Always on the move the artist Katherine Porter died in New Mexico at 82. For several years in the late 1960s she was an integral part of a movement of emerging Boston artists. She was part of the Studio Coalition which mounted the nation's first Open Studios. She was the first new Boston artist selected for the Whitney Annual. Until the tide changed she was among the most admired abstract artists of her generation.

ArtWeek Berkshires, a county-wide celebration, includes the Eclipse Mill's show, 'Spring Forward: Recent Work from 27 Eclipse Mill Artists.' The overall festival takes place from May 17 to 27, and the Opening at the Mill will be on May 18 from 6pm to 8 pm. You are invited!

The most touching moment in the play is when the detainees talk about writing poetry on the walls. The poetry is periodically covered over; but years after Angel Island closes, the putty and paint covering the poetry begins to chip away, and the heartbroken lines of poetry reappear.

Launching a season of specially curated activations, the 23rd Serpentine Pavilion will play host to a new commissioned soundscape, a library and a series of performances and talks. 

Playwright Lloyd Suh won the Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award for his piece, "The Heart Sellers." Jennifer Vosters received the 2024 M. Elizabeth Osborn Award for her play, "Songs Without Words." ATCA presents the honors annually.

With a book by Harvey Fierstein (Broadway: Kinky Boots, Torch Song Trilogy) and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman (Broadway: Hello, Dolly!, Mame), La Cage aux Folles is based on the play by Jean Poirot that also inspired the 1978 French film of the same name and its American remake, The Birdcage, starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane.

The core concept in Daoist understanding of the breath is Qi (pronounced “chee”). Qi is not simply oxygen, but a subtle energy force believed to permeate all living things and the universe itself. It is the dynamic interplay of Yin and Yang, the fundamental polarities that govern existence. Deep, mindful breathing is seen as a way to cultivate and refine Qi, leading to improved health, inner peace, and a deeper connection to the Dao.

Under the baton of Christophe Rousset, Opera Lafayette’s production of the charmingly absurd Thalie was a triumph of artistry and innovation. With its contemporary flair, vibrant choreography, stellar performers, and infectious energy, the evening proved a delightful theatrical experience.

Tucked away in Glens Falls, New York is the small but magnificent Hyde Museum. In a rural industrial setting it is astonishing to encounter a collection of Old Masters and modern works that run the gamut from Rembrandt to Picasso and beyond.

On June 1, 2024 the Berkshire Music School, in partnership with Ventfort Hall, welcomes Brandon Patrick George, flute, for Berkshire Music School's Annual Gala to raise funds for BMS’ Community Engagement programs, including pay-what-you-wish group classes, need-based private lesson scholarships, and outreach assemblies and workshops in public schools.

The poems in this book point out split second changes, interactions within the environment, and capture the upfront miniscule moment and the constancy of rhythms, arcs and gifts from nature.

A large show featuring “The Anchors of the Berta Walker Gallery” will celebrate the artists who keep the gallery thriving: Director Grace Hopkins, Gallery Assistant Laura Shabott and Gallery Assistant/Installer Bert Yarborough. Accompanying this show will be a group show of art by former staff, including Sky Power and Erna Partoll (both of whom worked at the gallery for ten years), as well as photos of individuals, friends, and family who have made the Gallery’s existence possible (a visual “introduction of gratitude,” if you will, in our book of visuals.)

A new, inclusive touring production of "Peter Pan" that does away with stereotypes of Native Americans and women is decked in Miami. History-making Native American playwright Larissa FastHorse and director Lonny Price's new version retains the show's charm, energy, and enchanting quality.

I first met Clement Greenberg after Ken (Moffett) invited me to go to Toronto in the summer of 1981 where he and Greenberg were on a panel discussion at the Toronto Art Fair. I accompanied Greenberg and Moffett on their visit to at least 20 artists’ studios in Toronto. It was the best art education of my life!

This provocative installation at the deCordova Sculpture Park & Museum is a “dystopian meditation on the lives of marginalized groups, debt, the challenges of home ownership and living in a climate-stressed world today.”

Opera Philadelphia is bringing us Madame Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini with a twist one imagines the composer would have liked. The title role of Cio-Cio-San is a two-hander, performed both by soprano Karen Chia-Ling Ho and a puppet created by Hua Hua Zhang.  In Anthony Minghella’s production, the puppet is Cio-Cio-San’s son. Now she is the exterior, public version of Butterfly, the one Lieutenant Pinkerton falls for and seduces and abandons. The director Ethan Heard and designer Yuki Izumihara came up with this notion.

Huang Ruo’s opera, An American Soldier, opens May 12 at the new Perelman Performing Arts Center in lower Manhattan. This flexible theater is built for chamber opera, often the form new operas take.

For under a million dollars, MFA curator Kenworth Moffett, presented Jackson Pollock's Lavender Mist to the acquisitions committee. In an epic pratfall the trustees under orders from the new director, Merrill Rueppel, turned it down. In a matter of weeks it was acquired by the National Gallery. The MFA later acquired two works by the abstract expressionist artist. Several years ago a Pollock, now owned by the Norton Museum, sold for $200 million.

The Miro Quartet performed works centered around the theme of “Home” for the Death of Classical series in New York.  In the crypt of a church in Harlem, reverberating in the acoustics of its stone arches, the Quartet sang. This program felt like a homecoming, immediate and warm. 

Goodspeed has turned into The Music Hall Royale, circa 1895, for a thoroughly enjoyable production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood. All that is needed is some good British ale.

Solo exhibition of mixed-media by Berkshire-based artist John Clarke on view at Sohn Fine Art in Lenox, MA through the end of July.

In the 1590s, wannabe playwrights Nick and Nigel Bottom fail to compete with theatrical powerhouse Will Shakespeare. Nick consults with soothsayer Nostradamus who tells him that musicals are the coming thing. The outcome is the world's first musical "Omelet." Hmmm.

Whereas Chekhov's 1897 masterpiece balanced humor and pathos, this modernized rendition prioritizes laughs over hard-hitting emotion. Schreck’s interpretation charms audiences with its humor....up to a point. Her Vanya, the titular ‘hero,’ may be amusing, but he lacks heroic dimension.

Ronnie Larsen Presents and Plays of Wilton presents the world premiere production of "Family Tree" by Erin K. Considine. "Family Tree" is a moving and funny play with layers.

Judy Kensley McKie Carving the Surface is the latest exhibition at Gallery NAGA. In the span of four decades she has been been among the most renowned artists of her generation.