Clark Art Presents Constant Smiles and Ava Mirzadegan

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Clark Art Institute's Music at the Manton Concert spring series concludes with a performance by Constant Smiles and Ava Mirzadegan on Sunday, May 5 at 5 pm.
 
The performance takes place in the Clark's auditorium, located in the Manton Research Center.
 
According to a press release:
 
Constant Smiles began in 2009 in leader Ben Jones' home of Martha's Vineyard. Inspired by the island's now-defunct community record store Aboveground Records, the group made their live debut as a noise duo opening for Ralph White (Bad Livers). Fourteen indie-folk albums later, Constant Smiles returns to their electronic roots with their latest release Kenneth Anger, evoking the eponymous filmmaker with hypnotic, '80s-inspired synth classics that examine how rituals and community can heal feelings of isolation.
 
Ava Mirzadegan opens for Constant Smiles. Mirzadegan writes quiet songs about heartbreak, longing, letting go, and befriending the night sky. Accompanied most often by fingerpicked nylon string guitar, her work rings of unembellished honesty.
 
Tickets $10 ($8 members, $7 students, $5 children 15 and under). Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. Advance registration encouraged. For more information and to register, visit clarkart.edu/events.
 
Presented in collaboration with Belltower Records, North Adams.

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Cross-Commonwealth Walk Highlights Fight to Change State Flag

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A small but growing group of activists from around New England on Friday began a planned three-week trek across the commonwealth to deliver a message to Gov. Maura Healey.
 
David Detmold, 69, of Montague, is the leader of an effort to raise awareness about the Massachusetts Indigenous legislative agenda.
 
On Friday afternoon, he took a break after hiking from the New York State line to talk about that agenda in the shadow of the Williamstown Meetinghouse, home of First Congregational Church.
 
Detmold said the group's objectives boil down to three main points: listen to Native nations, defend sacred homelands, honor all people.
 
On the first goal, a major point of emphasis is a decades-long campaign to change the Massachusetts state flag.
 
As the group makes its way east toward the State House in Boston, it is handing out literature explaining some of its causes, including one that breaks down the objectionable elements of the commonwealth's seal, which adorns the flag.
 
One element that jumps out: the image of what appears to be a colonialist wielding a sword above the image of a Native American.
 
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