Pittsfield Artswalk Returns Friday

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — New indoor and outdoor art exhibits will be on view on May 6 from 5 to 8 pm.
 
Download the Downtown Pittsfield app in the App Store or on Google Play to follow a virtual walking tour of art.
 
Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. will also present Indoors Out! Free Kids' Paint & Sip on Friday, May 6, 5:30-7:30 pm, at the parklet and outdoor seating area at The Marketplace Café, 53 North Street. This free event is best suited for ages 5 to 12, although older children are welcome. All materials and instruction are provided. Kids will be able to choose to paint Spring Trees or Swirly Flowers. Snacks and juice will also be provided. Children must be accompanied by an adult and masks are required.
 
The rain location for Indoors Out! Free Kids' Paint & Sip is the Conference Room at 33 Dunham Mall (the Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. office). Notice will be made on Facebook (@DowntownPittsfield) if the event is moved to the rain location. 
 
Soma's Aromas, 81 East Street, will present Jennifer Johnson "Shadowboxes" for the month of May. Jennifer's shadowboxes are handmade using found, recycled, refurbished, metal detected, and mudlarked items from around the world, including Scotland, Spain, the Amalfi Coast of Italy, England, and right here in the Berkshires. 
 
There will be a reception with the artist on May 6, 5 to 8 pm, during the First Fridays Artswalk. Hot Plate Brewing Co. will pour samples, and Jennifer will create a shadowbox in real time to show her process. 
 
Hotel on North, 297 North Street, will feature "Rhythm and Hues" by Michael Fabrizio through May 31. There will be a reception with the artist on Friday, May 6, 5 to 8 pm, as part of First Fridays Artswalk. 
 
"My paintings are, despite their abstract nature, representative of the dialogue we all have with living, of the contact between us and our world. They are an art made of many moments of observations of life, long and short, sweet and stinging," said Fabrizio. "They are a collection of impressions, messages from living, and thoughts for the heart. They represent expressions and impressions, of my reaction, wonder and interaction with my world. They are my attempts, as Shakespeare said, to see the sermon in a stone." 
 
NUarts Studios & Gallery at 311 North Street, the largest artist and artisan studio collective in downtown Pittsfield, will host Open Studios on Friday, May 6, 5 to 8 pm during Artswalk. The artists opening their studios for the May 6 Open Studios are Caroline Kelley, Shany Porras, Sally Tiska Rice, and Ilene Richard. These artists will offer artwork and wares for sale and will share information about their art process and inspiration. 
 
Dr. Mark Mellinger will also host Open Studios during the First Fridays Artswalk on May 6, 5 to 8 pm. Visit Dr. Mellinger's studio in the Agricultural Bank Building, 100 North Street, Room 322. While continuing his psychoanalytic practice, Mark paints, does collage, and makes constructions of found objects in his Pittsfield studio. 
 
Two artists from the Guild of Berkshire Artists will show their work during the month of May at TKG Real Estate, 137 North Street. Featured artists are Susan Lynch Smith and Kayla Corby. There will be a reception as part of First Fridays Artswalk on Friday, May 6, 5 to 8 pm. The work will be up during the month of May and can be viewed when TKG Real Estate is open. 
 
The Brothership Building Window at 141 North Street, curated by IS183 Art School of the Berkshires, will feature Winter Study, by Katherine Finkelstein, May 6-30. Katherine Finkelstein is an artist and the founder and director of Motherbox Gallery, an exhibition space she has run out of her Brooklyn apartment since 2016. She teaches photography at the Buxton School in Williamstown. 
 
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Pittsfield, 175 Wendell Avenue, will present a show by a husband-wife team, "Valenti and Valenti – An Evening of Art and Poetry," for the month of May. There will be an opening reception on Friday, May 6, 5 to 8 pm, as part of First Fridays Artswalk, and the art will be on display through May 27. 
 
As a special attraction for this event, Dan Valenti will join Poet Jerri Chaplin of Charleston, SC, and author Paul Kocak of Syracuse, NY, as each read from their newly published collaborative book, "Third Person Singular: 33 1/3 Poems Each" (Planet Media Books-2022). 
 
The reading will take place from 6 to 7 pm on Friday, May 6. 
 
Senior AP Art & Design students will present their senior portfolio sustained investigations at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, 28 Renne Avenue, for the month of May. The exhibit will be on view during First Fridays Artswalk on May 6 from 5 to 8 pm; and there will be an opening reception on Wednesday, May 11, 6 to 7 pm. 
 
Featured artists are Isabella Ameen, Antonia Bedard, Isabelle Berkel, Dale Christiana, Cody Clemons, Charlotte Coco, Shyah Figuero, Kaden Griffin, Lucien Nash, Sophia Nguyen, Mia Powers, Mackenzi Ressler, Paige Webster, and Isabella Witherell. 
 
MCLA Pittsfield at 66 Allen Street will feature an art show by JC Innocence and Delano Mills for the May First Fridays Artswalk. There will be a reception as part of First Fridays Artswalk from 5 to 7 pm on May 6. 
 
The Berkshire Museum, 39 South Street, will offer free admission to their newest exhibition, "Project Vaccine: Our Best Defense" ("Proyecto Vacunas: Nuesta mejor defensa") on Friday, May 6, 5 to 8 pm, during First Fridays Artswalk. Learn about vaccines and their development, viral transmission, and the many steps and countless professionals involved in the creation of—and rollout of— vaccines. This is a bilingual exhibition.
 
"Project Vaccine: Our Best Defense" was created by the Museum of Science, Boston, in collaboration with Moment Factory, and was made possible through support provided by the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center. 
 
The Marketplace Cafe, 53 North Street, will present mixed-media portraits by Mollie Kellogg for the month of May. There will be a reception with the artist as part of First Fridays Artswalk from 5 to 7 pm on May 6. 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 

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J Smegal Donates $10K to BFit Challenge

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— A local business has boosted the Pittsfield Fire Department's BFit Challenge fundraiser by $10,000, doubling last year's total.

When Jason Smegal, owner of J Smegal Roofing and Gutters, became aware of firefighters' increased risk for occupational cancer and the fundraiser for early detection, he knew he wanted to help out.

"I thought it was a great cause," he said. "And I also thought it was great that all the money stayed local and stayed in Mass, so we are directly able to help all the people that help us."

Every February, members of the department travel to Boston to climb the stairs of the TD Garden in support of the New England Fire Cancer Fund. First responders, military members, and other community members each raise $300 to participate in the event powered by National Grid.

Fundraising has grown exponentially in just a few years. For the 2024 BFit event, the department raised just over $12,000; for 2025, it expects to collect as much as $25,000.

Co-captain of the local BFit team Robert Leary said he first participated in 2020 with just himself and another firefighter, that year only raising $600. Fifteen firefighters and five friends and family members have already signed up this year.

"Jay and his company stepped up and said they'd help sponsor us and offered us a tremendously generous donation of $10,000, which has really helped with our fundraising goals," Leary said.

"Each year we've gone up. Basically all of the money, 100 percent of proceeds goes to fighting early detection for cancer in firefighters. So it's between screenings, between early diagnosis, and any support that we can give firefighters and it does stay all local within the state of Massachusetts so it is pretty beneficial to us."

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