A showcase of arts department news

Tectonic Member Scott Barrow Visits Laramie Cast

Our growing list of the elements of the stage.

This weekend, members of The Laramie Project cast took part in a weekend intensive workshop led by Scott Barrow—actor, writer, director and member of the Tectonic Theater Project.

Over the last 15 years, Tectonic has established itself as one of the most groundbreaking theater companies in the country. Five weeks after the murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming, members of Tectonic went to the town to learn more about why he was murdered. Using a collaborative, process-based approach, Tectonic crafted The Laramie Project entirely out of interviews conducted over six trips to the town.

The play, originally done with eight actors playing 63 roles, will be performed with a cast of 19 at Williston this spring.

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Kabuki Makeup!

Today was our first time putting on the makeup for our upcoming children’s theater production of Wondrous Tales of Old Japan. The play is being produced in the Japanese theatrical style of Kabuki and this makeup is a traditional aspect of that style. February 18-23, 2013 at 3:30pm. Click here for more information and to reserve your tickets online. (photo credit: Rob Kimmel)

November Brings a Shockwave

A classical Indian dance, a solo en pointe, and the choreography of guest artist Michelle Marroquin will be among the highlights of Shockwave, the fall concert of the Williston Northampton Dance Ensemble.

The concert will feature 12 dances, including the work of six student choreographers—Victoria Durocher, Keely Quirk, Madeline Wise, Marie Innarelli, Tory Kolbjornsen and Maddison Stemple-Piatt—and a collaborative ensemble piece by the choreography class.

View the promo video by Alex Kozikowski ’14 here.

To find out more about how one of the dancers, Pankti Dalal, was preparing for “Shockwave,” Dance Program Director Laurel Raffetto asked her about dancing, the Williston program, and her classical training.

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Ali Moshiri Exhibits at Grubbs Gallery

Influences from Kandinsky, Miró, and Rothko can be seen in the colorful canvases that jump off the walls of the Grubbs Gallery, which now resembles a modern art gallery of the 1930s with Ali Moshiri’s Surrealist paintings.

Born in Iran, Moshiri was educated in the United States and England.  He returned to Iran for medical school, completed his residency in Cincinnati, and then began working at the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts in 1984.  According to his website, as, “a young and untrained, but passionate, artist, Moshiri’s sketchbook was a constant companion in his spare time.”

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Hidden/Private Part II Exhibits at Grubbs Gallery

As a recent guest curator at Easthampton City Arts, Williston Northampton art teacher Marcia Reed designed an exhibition, which highlighted the private side of artists.

“I do work that I never show to anyone, ever, and I have a lot of it,” said Reed. “I exhibit this, that, and the other thing, but I never show this private side, this hidden side.”

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Grubbs Gallery Exhibits Bon Bons: Repurposed Manufactured Materials

SHUTAN 2011 Bldg Tar ClustersBon bons, meaning “bon, or good,” typically refers to small confectionery treats. The exhibit at Grubbs Gallery from March 2 to April 20, while not of confection, serves up a small sampling of how different manufactured materials can be re-purposed and made into art.

Suzan Shutan’s work straddles the worlds of two and three dimensions. Her art is driven by its materials, most of which come from manufactured products such as roofing paper, yarn, straws and beer can holders that have been manipulated to comment in part upon the accumulation of cultural debris.

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Pat Bock Exhibits “Paper Thoughts” at Williston’s Grubbs Gallery

Pat Bock exhibits "Paper Thoughts" at the Grubbs Gallery of The Williston Northampton School in Easthampton, MAArtist Pat Bock will present “Paper Thoughts” at the Grubbs Gallery in the Reed Campus Center of The Williston Northampton School from January 5 through February 29.

In her recent mixed media compositions, Bock finds paper to be an accommodating medium as she puts it through its paces. Simple ideas such as seeds, slips, and scribbles are thoughtfully expressed through line, color, and texture.

Grubbs Gallery Exhibits Portraits and Figurative Sculptures by “Go Figure” Members

Evelyn I hear music by Viki Gable

Members of Go Figure Sculpture Studios in Holyoke, MA, will present a group show of portraits and figurative sculptures in clay and bronze at the Grubbs Gallery in the Reed Campus Center of The Williston Northampton School from November 3 through December 30, 2011.  An artists’ reception will be held on Sunday, November 6, 2:00-5:00 p.m. Participating artists are:  Esthela Bergeron, Harriette Block, Elizabeth Caine, LeaAnn Cogswell, Cynthia Consentino, Viki Gable, Betty Gerich, Lee Hutt, Betsy Koscher, Christina Mastrangelo, and Lauren Mills.

Go Figure Sculpture Studios, a not-for-profit entity, is located in the Canal Gallery Building, an old paper mill that has been converted to artist studios. Founded by sculptor Lee Hutt, the studio exists to give artists and opportunity to work from life on a regular and affordable basis. While they do not offer formal classes, they are open to new members of all levels. Teaching is done informally as members are always available to advise one other.  Studio members, who live locally and as far away as Boston and Burlington, CT, have been juried into national competitions and have won awards and recognition in various professional art venues.

Farmer harriette blockThe exhibit is free and open to the public. The gallery is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and selected Saturdays, 8:30 a.m. to noon. For more information, go to www.williston.com/grubbsgallery.

Grubbs Gallery Exhibits “Ultimate Antarctica” Photography

mead eagle seal grubbsDan Mead and Sally Eagle will exhibit “Ultimate Antarctica” at the Grubbs Gallery in the Reed Campus Center of The Williston Northampton School from September 6 through October 31, 2011. An artists’ reception will be held on Sunday, September 25, 2:00-5:00 p.m.

These photographs seek to capture the character and scale of the wildlife and landscapes of Antarctica, a place where Mead and Eagle spent twenty-four days in 2009. Although many of the species are threatened or endangered, the show is not a “photographic elegy,” says Jennifer Sahn, editor of Orion Magazine, but “a celebration of the great diversity of life to be found at the underside of the Earth.”

Dan Mead, a former educator turned psychotherapist, and Sally Eagle, entrepreneur and first Executive Director of the Berkshire-Taconic Community Foundation, have traveled extensively and studied with leading photographers such as David Muensch, Jack Dykinga, and John Shaw. Their photograph “Sand Sprinters” won a Highly Commended Award in a BBC/London Natural History Museum annual contest in 2008, and is now part of the Wild Planet exhibit sponsored by the Natural History Museum in London. Mead and Eagle have lived in western Massachusetts for 30 years. With this project, the husband and wife team celebrate their seventh continent visited and photographed together.

The exhibit is free and open to the public. The gallery is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and selected Saturdays, 8:30 a.m. to noon. For more information, go to www.williston.com/grubbsgallery.

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