The Clark to Screen Zurbarán and His Twelve Sons

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — On Thursday, Oct. 27, at 6 p.m., the Clark Art Institute screens Zurbarán and His Twelve Sons, the third presentation in its five-part Film and Art series, which runs through November.

The free showing is open to the public and takes place in the Clark’s auditorium. Screenwriter John Healey introduces the film. The documentary (2020, 72 minutes), directed by Arantxa Aguirre, explores the meaning of Jacob and His Twelve Sons, a series of thirteen canvases painted by Spanish Baroque artist Francisco de Zurbarán (1598–1664).

Traveling from the Meadows Museum, Dallas, Texas; to the Frick Collection, New York; and to the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, the film follows these paintings, probably commissioned for a cathedral in the Americas, that disappeared for a century until they were acquired at an auction by the London merchant James Mendez. A few years later, in 1756, Bishop Richard Trevor of Durham made a significant gesture in support of English Jews when he obtained the paintings and hung them in his dining room at Auckland Castle, where they remain to this day.

The next film of the Film and Art series is Mur Murs, screening on Thursday, November 10, at 7:30 pm in the Clark’s auditorium.

The event is free and no registration is required. For more information, visit clarkart.edu/events.

 


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Lanesborough Elementary Sees Modest Drop in Absenteeism

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Lanesborough Elementary School this fall has seen a reversal of a trend that has plagued public schools both locally and nationally in recent years.
 
"This time last school year, we had 635 absences already," Principal Nolan Pratt told the Mount Greylock Regional School Committee on Thursday. "This year, we only have 506, which is a significant decrease. And I think we've had more days of school than last year. It's got to be pretty close.
 
"That's a great step in the right direction of what we're doing."
 
Chronic absenteeism — defined as missing 10 percent or more of school days in a given year — has been a hot topic in education.
 
According to a report this September from the Brookings Institution, the rate of chronic absenteeism nationally went from 15 percent in the 2018-19 school year to 28 percent in 2021-22.
 
School Committee member Ursula Maloy asked Pratt why he thought the number of days missed at the elementary school dropped by 20 percent in the first 50 days of the 2024-25 school year.
 
"I think there's two pieces at play," Pratt said. "One is, we were adamant about people being at school. Nurse [Kathy] Larson and I have been on the same page about making sure when kids are out we're like, 'Hey, we know that you're out. What's going on? How do we get you back?'
 
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