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Mass MoCA Releases Fall Program

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art announced its Fall programming for this year featuring an extensive amount of diverse exhibits and events that residents and tourists can look forward to. 
 
Upcoming Exhibitions:
 
On View: Beginning Oct. 29
 
Beginning October 29, contemporary American artist EJ Hill will be having his largest exhibit to date "Brake Run Helix" as his first solo museum show. 
 
According to the press release, the exhibit features a massive installation that incorporates a stage for performances as well as a sculptural installation inspired by the form and function of rollercoasters." 
 
This rideable sculpture fills Mass MoCA's 100-yard-long Building 5 gallery and will incorporate paintings, stage performances, and freestanding sculptures
 
According to the release, Hill considers roller coasters as a public monument to the possibility of attaining joy which he notes is "a critical component of social equity."
 
"Hill's practice focuses on experiences that intermingle public struggle, endurance, trauma, and joy, whether within athletics, religion, the American education system, or amusement parks," the press release says.
 
"In the United States, amusement parks were contested sites throughout Jim Crow-era desegregation efforts for equitable access to pleasure, leisure, and recreation."
 
Mass MoCA will be hosting a member preview reception on Oct. 28 starting at 6 p.m. to celebrate the opening of the exhibition. Tickets cost $20, or are free for Mass MoCA members.
 
On View: Beginning Dec.17
 
Visual artist, composer, and musician Jason Moran's exhibit "Black Stars: Writing in the Dark" will be on view starting Dec. 17 in Robert W. Wilson Building 6. 
 
According to the press release this exhibition explores the embodied experience of live music and the "residues and memories" music making leaves behind.
 
"These pieces emerge from my performance practice, my body in relationship to the piano and to bodies in the audience," the press release said.  
 
Upcoming Events:
 
Sept. 8 though 10, starting at 8 p.m.
 
Writer, choreographer, and director Jack Ferver will be premiering their first full-length work in three years. 
 
According to the press release, Ferver describes "the queer" as someone who is told by society that their life isn't natural and doesn't exist, and therefore is supernatural and has chosen not to exist.
 
In their performance, Ferver weaponizes this vantage point to view and hold our overwhelming global failures with cold journalism to shaky intimacy. 
 
Tickets start at $25
 
Oct. 6 & Nov. 10, 5 until 7 p.m.
 
Experience the work of Assets for Artists' current artists-in-residence. Open Studios will take place in Building 13 and Building 34. 
 
Learn more about each artist cohort on the Assets for Artists website.
 
Free admission
 
Oct. 8 at 8 p.m.
 
Mass MoCA will be screening the new documentary "Mija," which chronicles the emotional and complex stories of Doris Anahi Muñoz and Jacks Haupt, the daughters of undocumented immigrants from Mexico, navigating their careers in the music industry. 
 
There will be a Q&A and performance with Muñoz following the performance.
 
Tickets start at $18 
 
Oct. 21 & 22 at 8 p.m.
 
Created by arts collective TRIBE, led by artistic director and choreographer Shamel Pitts, "Touch of RED" has its world premiere at Mass MoCA that is co-presented by Jacob's Pillow. 
 
According to the press release, "Touch of RED" energy builds not out of aggression or combat but through an electrifying effeminacy that heals. 
 
Tickets start at $20
 
Oct. 29 at 6 p.m.
 
Mass MoCA invites people to an evening of cocktails, dinner, and a lively auction in support of the museum's mission. Tickets are available beginning in early September.
 
Nov. 5 at 8 p.m.
 
Sophie Allison, aka "Soccer Mommy," will perform pop-inflected indie rock with American indie rock band Lightning Bug. 
 
Nov. 9 at 6 p.m.
 
Marking the presentation of Rose B. Simpson's artwork at multiple New England venues, Mass MoCA brings together curators who have brought the artist's sculpture to the region to discuss the curatorial decisions, processes, and collaborative experiences behind each of Simpson's projections from ideation to execution.         
 
Free for all, RSVPs open Sept. 14.
 
Nov. 19 at 8 p.m.
 
Theater artist Taylor Mac returns for a conversation and preview of his new work "The Bark of Millions," which celebrates queer luminaries throughout history. 
 
Tickets start at $20
 
Dec. 3 at 8 p.m.
 
J. Hoard brings his original composition and arrangements to Mass MoCA, melding the core of the Black church and the allure of Broadway.
 
Tickets start at $18

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Federal Cuts Include North Adams Culvert Project

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Trump administration's cut $90 million in disaster prevention aid for the state including a culvert project on Galvin Road.
 
The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant program was providing funding to 18 communities, the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. 
 
Engineering for the Galvin Road culvert was one of only two Berkshire projects being funded. The other was $81,720 to Hinsdale to power a public safety building.
 
The two largest disbursements were $50 million to Chelsea and Everett for flood resilience that was approved during Trump's first term, and $12 million to DCR for a waterfront project in Boston. 
 
Many of these endeavors have been years in the making and the funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency has already been appropriated. 
 
The governor's office said cities and towns have moved forward with expensive permitting applications and engineering and design plans because of FEMA's identification of their project as a future recipient of federal BRIC funds. 

"In recent years, Massachusetts communities have been devastated by severe storms, flooding and wildfires. We rely on FEMA funding to not only rebuild but also take steps to protect against future extreme weather," said Gov. Maura Healey.

"But the Trump administration has suddenly ripped the rug out from under cities and towns that had been promised funding to help them upgrade their roads, bridges, buildings and green spaces to mitigate risk and prevent disasters in the future. This makes our communities less safe and will increase costs for residents, municipalities and businesses."

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal noted the difficult flooding and wildfires the state has had to deal and said the funds would have provided assistance to at-risk communities. 

"The BRIC program was established by Congress in 2018, during the first Trump administration, to reduce the hazard risk of communities confronting natural disasters," said the congressman.
 
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