SCHEDULE OF PERFORMANCES
Noon - 6 PM
Jeff Gavioli and his Bad News Jazz and Blues Orchestra
Dina Stander - Poetry
Ilana Morris - Music
Driving Wheel - Band
Karina Dise - Spoken Word/Music
Daniel Hales - Music
Musical The Musical
Amherst Ballet
Amherst Ballet
JASON MONTGOMERY
“Earth Bears Metal”
“Wood Feeds Fire”
Jason R. Montgomery is a Chicano/Indigenous Californian activist, writer, painter, and playwright from El Centro, California. Jason is the co-founder of the police transformation group “A Knee is Not Enough” (AKINE) in Easthampton, MA. In 2016 he founded the arts activism collective Attack Bear Press. JRM’s work has appeared in Split Lip Magazine, Storm Cellar, Ilanot Review, and other publications. In 2021, Jason was selected as one of two Poets Laureate for 2021-2023. www.attackbearpress.com www.attackbearpress.com/nono-project
SYDNEY KLEINROCK
“Landscapes of Luv” Oil, Embroidery, and Acrylic on Canvas, 2020
Sydney’s practice incorporates painting and drawing with textile processes to explore themes of queerness, identity and internal landscapes in the context of greater cultural surroundings. She explores the variation of texture and dimension that is added when textile elements are combined with painting. The imagery in her work is drawn from a combination of memory, imagination and moments captured from life. Often reflective objects are transformed into a vessel for refracting the fleeting moment that is presented before the surface. Recognizable figures are distorted through a reflective surface or the ever-shifting perspective of memory and emotion. Through the use of oversaturated colors and loosely-rendered space, everyday scenes and memories become surreal and dream-like. Distanced perspectives are captured through the frame of up close objects, creating a layered effect that hints at the transitory nature of reality and the ever-fluctuating presence of internal and outer life. Sydney Kleinrock is a painter from Long Island, New York. Sydney received her AAS from the Fashion Institute of Technology, and graduated in 2018 with a BFA from Hampshire College. Here, she exhibited a solo gallery show of her thesis artwork which examined the role of clothing in everyday life as well as its larger, cross-cultural impact on the global environment. She was a resident at Vermont Studio Center in 2019. Her work has been shown at the Untitled Space and Teipei Center in New York, at Kaiser Gallery in Cleveland, and online with GIFC. She currently works out of her studio in Greenfield, MA. www.sydneykleinrock.com
28 Amity Street
“Chaos”
“Untitled 3”
“Untitled 4”
“Jungle”
“Untitled 1”
“Untitled 2”
I have always had a visceral response to art. Works of art grab me or leave me uninvolved. Painting for me is all about color, shapes, texture, and layers. My work grows and changes as though on its own, letting me know when it is complete. I paint in acrylic on raw and untreated canvas and on paper, and I also make mixed-media collage.
“Sociolect’, 2021 Archival ink on cotton satin canvas.
‘Entheogen’, 2021 Archival ink on RC Photo Luster Paper
Visual Artist, Public Speaker, Indigenous social justice advocate. I am a full-blood enrolled member of the Blackfoot Nation of Siksika, Alberta, Canada. I have been a resident of Chicopee, Massachusetts since 2005 and am excited to present these pieces to the community. Currently, I am producing work that represents new ideas, based within explorations of my cultural heritage. I strive to evoke a powerful visual statement within each piece, rooted in traditional Blackfoot expression. I embrace vivid color and dynamic form as a language to express emotion, evoking form as tradition. Observing issues of both historic/modern contexts and introducing these within esthetic works are, aspirations for indigenous healing, universal experiences including movement toward truth, social justice, cultural pride, rebirth and resurgence.
11 Amity St
“Geese in Marsh” oil on linen
“Greeting” oil on linen
Gillian Haven lives in Pelham and works in oil paint and a variety of drawing media. Her roots are in Amherst where she is drawn to the silent companionship of hills, the elation of water, the clouds that lift, unexpected openings and the expanse of fields. To paint the landscape is to pay attention to a place and its stories. She seeks landmarks which for her become touchstones amid change.
“Atkins Reservoir”
“J &J Farm”
“Simple Gifts cows”
Watercolors
Upon retiring from a career as a scientist, I moved to art. I paint scenes that I photograph in my daily walks and bike rides. I chose watercolor as a medium for its freshness. I enjoy the process of painting in watercolor. It was a pleasing pastime during COVID.
“Ashley Reservoir”
“Resurrection”
“Ladies of the Forest”
My name is Kristine Villeneuve-Topor. I was born and raised in Holyoke, MA.
My creative process is like an exciting adventure, never knowing where the journey will take me. I take photographs of all that interests me. I am an avid collector of found objects which I incorporate into my art. This past year I started experimenting with cement and paper clay. I fell instantly in love. I am also a painter. My paintings are largely representational, but abstracts are also a part of my painting process.
My work has been in many art exhibits around New England. There are numerous corporate and private collections internationally and worldwide. I live and breath art. I believe imagination is a vital part of the human spirit. It’s an inner life that we all need. I am truly grateful for my gift and that I can share with others. Even if it’s a moment.....there’s nothing like touching one’s heart, mind and spirit. That is why I create Art.
Contact: topor_kristine@comcast.net
Nancy Meagher, Emily Dickinson, “Wallpaper Dancer Series”
I cannot dance upon my Toes… Emily Dickinson
Several years ago, I had the unique opportunity to sketch for several mornings with a friend in Emily Dickinson’s bedroom. The Museum was celebrating the installation of Emily’s new Rose Trellis wallpaper, reproduced from a tiny paper fragment discovered in her bedroom closet. I sat for three hours each morning in the tranquility of the Museum, “closed” days, when staff worked quietly indistant rooms. I imagined Emily at night, tossing and turning in her carved sleigh bed, wrestling with a poem. Here, the wallflowers assist, transforming themselves into Wallpaper Dancers. www.nancymeagherart.com
“Farm Workers and Local Landscape I,II” wood engravings and woodcuts on 8.5”x11” paper
I’ve been drawing since I was old enough to hold a crayon and was captivated by the printing process early on, when I helped my father develop black and white photographs. I’m particularly drawn to woodcut as a medium and enjoy the way wood exerts its infuence on the image, and also the strong contrasts and movement produced by a variety of carving tools employed.
Since 2014 I have been selected as artist-in-residence for a number of national park programs. In addition to my training as a naturalist, I hold an MFA degree in printmaking and taught classes in drawing, illustration, and relief printmaking at the University of Massachusetts and Holyoke Community College. I have exhibited my prints nationally and am a member of The Boston Printmakers and Zea Mays Printmaking, in Florence, MA—a group devoted to using and developing non-toxic printmaking practices. I have worked as an illustrator for many publishers, university presses, wildlife agencies, and other institutions. My printmaking heroes are Kathe Kollwitz and Lyonel Feininger. I enjoy bicycling, hiking, ukulele, and tap dancing, and am a co-owner of Collective Copies.
2 Robot Paintings oil stick on canvas
Robot Paintings are a exploration in color using graffiti and finger painting to explore Post Animation Abstract Expressionism.
“Pinkscape” acrylic paint, sand and molding putty on canvas,
“Emerald Isle” pen and colored pencil (will be matted and framed)
I am a local artist blacksmith living in Greenfield, Massachusetts. I grew up in New York City, the son of two artists. For 24 years, I have been an innovative, versatile artist blacksmith / toolmaker / bladesmith / teacher. I am presently attending the Massachusetts College of Art MFA program for Sculpture. I see my art as a spiritual process. I keep coming back to the theme of sowing seeds or the tree of life. I am given the gift to create and there are living beings amongst us who were created perfectly. The plants I incorporate into my art are nature’s perfection. My techniques involve forging and shaping iron and other materials, incorporating woodworking, carving and shaping. Art saved me, and now I use it to help others as well. Asperger’s actually empowers my award-winning work and inclusive teaching. I dive deep into the work, able to see with a unique perspective, freed from the pressure to be “normal,” connecting with others in the creative space. When I am creating my art, I forget about my disability. I am able to create without judgment from others of me. I lose that sense of otherness I feel. I am at my happiest when I am creating my artwork. I can be myself, and I decide what direction my artwork will go, and I am not constrained by any rules.
Ben Krogh-Grabbe, Crayon and watercolor
Karen Weneczek, Wool Yarn Embroidery
Jay W. Lithgow, Collage
Wole Abiodun, Mixed Media
Andrea Washiek, Acrylic Paint
Empowerment Through The ARTS, Inc.
We became an official nonprofit in May, 2020! We continue... 20 + years and counting! We pivot and incorporate virtual Zoom Theater and will soon offer dance, art and new Social Justice Theater classes!
“Follow Me” print landscape photograph
“Emily’s Tree” print photograph of the Dickinson Museum
Shoshona King is a member of the Amherst Public Art Commission & Co-Chair of the Amherst Arts Night Plus committee since 2018. All her life she has been an independent artist & activist, always learning & pushing her boundaries as an artist. She never stops learning or shys away from a new challenge, even if it terrifies her . Coming from a long line of women artists, her first teacher was her Grandmother, Eleanor, in the field of ceramics. Since then she has expanded into dance, jewelry, leatherwork, commercial arts, fabrication, photography, costume & all manner of fiber arts. She received her associates from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in San Francisco & her bachelors from UMass Amherst. During the holidays, She can be seen dancing with the Pioneer Valley Ballet company’s Nutcracker show. Since the pandemic, she can often be found on nature walks photographing heart shaped occurrences in nature. You can follow her photography on her instagram account, which she’s been working on updating daily with a new image that relects her meditations of the day: Shoshona King (@shoshona_king) Instagram photos and videos
“Sunset at Sea"
Noa Chambers is a freshman at Amherst Regional High School. She was inspired to work with relief printing in her art class but also enjoys graphic art and other mediums. This piece was inspired by the travel we have all missed in this last year. The relief was carved in a wood block and in ink. The process was a huge challenge but the finished result was worth it.
“Hilltown Barn"
“City Windows"
“Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia"
All three pieces are made from recycled papers painted with gouache, watercolors, and colored pencil, then cut and fixed on heavyweight 138 lb. French paper.
Artist by passion and typically into the latest hours of the night, I draw much of my inspiration from country life in the Valley and (pre-pandemic) travel with my wife and two small children. For me, the real magic of life exists in nature and people and all the many forms and textures they embody.
Through my art, I enjoy connecting with and elevating these currents of life that aren't always readily accessible to others. And, while I work in many mediums, my newest series of hand-painted cut paper collages really allows me to deconstruct and then reconstruct the world in front of me in a way I experience as both keenly intimate and expressive, painterly and sculptural.
coldbearstudio.etsy.com
Instagram: @coldbearstudio
MAGIC FLUTE CREATIONS
Julio Neijens is a local artist and art teacher with the Multi-Arts children’s camps. The works exhibited are costume puppets made in conjunction with Multi-Arts for the 2020 Windham Philharmonic production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute in Brattleboro, which was postponed indefinitely last March due to the pandemic.
The objects made for The Magic Flute, a loopy, whim-filled opera, drew inspiration from the theater costumes and scenery made in collaboration with children campers at the Multi-Arts summer programs. Made chiefly out of cardboard, clear shapes aim to host the expressivity of the maker as well as to communicate clearly and directly the characteristics of the of the depicted subjects from both the short and long distances inherent in a theater. Other sources of inspiration were David Hockney’s opera sets (including his own Magic Flute scenery for the Los Angeles Opera), the archetypal characteristics of the subject animals –the asocial porcupine, the unfortunate dragon–, as well as the The Magic Flute opera itself.
In all its contradictions and indulgences, The Magic Flute is irreverent, explorative, and free as a child’s mind. This, adorned over the architecture of classical opera and the virtuosic music of Mozart’s mastery provides a fertile ground for the scenic art that would paint its picture.
“Life is a Circle and Everything Has It's Place In It. And There is Always One More Story" acrylic on canvas
Symbols are used to create my own visual language. I don't invent images, I just rearrange them. I have long admired and appreciated the great originality of the early art of the Americas. My paintings suggest rather than define. I make layer on layer of marks...a web if you will. Hopefully, the viewer will see layer on layer of meaning. The symbols are ambiguous and open to multiple interpretations.
rita.edelman@gmail.com
“Sanctuary”, “Tumbleweeds”
All acrylic on canvas
Mary Witt, an abstract painter, works intuitively, letting the process lead her to the next stroke, the next color. Painting for over 25 years, she summons up the many abstract artists she was exposed to by her German parents in all their travels. And finding inspiration from other contemporary abstract artists as well, she continues to experiment, noticing which compositions, color combinations, and marks bring joy to her as well as to her viewers. Being a singer and bass player, she always listens to a wide variety of music while she paints in her studio, an ice house from the early 1900s. Texture, depth, color, layers, confict, and collaboration all play their part in the flow of creating her work, mystery environments.
She is a member of Oxbow Gallery in Northampton and has shown her work in numerous locations in New England.
“Winter Cornfield”
“Three Sisters”
“Waking Blooms”
All Soft Pastel on UArt
Donna Roy is a Western Massachusetts artist who began her love of painting while studying privately with a local oil painter when she was ten years old. During weekly studio sessions, she learned traditional foundations of composition, perspective, color theory and design. This foundation cemented her love for painting and her creative journey. A graduate of UMASS with a BFA, Donna continued her exploration of art through several mediums. Fascinated with the play of color and light through glass, she has worked in glass enamel painting and fusing. Combining these elements she developed a line of post consumer copper and glass garden and interior wall sculptures. Learning to thrive in a pandemic, Donna pushed her passion for color full circle and found her home with soft pastels. Addicted to vibrant color and energetic marks, her paintings center on Western Massachusetts landscapes and local natural beauty. These days, you will hnd Donna visiting local farms, rivers, and trails with her trusty camera in search of inspiration, painting PleinAir, or in her small home studio creating pastel paintings inspired by Western Massachusetts character.
www.instagram.com/donnamroy_artist ] donnamroy.com
Anthony Melting Tallow “Grass Dancers”, 2018. Archival ink on cotton satin canvas.
Visual Artist, Public Speaker, Indigenous social justice advocate. I am a full-blood enrolled member of the Blackfoot Nation of Siksika, Alberta, Canada. I have been a resident of Chicopee, Massachusetts since 2005. I am excited to present these pieces to the community. Currently, I am producing work that represents new ideas, based within explorations of my cultural heritage. I strive to evoke a powerful visual statement within each piece, rooted in traditional Blackfoot expression. I embrace vivid color and dynamic form as a language to express emotion, evoking form as tradition. Observing issues of both historic/modern contexts and introducing these within esthetic works are, aspirations for indigenous healing, universal experiences including movement toward truth, social justice, cultural pride, rebirth and resurgence.
NINA ROSSI “Essential Amherst” Three color illustrations
For the past four years, I have been creating illustrations of people working and recreating in the towns of Montague, Leverett, Wendell, Erving and Gill, for the weekly newspaper The Montague Reporter. Over the past two years, my methods have changed to full color, digital illustrations, and I would be excited to create several specific illustrations featuring people working at every day essential jobs in Amherst -- grocery workers, trash collectors, town hall employees, etc. These could be printed at any size for display in a window.
Red Winged Blackbird Great Crested Flycatcher & Pileated Woodpecker
House paint on board. Both paintings are graphic paintings of birds with natural materials done in a graphic, folk art style.
This year of long walks around my house in the woods gave me a chance to see all the seasons emerge in the woods, see the first signs of spring with skunk cabbages and the small beauties of the fleeting woodland flowers. This series came unexpectedly after a year of nature drawing and journaling, taking note of the timing of plants and birds and getting immersed in the routines and patterns of arrival and growth.These paintings are an attempt to pay tribute to the emergence of the seasons specific to the Pioneer Valley by combining birds, plants and other natural elements that are all just appearing or thriving at the time I start to paint. The use of a graphic, stylized, playful style is inspired by folk art that favors design and artful arrangement. All paintings are household paint on sign-board and coated with sealant for inside our outside display.
Abbie Wanamaker is an artist, illustrator, writer and educator living in Western MA with her husband and daughter. She studied painting at UMass Amherst and went on to get her MFA at the University of Southern California, before deciding to go back to school to work with children. In her artwork she works with color, form and design, interpreting and responding to the world around her through drawings, painting, poetry, stories and photography. Abbie has shown her work at galleries and public spaces in Los Angeles, Boston, Provincetown and Amherst. She has two self-published children’s books and during her time in Boston, she worked to bring art making into public spaces, through her work with community organizations, in the Boston neighborhood of Dorchester. Abbie is a member of Gallery A3 located in Amherst, MA.
instagram.com/abbiewanamaker_art abbiewanamakerart.com
“All Hands” Color Pencil Abstract on Acid Free Paper, Matted
“Desert Bird Beauty” Color Pencil and Watercolor Illustration on Acid Free Paper, Matted
Amy is a creative type in every sense of the word. From an early age on she’s been passionate about the the arts. She attended high school in Syocett, NY, and studied art and dance during her undergraduate days at SUNY New Paltz. After college she became a professional puppeteer and dancer, traveling,
teaching, choreographing and performing for over 25 years. About 5 years ago, she turned her focus back to art and has been prolific in her creating ever since. She began showing her art and curating up until the pandemic, when one of her shows were canceled. Her work is vibrant and rich in color. She mixes realism, with imagination. Since the pandemic started, Amy has utilized stipple-like circles. The circles come together to create depths, together making the larger image.
“Mt. Norwottuck and Apple Trees” oil crayon on paper Amherst 2018.
The Holyoke Mountain Range range was glacially formed, one of the only east-west axis range mountains in this country. Lorna says, “The mountains are so close to me I can almost reach out to pet them, like they are a big animal moving up and down as the cloud shadows allow sun and cloud shadows to undulate them, like ocean waves. Each drawing has immediacy to it, but takes time to complete; it’s my own personal paradox. The drawing is the consequence of technique and skill brought about by the concept. That is how what ends up on the paper gets said, and how my drawings come to be.” Lorna works with Holbein oil pastels on 300 pound hot press, (smooth), archival paper. The crayon slides across the mirror-smooth surface. She scrapes into the crayon with a single edged razor blade as a drawing tool, as much as the crayon is used. She says, “ I love color and I love the oil crayon to express how my eyes tell my hands how to move across the paper.”
“Enredadera” Free standing painted wood assemblage.
I am an assemblage sculptor and creative recycler. The material in my art work is primarily wood from objects that had been abandoned as presumed worthless’ After assembling, a fresh coat of paint is applied. It’s a form of re-incarnation. My challenge is “let’s see what I can do with that.”
“Borderlands: Backyard”
“Borderlands: Dingle”
“Borderlands: Beyond”
Tom Morton has lived in Amherst since graduating from Amherst College in 1964 and returning in 1970. He earned a MFA degree in painting from UMass Amherst in 1988. From 1992 to 2003 he was Managing Director at Leverett Arts and Craft Center. He is a member of Gallery A3, the Amherst Coop Gallery.
“We Called it a Dream (Second Version)"
Multicolor photolithograph and relief print
Olivia Arau McSweeney is an artist and researcher working in the fields of printmaking and analog photography. Raised in Sitges, Spain, Olivia moved to Burlington, Vermont and then to Ann Arbor, Michigan where she received her BFA in Art and Design with an Environmental Studies Minor at the Stamps School of Art and Design at the University of Michigan in 2019. Olivia's work contemplates the emergence of the Anthropocene; responding to the grief that comes with facing a world shaped by climate change, and the hope sparked by communities actively combating it. She is excited by the materiality and the technical aspects of print and analog photography. Their process-heavy nature and the ability to experiment with these mediums influence the concepts she explores in her work.
livvyarau.com instagram: @livvyarau.art
“Pink Light, Barnstable, MA”
“Colorful Sunset, First Encounter Beach, Cape Cod”
“Dramatic Winter Sunset, Hadley, MA “
Painting connects me to the places and emotions that feel most comfortable, and with brush in hand, I feel at peace and with purpose. As a psychotherapist, I was constantly utilizing my intellectual creativity in the unraveling and reassembling of the human spirit; painting takes me away from this intellectual work and lands me in a gratifying world steeped in texture, shape and color. The feel of the brush in my hand, the swirling of paint, the emerging image, and the contrast of color all take me to a place of imagination and inventiveness. An unusual shadow, a geld of dry corn stocks, a snowy hill, almost bare trees in autumn - these sorts of natural “moments” are where I gnd inspiration for my oil landscapes. Shape next to shape, color next to color, light next to dark, layer upon layer- slowly the form emerges bringing forth a familiar image, something that felt worth remembering. My work with watercolor is less about capturing the feeling, and more about examining unique shape and contour. My current watercolor collection reiects my love of bold color, deep shadows, and the organic form. I am deeply rooted in my artistic process, and with this connection comes a willingness to allow my creative eye to evolve.
rkhelden@comcast.net
Instagram: rosanne-helden-artist
“Pomegranate” by Sydney Kleinrock
Sydney’s practice incorporates painting and drawing with textile processes to explore themes of queerness, identity and internal landscapes in the context of greater cultural surroundings. She explores the variation of texture and dimension that is added when textile elements are combined with painting. The imagery in her work is drawn from a combination of memory, imagination and moments captured from life. Often reflective objects are transformed into a vessel for refracting the fleeting moment that is presented before the surface. Recognizable figures are distorted through a reflective surface or the ever-shifting perspective of memory and emotion. Through the use of oversaturated colors and loosely-rendered space, everyday scenes and memories become surreal and dream-like. Distanced perspectives are captured through the frame of up close objects, creating a layered effect that hints at the transitory nature of reality and the ever-fluctuating presence of internal and outer life.
Sydney Kleinrock is a painter from Long Island, New York. Sydney received her AAS from the Fashion Institute of Technology, and graduated in 2018 with a BFA from Hampshire College. Here, she exhibited a solo gallery show of her thesis artwork which examined the role of clothing in everyday life as well as its larger, cross-cultural impact on the global environment. She was a resident at Vermont Studio Center in 2019. Her work has been shown at the Untitled Space and Teipei Center in New York, at Kaiser Gallery in Cleveland, and online with GIFC. She currently works out of her studio in Greenfield, MA.
Once Upon a Time in New York by Diane Steingart & Jonathan Woodbridge
I have been making art for the past 12 years, mostly painting and collage.
I create art as a daily practice and am mainly self-taught. I love what I learn from the process of creating art. I have been a member of Gallery A3 since 2016 and have had a number of shows in the area, including a solo show at the Burnett Gallery and two shows at Pelham Library.
"Space Dust" watercolor, gouache, watercolor pencil, pen
"Rush Hour" watercolor, gouache, watercolor crayon, pen
"Summertime Songs" watercolor, pen
I've had my hands busy with creative projects my whole life. My college stints earned me degrees in Visual Art and Art Education. But more than that, I have just always loved making things. Painting is the medium I feel most at home. I use my art as a form of therapy; to express the inner workings of my messy brain. I really enjoy playing with watercolor, gouache, acrylic paint and ink. Too, I like using weird found objects as printmaking tools. My appreciation of music plays into a lot of the intuitive-type pieces I make. Sometimes one line from a song will strike me, and I'll look to it often as I work; or a particular beat or melody will help direct my markings. Nature is also a driving force - I often work outside in my garden, where I am given so much interesting inspiration.
“Untitled” oil on canvas, abstract.
“Untitled” oil on canvas, abstract.
“Night Flight” oil on canvas, woman flying in an abstract night.
My work combines the visual and the conceptual. I want the visual statement to be profound, to be questioning and to be a source of inspiration and of beauty. Conceptually, my work often speaks about hope, about humor and about the human condition: what it is and what it could be. Much of my earlier work was visually brutal, showing the suffering which one group of people cause to another. My later work pushes this brutality beneath the surface, showing more the beauty and hope which is possible. Currently I am working in oil painting, sculpture and mosaic murals. In my paintings I work with layers of intense color creating a deep almost primeval feeling space. My sculptures are outdoor installations using steel, stone, glass, wood and mosaic. The sculptures often have a political or social motif. I have done mosaic murals in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Israel, India, Afghanistan and the U.S., and for the past several years I have traveled to Asia and Brazil to work with youth in vulnerable situations to do mosaic murals. I have done painted murals with refugees in the U.S. and Greece, and with tribal painters in India. I have a vision of a peaceful world, a world based on justice, compassion and human dignity. As an artist my work comes from that vision and from the understanding of how different that vision is from reality. I attempt in my work to impact on an emotional level, to evoke laughter, tears or anger. It is the purpose of art, I believe, to confront, to challenge, to force the viewer to see and think about the world in a new and more profound way. It is my hope that experience my work will be one of perhaps many events that will influence people to envision and work for a more humane and just world.
“Emily’s House in Wind” Heavily layered\scored, oil on canvas and painted with palette knife.
Emily's yellow house is a beacon for me. Driving up Main Street each day, I'm reminded that a whole world can be found in a rose-trellis wallpapered bedroom, the heat of the kitchen - a garden. As a child my Mother invited me along for drives to look at houses. She pointed out interesting roof designs, brick chimney patterns, moss-covered eves, and best of all, symmetry. I'm forever searching for details in the two mansions on Main Street. They connect me both to a favorite poet and my long passed Mother.
“Hot and Cold”
“Changing Season”
“Flying Triangles”
All are acrylic paint on canvas
I work in painting and photography. Presently and over the past decade, I have worked more in painting than photography. This change came about as a result of working many years as a photographer in N.Y.C. My new locale in the Valley has afforded me more time to paint. The 3 images I have presented as concepts which I translated into painting. Sometimes textures are incorporated in order to enhance the artwork.
“Dandelions Greatest Moment”
“Late Spring”
Love of the land and the landscape best describe my experiences living and painting in the Pioneer Valley. This area offers diverse subject matter. Barns, mountains, farmfields and historic sites and parks. I like to embrace the light and design in each of my paintings.
Enjoy!
westbrookdesign@aol.com
“Golden Hour” acrylic on canvas
“Bloom” acrylic on wood panel
I’m a clinical social worker and abstract painter. My process is without plan or expectation —an exercise in detachment and self-revelation—making choices that call to me in the moment. I dance and wrangle with the paint through a process of layering, excavation and acceptance. I consider a painting complete when it pushes back at me, revealing itself as able to stand in its own right. I stop when the painting makes a simple request for me to let go. Playfulness and non-attachment drive my gesture and color choice. This process of art-making calls to me as a reminder that nothing is static in world that never stops inviting us to return home to ourselves.
brelsfordjamie@gmail.com
“Abstraction in Reds” oil on canvas
“Abstraction in Orange” oil on canvas
“Blue Abstraction with Orange” oil on canvas
I have worked with abstraction of landscape primarily since 2005 and in the past 2 years have been working with total abstraction also, using layers of color to create space. All my work is in oil, on paper or canvas . One of the influences on my work comes from my connection to Buddhism and a desire to create and share a space that is not filled with commentary, or story line. Actually, I am trying to do the opposite, to create space that allows the mind to stop, or at least pause. I would like the viewer to feel an “out breath”,...space to move into.
To Amherst voters: The Amherst Center Cultural District posed a series of questions to Town Council candidates regarding the importance of arts and culture in Amherst for your consideration. About half of them responded. Below are the questions posed and responses from participating candidates. The following candidates did not respond: [Vira Douangmany Cage, Pat DeAngelis, Anna Devlin Gauthier, Robert Greeney, Pam Rooney, Michele Miller, Vince O’Connor, Cathy Schoen, Ellisha Walker]
AMHERST TOWN COUNCIL CANDIDATES’ VIEWS
ON ARTS & CULTURE IN AMHERST
What cultural events have you attended recently?
Shalini Bahi-Milne
Juneteenth
Concerts on the commons
I organized the India and Pakistan celebration of the 75th year of Independence, Stand up comedy .
Lynn Griesemer
Due to COVID-19, most of the cultural events I have attended recently have been virtual, primarily musical and dramatic performances on PBS and steaming services. Locally, I have attended some recent outdoor events including the September 10 inauguration of the Portal Gallery on Boltwood Plaza and the September 23 Puerto Rican Heritage event on the North Common. I also attended the September 24 75th Anniversary of Independence for India and Pakistan including music, dance, and dress related to both cultures.
Mandi Jo Hanneke
Among other events, I have attended cultural events such as the India & Pakistan Flag 75th Celebration, the reading (as a reader) of Frederick Douglass’s What to the Slave is the Fourth of July, and the Juneteenth celebrations and Civil War Tablet viewing. I have attended music performances ranging from solo performances to large ensemble performances, and at locations such as the Town Common, an orchard, a vineyard, and a museum.
Anika Lopes
Locally, I was an organizer for the Juneteenth Amherst 2021 celebration. My contributions were creative direction for the West Cemetery, Bangs Center, and Fashion Show at The Mill District. The center piece of this event was a public exhibit of Amherst Civil War Tablets, a project initiated by my grandfather in 2000. They list my 4 times great-grandfather, Christopher Thompson, who volunteered with the Massachusetts 54th Regiment, and later, the 5th Calvary who went to Texas to deliver the news of freedom on June 19th, 1865, the day we now celebrate as Juneteenth. The India and Pakistan's 75th year of independence celebration presented by Shalini Bahi-Milne. Soul in the Horn www.soulinthehorn.com
Dorothy Pam
I am an avid theatre goer, attending performances locally—Amherst, Holyoke, the Berkshires, and in New York City. Even after we moved to Amherst, we still did a week of solid theatre going in NYC every winter with additional trips down to BAM, the Public Theatre, Shakespeare in the Park, Lincoln Center.
Covid has put a stop to most of that. We recently attended the live Al Franken Show at the Academy of Music, and despite their checking cards, it felt unsafe to be sitting right next to people, not even skipping seats. So during the epidemic I have only watched two Holyoke Community College Theatre Department original productions on Zoom, featuring some of my students and their writing. We attended the Amherst Regional HS outdoor Sound of Music, and many chamber music concerts on Zoom. We also enjoyed the ARPHS last minute zoomed performance of Spring’s Awakening during the first week of shut down.
Evan Ross
Over the past several months I attended numerous outdoor concerts on the Common featuring a range of musicians. I also attended the Town's Juneteenth celebration, which featured dance, music, and a fashion show. These outdoor events brought arts and culture to our community safely during the pandemic.
George Ryan
BID Summer Concerts on the Common
Amherst Cinema film showings
Before COVID yearly trips to the Stratford Festival in Canada and occasional B'way play
Andy Steinberg
One of many regrets about the Covid pandemic is that I have been unable to attend events I would normally enjoy including theatre, music and visual art exhibits. I appreciated streamed theatre programs but it isn't the same for me or for the actors. I was able to enjoy some of the open air concerts during the summer. I also want to acknowledge the importance of Arts Night Plus for many years, that it was missed during the pandemic, and the community's loss as it is now ending for other reasons.
Jennifer Taub
Since I've only been attending outdoor cultural events, I recently attended the Green River Music Festival and concerts on the Town Common. (This evening, I had tickets to see St. Vincent at the College Street Music Hall in New Haven, but gave them to a friend - still not comfortable attending in-door events.)
What arts organizations do you support or are you a part of?
Shalini Bahi-Milne
We support and enjoy the programming at the UMass Amherst Fine Arts Center and members of Amherst Cinema.
Lynn Griesemer
I am an Emeritus member of the Friends of the Fine Arts Center having served on that board for 8 years. And, my family continues to supports the UMass Fine Arts Center with annual donations. We have supported the Amherst Cinema since its opening by sponsoring a seat, and just renewed that this past year when they refurbished the seats. Our son is a musician and plays with The Troupe at Berkshire Hills Music Academy. We support BHMA and attend its events either in person (recently on the South Hadley Common) or virtually (see above).
Mandi Jo Hanneke
I am a viola player in the Pioneer Valley Symphony. I am a subscriber at the Fine Arts Center. I financially support a number of local arts organizations, as well as my childhood youth orchestra.
Anika Lopes
So many! Anika Lopes Millinery, Soul in the Horn, CFDA, Black Fashion Council to name a related few.
Dorothy Pam
Memberships and regular attendance at Amherst Cinema, Norfolk (CT) Chamber Music Festival/ Yale Summer School of Music, Eric Carle Museum, KO Festival, Music at Amherst, Shakespeare and Co, Barrington Stage, New Century Theatre, Williamstown Theatre, Sandglass Puppet Theatre.
Theatre at UMass, Smith College, Mount Holyoke, Holyoke Community College, even the Williston School.
I have performed in many KO Festival workshops, and sold ads for the program. At Holyoke Community College performed Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest and La Poncia in House of Bernarda Alba a few years ago. In the past few years I have taught classes in speech, acting, and theatre history at HCC.
With Grandchildren: Starlite Theatre, Miss Leticia’s Music School, Pineapple Dance, Amherst Ballet, Easthampton Circus Arts.
Evan Ross
[No response]
George Ryan
Member of the Amherst Cinema
Member of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston
Member of the Rubin Museum in NYC
Andy Steinberg
I support and attend local theatre, and miss New Century. I attend concerts at Amherst College and the Pioneer Valley Symphony and hope that 2022 brings them back to us. I support a charitable trust that funds new classical works by young composers.
Jennifer Taub
Amherst Cinema – in addition to being longstanding members, my husband and I have endowed two seats in the large auditorium and, along with other neighbors, recently endowed a seat in memory of a dear friend.
My husband (Steve Bloom) is a member of the fundraising committee for the Drake – we recently made a contribution.
Pre-COVID, I regularly attended events at the Iron Horse, the Academy of Music, the Parlor Room, the National Yiddish Book Center, the Emily Dickinson Museum, the Eric Carle Museum, the Fine Arts Center at UMass, the Shea Theater in Turners Falls, and, during summers, Watermelon Wednesdays in Conway and the Double Edge Theater in Ashfield. A little further from home, I frequent Tanglewood, Jacobs Pillow, Shakespeare and Company, and MASS MoCA. The Fine Arts and Gardner Museums in Boston, as well as many museums and theater in NYC make up the greater part of my cultural activities. There’s little I enjoy more than an evening at the theater and performing arts venues
What role could the town Council have in recommending financial support for the arts in Amherst?
Shalini Bahi-Milne
The more we can integrate art in our racial and social justice, climate action goals, and social infrastructure like our libraries, the easier it will be for the town council to prioritize funding for the arts. For example, when designing a BIPOC youth center or the teen space in our library, we can invite the youth to lead community art projects in collaboration with professional artists to create spaces they'd like to use.
Lynn Griesemer
The creative economy of Town of Amherst is important to our Community, and as stated in the question, the presently seated Town Council passed the revised Percent for Art Bylaw so that it is consistent with state fiscal requirements. Most importantly is the relationship of that Bylaw to the upcoming capital projects -- the elementary school, DPW, and the Fire/EMS Station south of downtown. Each of these will require that a percentage of the Town's portion of the funds to construct these facilities be devoted to the arts. Looking for other opportunities like these is important and the Town Council should engage in those efforts.
Mandi Jo Hanneke
In addition to the Percent for Arts bylaw, Amherst funds the arts through programming at the Recreation Department, Senior Center, and Schools, as well as, to some extent, the Jones Library. The Town Council can continue to support these departments with adequate funding for them to continue providing subsidized arts and culture programming to residents.
Anika Lopes
I fell in love with the arts in the first grade at Wildwood, and later, with sculpture at the Middle School. Today I am a master milliner, in part, because I was introduced to sculpture at the Amherst Middle School. I have designed hats for Madonna, Usher, Jimmy Page, Douglas Miles, film and TV, and now many of my hat blocks are here in Amherst. Some are as antique as Amherst's Civil War tablets; they come from one of the first African American man to have a hat factory in the millinery section of the Garment District in NYC. Arts and Culture sets the tone, stage, and vibe for community, attracts tourists and visitors, and inspires our youth. The Town Council could explore all possible avenues to support the arts in Amherst.
Dorothy Pam
In addition to the percent for Art bylaw which I supported, the Town of Amherst must increase the Leisure Services budget for theatre performances, both big and small; spend money to upgrade the theatre and auditoriums at the Amherst Regional Middle School and High School.
Evan Ross
The Percent for Art Bylaw was a great path forward to encourage more public art for our community. The Town Council should continue to advocate for the arts to be part of economic development in our Town and push the Town staff to seek out grants and other funding that can invest in our creative economy and generate more public art. The Council sets the policy direction for the Town and the priorities, and should make clear that the arts are a priority.
George Ryan
See my response below to budget question -- in our current fiscal situation increased funding in one area means cuts in another. It is difficult to advocate for the Town to fund arts and culture projects when we don't have enough firefighters, our roads and sidewalks are in disrepair, we don't have enough inspectors to enforce our rental registration bylaws, and a host of Town Departments can't address staffing needs.
Andy Steinberg
The Percent for Art initiative will make art a part of our new public buildings. There may be some opportunities through the American Recovery Act and the Council can endorse recommendations from the Town Manager. A current initiative will be to support the proposed bandshell for the Town Common, which requires Council approval. Continued support for the January theatre program that is a volunteer effort through the Recreation Department (formerly LSSE) that provides opportunities for performers, others involved in production, and audiences. The Town needs to also find space for set production.
Jennifer Taub
I believe the Council should actively promote support for arts and culture in Amherst – it’s an essential part of revitalizing downtown, supporting Destination Amherst, and bringing visitors and tourism to town. Taking advantage of funding provided through the MA Cultural Commission and other funding opportunities should be vigorously pursued.
Amherst should also explore innovative approaches that other towns have adopted to support and promote the arts. For example, Berkeley has instituted a Public Art on Private Development Program. (https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Public_Art_on_Private_Development_Program.aspx)
Shalini Bahi-Milne
I'd like to invest in community art projects in our schools, libraries, downtown, and village centers that are led by BIPOC artists and engage community members to create art together to promote awareness of issues that our town values such as social and racial justice and climate action goals.
We can use the existing projects like beautification of the commons to include components of art woven into the design.
I support the initiatives by our community partners like the BID in creating community spaces and infrastructure like the performance shell and Drake's that will promote arts and culture.
Lynn Griesemer
The three specific things that I support that will deepen Amherst's investment in the creative economy are:
1. Ensuring that the Percent for Art Bylaw is applied to the major building projects;
2. Continued development and renewal of outdoor art such as the Portal Gallery on Boltwood Plaza;
3. Encourage the Town to seek additional grants to increase our outdoor art including matching funds as required.
Mandi Jo Hanneke
Much of what is needed to deepen Amherst’s investment in its creative economy is not within the purview of the Town Council. However, there are some things the Council has done, or can do in the future, to help. For example, the Council voted to permit alcohol consumption on the Town Common, which allowed the Concert Series on the Common to thrive this summer. Another example is the progress the Council has made in supporting a performance shell on the Common. The Council could look closely at the permitted uses in various areas of Town to ensure that live performance venues are permitted in appropriate areas of Town.
Anika Lopes
Daylight Amherst's rich African American and Native American history with projects that enhance tourism, engage residents, and jazz up history class for students of all ages.
Encourage, with ability to execute, bringing renowned artists and storytellers of all mediums to Amherst to collaborate with or spotlight extraordinary local talent.
Support existing and attract new creative industries. They are the heart of the creative economy, which is fluid and evolves by definition, and important sources of commercial and cultural value.
Dorothy Pam
1. Support the Town’s taking over and adapt the soon to be redundant Firehouse at the center of town into a performing arts venue with rehearsal room, performance spaces, and perhaps dinner theatre. Provide the funding & secure grants for the physical reconstruction and provide some of the funds to maintain it. Many towns in Mass have done this using municipal funding and grants. They do not expect it to be completely self supporting, but worthy of subsidy.
2. Support the privately funded BID Performance Shell on the South Common and make a deal with Amherst College regarding parking in their adjacent lots. Town could help provide maintenance of the Shell and its surroundings.
3. Support the Drake. Support the use the Town Amity Street parking lot augmented by some of the Bank of America’s parking space for a more centrally located and visible parking structure, esp for out of towners.
Evan Ross
1. Support the establishment of an outdoor performing arts venue on the Town Common as proposed by the Business Improvement District. This will send a clear message that Amherst is invested in the performing arts and making the performing arts accessible to all.
2. Work to ensure we have the infrastructure to support arts tourism. An outdoor performing arts venue, a music venue (The Drake), and a world-class arthouse cinema can only survive if patrons come to our town to enjoy them. This means making sure we have the infrastructure to support Amherst as an arts destination, including ensuring adequate downtown parking. I have advocated for a parking structure downtown to ensure we have the parking infrastructure to support a downtown arts economy.
3. Support a multicultural center as proposed by the Community Safety Working Group so that we invest in BIPOC-led arts and culture.
George Ryan
Recommend allocation of ARPA funds to support the proposal to create a live music venue downtown ("The Drake")
Continue to support efforts by the BID and the Chamber to promote the arts and cultural tourism, such as "What's NEXT" and "Destination Amherst"
Andy Steinberg
I will support at least 3 initiatives. Possible examples: (1) One issue in the campaign is development in downtown. Amherst needs a vision for its downtown, which is also the core of the Cultural District. That vision could focus on art, visual and performance. The proposed band shell is one step to actualizing that vision. The creation of the Drake Performing Arts venue is another. (2) Consistent with that vision of downtown, the Planning Board could consider a bylaw that would reward any new building that allocates 0.5% of the cost for construction to art incorporated in the building. The PB might identify a different or better mechanism. (3) We are finally building new town buildings. The Council must be vigilant to assure compliance with the Percent for Art bylaw.
Jennifer Taub
1. Actively support – through time and financial resources – the Drake music venue. Work with the BID and the Arts and Cultural District to bring cultural events and artists working in all mediums, to Amherst
2. Work with Amherst College and UMass to promote and support our creative community. Amherst’s many cultural offerings (which we must do all that we can to sustain and expand) can be part of what attracts students to attend UMass, Hampshire and Amherst College. Thousands of parents regularly visit Amherst – for a small town, that’s a built-in audience for our arts and entertainment venues.
3. Support budgeting that prioritizes funding to maintain a robust arts curriculum in our K-12 schools.
How would you modify the Town's current budget process to include funding for the arts?
Shalini Bahi-Milne
The CDBG funding could be used for promoting arts in affordable housing units being built in town. In the meeting where we set the financial indicators, we need to discuss the value of arts and culture and figure out creative ways to support it.
Lynn Griesemer
I would like to see the creation of a public fund for the arts that allows the Town to contribute funds and seeks private donations and grants.
Mandi Jo Hanneke
Budgeting is about tradeoffs. There are many constraints on our budgets – including legal limits to how much we can raise taxes, the residents’ desire for many, many services, and the need to use these funds for both our operating needs and our capital needs.
The annual operating budget to the Town must be for the benefit of all residents. These municipal funds are intended to allow the Town to maintain high-quality services that its residents both need and want. Sometimes we focus too much on “maintaining level services” and not enough on what the trade-off of starting with that focus means, which is that nearly all of the increase in revenue each year is subsumed by increased salaries, thereby rarely allowing enough money to begin new programs or hire new people. We should consider using zero-based budgeting every few years. This is an approach to budgeting that involves developing a new budget from scratch (i.e., starting from “zero”), versus starting with the previous year's budget and adjusting it as needed. This would allow the Town to assess what funding is actually necessary to provide suitable services, contrasted with a budget that would provide above adequate or below adequate services. If done right, the Town, the Council, and the Manager would be able to finally discuss the funding of each department intelligently, instead of always starting from a “level-services” outlook, without regard to whether “level-services” is actually what we want or need for each program, and then determine appropriate funding levels based on those conversations.
Anika Lopes
Exploration of removing nice-to-have features from flexible projects or within economic vitality allotment.
Dorothy Pam
The Town of Amherst could include funds for some staff and maintenance for some of the private arts buildings just as they do for the Jones Library which is owned by a private corporation. The hope is that the increased revenue which will flow to the town will help offset the new expenditures.
Evan Ross
Arts and culture are essential to economic vitality, as they make Amherst a destination. The Town Council should include support for the arts in the Town Manager goals and budget guidelines regarding economic development. This will highlight to the Manager and staff to seek funding, whether through grants or otherwise, to support Amherst's creative economy.
George Ryan
Budgets are tight. Year after year departments are told to budget for level services; no new hires. This year however the Council has asked the Town Manager to hire 8 new Town employees and create a new Town Department. It is hard to see where the money for the arts can come from in such a budget situation. Rather than looking to Town funds accessing private or state grant funding and collaborations with UMass and the two colleges would seem a more fruitful path to funding for the arts.
Andy Steinberg
We have to recognize the pressures already on the budget. There are demands to protect or increase funding for current programs and services and to add a CRESS program and funding to achieve climate and energy goals. The Town is struggling to find revenue growth to match these expenses. Three approaches to consider:
Look to grant funding. It is not ongoing and is not part of the budget process.
Consider asking the legislature to amend the Community Preservation Act to make art an additional permissible use for CPA funds.
Determine the number of restaurant patrons who dine in conjunction with attending an art-related event and use that information to advocate for a portion of meals tax revenue for the arts.
Jennifer Taub
In addition to enthusiastically supporting the Percent for Art program, the budget should also include funding for performing arts and other cultural events that are provided free of charge to all residents. As part of implementing the Community Safety and Working Group's recommendations, the Town's budget should include funding for the new multicultural center, which will also provide a public space for a wide range of visual and performing arts.
Shalini Bahi-Milne
1. Have a special page on the town's website dedicated to the arts and cultural activities and venues and it needs to be dominantly displayed on the home page.
2. Create cultural trails in South Amherst that would connect the Yiddish book center, Eric Carle's museum, the Hitchcock center, and Atkins.
3. Have clear signage pointing to the arts and cultural points of interest in town.
4. Once the performance shell is completed, we can invite the Fine arts center to offer programs downtown.
5. Work with local developers, Amherst Affordable Housing Trust, and the cultural council to create Live/Work spaces that are affordable for artists.
Lynn Griesemer
The BID, Senator Comerford and Representative Domb recently hosted a meeting of the cultural/arts organizations of Amherst with the Executive Director of the Mass Cultural Council. I participated in this event and applaud the work of our many cultural organizations for how they have managed throughout the Pandemic. It is my understanding that they are now talking about formalizing a regular meeting of the various arts and cultural organizations in Amherst so that there is a place for ongoing conversation about collaboration among the arts organizations. I have been following this development and am encouraged by the possibilities. It is my hope that this group will grow and welcome new members.
In addition, the creation of a vibrant downtown with a renovated plaza on the North Common, the potential performance shell on the South Common, and the development of the former High Horse space as a performance venue creates an opportunity for multiple indoor and outdoor venues for performances in the downtown. These are all supported by the Town with both grant and Town funds as well as private donations.
[As for fostering new ones,] the Town Council has already voted to significantly renovate the North Common; they will be engaging in the process for hopeful approval of the performance shell on the South Common; and work regularly with the BID and Chamber as they promote Amherst as a destination for arts and culture.
Mandi Jo Hanneke
Much of what the Town can do to promote cultural tourism and better partner with existing cultural institutions is not within the purview of the Town Council. The Council can, however, encourage the Manager to collaborate with the BID and Chamber to promote the Town, advertise Amherst’s institutions, and apply for grants to help with the efforts.
Anika Lopes
Amherst's leadership in arts and culture can be enhanced by shining an innovative and interactive light on lesser known history of Amherst's African American and Native American history. With added variety within marketing to capture the widest possible audiences. The Apple TV series Dickinson is a great example of looking at our history through a modernized and inclusive lens that appeals to all ages.
Dorothy Pam
Amherst should use old and new technology to publicize all local art events. Not having children in the High School, I find it almost impossible every year to find out what the show is and when it will be performed for the public. The Town should play a role in helping plan twice a year Arts Festivals and in setting up shows and competitions. What about a one-act play competition where selected plays are given full performances and the audience votes for local “oscars.”
The same should be done for dance troupes. The Town Website should have a large and lively section dedicated to live performance of music, dance, and theatre pieces.
Evan Ross
See above answer regarding outdoor performing arts venue, infrastructure to support arts tourism, and a BIPOC-led multicultural center for ways to better promote cultural tourism. In addition, we must finally hire an Economic Development Director (EDD) and include the creative economy as a part of their job. An EDD can help build and strengthen partnerships with cultural institutions, grant-giving bodies, and the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism to better promote Amherst as an arts destination. Having a staff member who has the creative economy as part of their job description will be key.
George Ryan
Hire an Economic Development Director whose portfolio would include promotion of cultural tourism and outreach to existing cultural institutions -- the arts are an economic driver and at the moment the town has no one whose job is economic development; it does not seem to be a priority for the Town Manager
Andy Steinberg
The Town partners with the Chamber of Commerce and Business improvement district to promote tourism. Cultural tourism is already a core part of the promotion. The university and colleges also bring people to the region and do their own promotions to visit their campuses. Outreach to these institutions so that they include information about art in the community, not just on their campuses, might expand this effort.
Jennifer Taub
The Town of Amherst should prioritize promotion of cultural tourism. Supporting public art is a sound investment in the future of our community.
The Pioneer Valley has an incredibly rich and varied arts scene. Per capita, Amherst boasts an enormous number of writers, illustrators, musicians, artists and performers. We should partner with as many cultural institutions and performance venues as we possibly can to bring visitors to Amherst. With our student population alone, Amherst should absolutely be a magnet for musicians and other artists to perform.
When the Emily Dickinson Museum completes its renovation and restoration, that will be a wonderful opportunity for an “opening” event and gala – perhaps with a year-long national and international promotion of Emily Dickinson’s home having been faithfully restored to its original appearance. The grand opening of the new Jones Library will also be an opportunity to promote cultural institutions in Amherst and welcome visitors from far and wide.
