We have an exciting burst of programs for October before we close down for the winter.

Presentations

We have a geology talk on Saturday, October 5, at 10:00 a.m. ($10) “Landscape Geology: Image Meets Science in the Berkshires” will be presented by Professor Paul Karabinos, Chair and Edna McConnell Clark Professor of Geology at Williams College.

Professor Karabinos has done extensive mapping and age dating of the rocks of the Berkshires. We live in a fascinating area where around 450 million years (My) ago an island arc (such as Japan) crashed into a pre-north American continent as an older Atlantic Ocean (Iapetus) was consumed (subducted). Most rocks in Sandisfield are metamorphic (schist, gneiss and quartzite) more than 400 million years old.

World-famous photographer Amy Arbus will present a slide show on October 13 at 5:30 p.m. (free) in conjunction with the opening of the Women in Photography exhibit (see Art in the Gallery section in this article).

Arbus teaches portraiture at many places including the International Center of Photography, and the Fine Arts Work Center. Her photographs have appeared in over 100 publications and several books. Between 1980 to 1990, the Village Voice ran a column with Arbus’ photographs entitled "On the Street" which was later turned into a book with the same name. Her work is in the permanent collection of the New York Public Library and the Museum of Modern Art.

Diane Meier, “Transforming Care During Serious Illness”

Dr. Diane Meier, McArthur Genius Award winner, will close the lecture series on Saturday, October 19, at 10:00 a.m., with a talk entitled, “Transforming Care During Serious Illness.” ($10)

Dr. Meier, is the founder, Director Emerita and Strategic Medical Advisor of the Center to Advance Palliative Care in New York. Her efforts to improve and increase access to quality health care in the United States for people living with serious illness are widely acknowledged. In 2010, HealthLeadersMedia named her as one of “20 People Who Make Healthcare Better in the United States,” and in 2013 she was elected to both the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences. Under her leadership the number of palliative care programs in U.S. hospitals has tripled since 2002. She has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers and served as a Health and Aging Policy Fellow in Washington, D.C.

Music

Two local musicians will perform at the Arts Center in October. On Sunday, October 6 at 4:00 p.m. ($20), Bill Taylor and Friends will perform several of Bill’s pieces which are classically inspired with hints of jazz and show tunes; these are trios, duos, solos, and quartets; and a few songs, including two 20th century classical pieces, Shostakovich’s Four Waltzes and Saint-Saens’ Tarantella. The group consists of two woodwind players, Gerold and Cathy Mohn, French horn player Stewart Edelstein and singer Jaye Alison Moscariello. Bill Taylor is a composer and pianist who in 2023 and 2024 was a composer at the Mostly Modern Festival where his chamber pieces Regenerate, Heal, Cool, Normalizing Evil and others were performed. Tickets are available at $20 each.

Two weeks later, on Saturday, October 19 beginning at 7:00 p.m., the Arts Center welcomes back Berkshire native Bobby Sweet and his trio featuring pedal steel guitarist Pete Adams and vocalist Lara Tupper ($20). Between 2008 and 2016, Sweet, a multi-talented performer and storyteller, toured the U.S. and Canada as lead guitarist with Arlo Guthrie, which brought him to such acclaimed venues as Carnegie Hall, the New Orleans Jazz Fest, and Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion. He has released seven solo albums and his songs have aired on hit television series such as Nashville, Touched by An Angel, Walker Texas Ranger, CSI, and Judging Amy.

Art in the Gallery

The galley is open to the public for free on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and during performances.

Until October 5, the Third Annual Daniel Manacher Prize for Young Artists will continue to feature the work of several young local artist (ages 17-26) s including prize winners Mico Aldmar Mendoza, Aidan White (www.aidan-white.com) and Warwick Willow (www.warwickwillow.com/about). The show also includes the work of last year’s winner Laina Falcon (www.falconlaina.com).

The Illuminated: Women in Photography exhibit will open October 13 at 4:00 p.m. and continue through November 10 at 6:00 p,m. This is an exploration of the female brain function. The gender component of emotional memory is linked to the amygdala (an almond-shaped emotion locus in both hemispheres of the brain). For women, the left side of the amygdala appears to drive emotional recall much more vividly than men. Women also have nine brain regions actively involved in the imprinting and commitment to memory of emotionally rich stimuli, whereas men have only two. This show is both a celebration and an inquiry into the feminine nature of memory. How does what we remember — and forget — influence artistic process and output? Each artist, through her own personal experience, reveals how memories can function as the ultimate fabric of self-expression and storytelling. As part of the opening celebration, the celebrated photographer Amy Arbus will present a slideshow on October 13 at 5:30 p.m.