Hannah Van Sickle

“By supporting the growth and development of Black leaders in the community, we can create a more inclusive and equitable environment for all,” says Dubois Thomas, lead facilitator of the Blackshires Leadership Accelerator Program, which convened the inaugural cohort of 15 emerging and experienced leaders from the Black community on March 10 to participate in the first in a trio of leadership workshops.

Farmer Jen Salinetti, owner of Woven Roots Farm, took a break from nurturing the land that nourishes our community to send an email on Monday singing the praises of community supported agriculture and planting the season’s very first seeds.

“Second chances are a way of life, and composting is great because it’s the end and it’s the beginning … and that’s the beautiful thing,” says North Adams-native John Pitroff, who founded Second Chance Composting—the only community-based compost operation in North County.

The concepts of writer, scholar, and activist W.E.B. Du Bois have been central to the work of Great Barrington native turned Brooklyn-based writer and artist Delano Burrowes, who will deliver the 26th Annual W.E.B. Du Bois Lecture at Bard College at Simon's Rock on Monday, Feb. 20 in honor of Du Bois' birthday on February 23.

Karen Allen—whose talents run the gamut from performing on Broadway to opening a fiber arts shop in downtown Great Barrington—ultimately evolved from starting in front of the camera to orchestrating from the wings, as evidenced by her directorial debut of “A Tree. A Rock. A Cloud.,” now available to stream on global digital HD internet and satellite platforms.

"We are trying to raise as much money, and as much awareness, as possible," says Monument Mountain Regional High School student Tyler Sprague seeking support for what has become an annual service trip to the Dominican Republic in hopes of breathing new life and hope into some of its denizens.

It's better to have the diagnosis and the services available, regardless of whether or not you use them, than to miss out on getting your child the help he or she needs—it’s not going to do any harm.

"Landing Egret," a static sculpture by Joel Hotchkiss of Hotchkiss Mobiles, took flight to adorn a new corporate facility at the Des Moines International Airport in Iowa.

Each year, 40,000 gun deaths occur in the United States. At its root, Swords to Plowshares is focused on reducing gun violence in the communities in which their events take place. By converting weapons of death into tools of life, the goal of reducing senseless gun deaths is one step closer.

As part of an ongoing effort to welcome a diverse array of neighbors to area arts organizations, SCAN is again partnering with Volunteers in Medicine Berkshires (VIM) to host a free Spanish language screening of Disney’s “MCFarland, USA” at The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, on Saturday, October 29 at 7 p.m.

In her graduation speech, Phillips acknowledged the Berkshire Dream Center’s Bright Morningstar Kitchen Workforce Development Training Program as, “for everybody, but especially for people at my age” who—for one reason or another—have encountered obstacles to their ultimate success despite being hard workers.

At present, the Pantry helps feed around 450 individuals a week—a figure close to four times the number being fed pre-pandemic—thanks to a group of active and dedicated volunteers and a lone part-time paid employee working 10 hours a week.

Next week, Washington will make her way to the Berkshires—via Bard College at Simon’s Rock—where she will deliver the keynote address at the 9th annual ThinkFOOD conference on October 15.

Suzi Banks Baum has embraced the mess and found a creative outlet for making sense of it—as evidenced by her award-winning essay “Connect: Disconnect,” which delves into adolescent life, sexual exploration, sexual identity, confusion, and education (or lack thereof) in midwestern American culture in the 1970s—issues that remain highly relevant in today's world.

The timing is serendipitous for a trio of upstate artists who—having taken inspiration from the beauty of the Hudson Valley to create unique works of art that embody the complexity of the natural world—are part of a joint exhibition at Hudson Hall.

On Sunday, September 18, Ailey II—the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s second company, founded in 1974 by the eponymous American choreographer—will perform live at PS21: Performance Spaces for the 21st Century as part of Equine Advocates' 21st Annual Gala.