This art sparks action
The R. Michelson Gallery, 132 Main St., Northampton, will host a gallery talk by Dr. Simone Alter Muri, director of art therapy/counseling graduate programs and art education at Springfield College, Sunday at 3 p.m. Her talk is inspired by the exhibit “Uncaged Art,” art by migrant teens locked in cages at the Tornillo Detention Center in Texas, which is on display at the Michelson Gallery through Feb. 21.
The exhibit consists of museum-quality reproductions of pictures done by teens, separated from their asylum-seeking families, who were imprisoned in the Tornillo Texas Detention Center, many representing their memories of their homelands. Only 29 of some 400 pictures were saved when this prison was closed.
The event is a send-off for 10 of the Jewish Activists for Immigration Justice of Western Massachusetts leaving Feb. 8 for a week at the border in Brownsville, Texas, and Matamoros, Mexico, bringing medical supplies, food, and volunteering with migrants who are not being allowed to cross.
Gathering for good
The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts bills its creative food packaging event as “The Food Bank After Hours: where social hour meets social responsibility,” inviting people to participate in a fun night of volunteering and networking as they help their neighbors in need by sorting and packing donated food items for distribution.
This Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., volunteers will gather at the Food Bank, 97 North Hatfield Road, Hatfield, to fight hunger and have fun.
All attendees receive a tour of the facility and a new volunteer orientation, so they will be prepared to come back and volunteer again. After the service project is completed, a social hour featuring Berkshire Brewing Company beer, Headwater Cider, and Black Birch Vineyard wine ensues.
Participants make a $10 tax-deductible donation to the food bank. Space is limited and pre-registration is required – interested parties may register at
foodbankwma.org/events/food-bank-after-hours.
These events are planned and facilitated by The Kitchen Cabinet, an agency whose mission is to empower young professionals who are passionate about ending hunger in western Massachusetts through special events and initiatives to advance the work of The Food Bank. For more information about The Kitchen Cabinet, visit
foodbankwma.org/get-involved/the-kitchen-cabinet, or contact Jennifer Therkelsen at
jennifert@foodbankwma.org.
– Brenda Nelson