Deirdre Flynn Sullivan

The Red Hat of Mourning

The last humid days of summer Are waning as if the daylight sun Had turned into the moon.

Little breezes languidly sigh, With late summer lethargy; Bees and hummingbirds hover In a paradise of flowers; and Death approaches slowly, Skeletal and shimmering, Soon to be adorned In regal robes of sharp vermillion, Brassy gold and bitter brown.

Spring into summer

Is a pearl necklace of days When all things feel possible. A hat is worn with fluttery excitement And a hint of hopeful scent.

Now it hides broken sighs, Beneath shadowed skin. One forgets on balmy days of spring And steamy nights of summer That flowers do not last, That favorite colors will burn, And that every shape of beauty, A gift you must return.

Becket Arts Center Summer Schedule

The Becket Arts Center (BAC) has announced its 2023 summer schedule filled with art exhibits, lectures and workshops, music, theater, storytelling, and so much more for art enthusiasts of all kinds, young and old, near and far.

The highlights include: five juried art shows, four special exhibits, and a BAC member show (all free and open to the public); Music Brings Communities Together - free, live, outdoor music on select Saturdays through September ; Monthly Speaker Series lectures (free for BAC members; $5 for non-members); Live Art Demonstrations every Monday (in-person and livestreamed on Facebook); Art classes, storytelling, theater, yoga, and dance workshops (discounts available to members). For full schedule, dates, and complete details, the website.

The Becket Arts Center gallery and gift shop are open to the public Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, 12:00-4:00 pm. The BAC gift shop, featuring carefully crafted items by local artisans, can be accessed onlinewww.becketartscenter.org/shop or in person during open hours.

Programs are supported by grants from the following: Mass Cultural, Berkshire Bank; Central Berkshire Fund, a fund of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation; Feigenbaum Foundation, towns of Becket, Blandford, Chester, Hinsdale-Peru, Lee, Otis, Sandisfield, Tolland, Tyringham, and Washington, local agencies which are supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency. Many thanks to our BAC members and business sponsors for their enthusiastic support of arts in our communities.

For more than 50 years, the Becket Arts Center (BAC) has been a mainstay of culture and art in the Berkshires. The Becket Arts Center’s mission is to ensure that creative expression is a vital and vibrant part of the everyday lives of the regional community. As a membership organization that supports the cultural and artistic needs of the Hilltowns, the Center offers diverse experiences that serve the full spectrum of artists, from the professional to the avocational, and arts appreciators, to inspire, educate, and enrich their lives.

Becket Arts Center –

7 Brooker Hill Road, Becket; email: office@becketartscenter.org www.becketartscenter.org/membership

In The Abstract Kimball Farms The Connector Gallery

In the Abstract now on view at the Kimball Farms Connector Gallery. The show features an eclectic range of abstracts and includes lively, interesting work by several artists including husband and wife Keith and Mary Davidson, Ruby Aver, former Berkshire-ite Don Longo, and Caroline Kelly. Mobiles by Joel Hotchkiss, and more! Also on view are three newly installed sculptures by Binney Meigs.

All are welcome to celebrate the pleasure of unexpected discoveries any day through September 5th.

The Connector Gallery235 Walker St, Lenox, MA. kimballfarms.org

Erika Larskaya

Confinement and Breakaway examine the mental state of struggle to make sense of our environment, both physical and psychological. I incorporate childlike drawing to represent nonconformity; the unadulterated state before we get confined by rules, commitment, insecurities, and other “add-ons.”

“I distress and repair parts of the painting, as we do within ourselves. The drawings of floor plans and elevations, which I use as a starting point, create a sense of enclosure, which I expand by continuing the lines outward, breaking the structural pattern. This alters the sense of confinement, breaking away from the [rigid, static] norm”.

Erika Larskayahttps://www.erikalarskaya.art