behind McDonald House in downtown Northampton. I wanted to learn more about her artwork, what brought her to Northampton, and how she connected with Grow Food Northampton...
Arts Briefs: Dance festival and a one-woman play in Northampton, summer music fests in Easthampton, and more
Dance festival, encoreNORTHAMPTON — A week after 33 Hawley hosted an extensive dance festival, the city’s community arts center is set to stage another one.On May 10-11, Friday and Saturday, the School for Contemporary Dance & Thought (SCDT) is...
Only Human with Joan Axelrod-Contrada: Dating across the aisle: Can we see past politics in our relationships?
By JOAN AXELROD-CONTRADA
Every time I hear “One Tribe” by the Black Eyed Peas my idealistic and dance-happy sides unite in sonic bliss.I picture everyone coming together in some magic club beaming the feel-good vibes of the boundary-busting band, washing away all our...
Speaking of Nature: Capturing my Bermuda nemesis: The Great Kiskadee nearly evaded me, until I followed its song
By BILL DANIELSON
We’ve reached that point in the school year when it is actually painful (I mean physically painful) for me to leave my yard in the morning. May is the true month of the reawakening and blooming of Nature’s splendor and last week she was in full...
Easthampton author Emily Nagoski has done the research: It’s OK to love your body
By MELISSA KAREN SANCES
‘Emily’s mission in life is to teach women to live with confidence and joy inside their bodies.”This sentence mesmerized me.It’s an assured statement about a complicated topic: body image and sexuality, and it is the crux of sex educator Emily...
Earth Matters: Honoring a local hero: After 40 years, Hitchcock Center bids farewell to educator and creative leader, Colleen Kelley
By TED WATT and HELEN ANN SEPHTON
This column honors Colleen Kelley, the education director at the Hitchcock Center, who will soon be leaving her post after 40 years.In the fall of 1984, Colleen walked into the Hitchcock Center — young, bright, idealistic, and fresh off a position as...
