Agenda

Photographers Click at Westfield State

Through Oct. 20: Westfield State University’s Arno Maris Campus Gallery is hosting “Through the Iris, the Photographic Perspective,” an exhibit featuring the work of local photographers Betsy Feick, Elizabeth Garcia, Bill Hughes, and Dan Minicucci. Feick’s collection, “The Meadows,” highlights local rustic scenery from Northampton. “My specialized infrared camera captures a part of the light spectrum invisible to our human eyes,” she said. “My slightly distorting wide-angle lenses put the viewer right in the picture and add an unearthly quality to the photos.” Garcia’s “Nebulous” is an abstract collection of photographs described as “science fiction-like.” There is a lack of clarity in terms of what subject matter the images are conveying and a slight level of confusion about how they were conceived. The collection “has cohesively morphed my visual aesthetics in painting and photography into an abstract world of suspension,” she said. “The ability to initiate imagination and pondering in the minds of others is an admirable gift that inspires me and sustains my intrinsic visual engagement as an artist and viewer.” Meanwhile, Hughes’ “Dream Sketches,” she said, “are pictures which explore visual possibilities that may exist when time, space, and motion are allowed to accumulate through the lens of a camera and be recorded. Finally, Minicucci’s photos reflect the more than 15 years he has spent documenting the flora, fauna, and scenery of the Westfield River Watershed. There will be an artist’s reception on Oct. 4 from 5:30 to 8 p.m., with live music and refreshments. Normal gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday, 2 to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 2 to 7 p.m.; and Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. The gallery is located in WSU’s Ely Campus Center.

 

World Affairs Council Annual Meeting

Oct. 10: Hampshire College President Jonathan Lash will speak at the World Affairs Council of Western Mass. Annual Meeting & Dinner in the Mahogany Room of the Springfield Sheraton Hotel in downtown Springfield. More details will be forthcoming. Lash is an internationally recognized expert on practical solutions to global sustainability and development challenges. Before he became president of Hampshire College in 2011, he served as president of World Resources Institute (WRI), an environmental think tank with offices in eight countries and partners in more than 50 countries. WRI is an international leader on issues ranging from low-carbon development to sustainable transportation. From 1993 to 1999, Lash was co-chair of the President’s Council on Sustainable Development, a group of government, business, labor, civil-rights, and environmental leaders appointed by Bill Clinton that developed visionary recommendations for strategies to promote sustainable development. He played a key role in the creation and success of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, which in 2007 issued the highly influential “Call to Action” on global warming. Prior to WRI, Lash held posts as director of Vermont Law School’s Environmental Law Center, Vermont secretary of Natural Resources, and Vermont commissioner of Environmental Conservation, as well as a federal prosecutor. For more information on the event, call (413) 733-0110.

 

Brown, Warren to Debate

Oct. 10: Massachusetts citizens will soon cast ballots for U.S. senator in a nationally followed race. On behalf of the Western Mass. U.S. Senate Debate Consortium, the Springfield Public Forum will serve as coordinator of one of the debates between Republican Sen. Scott Brown and Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren. Slated for Symphony Hall, this will be the only debate between the candidates held in Western Mass. Tickets are required, but are free and available on a first-come, first-served basis at various locations in the area, including the Economic Development Council, 1441 Main St., Springfield, as well as from event partners Mass Live, New England Public Radio, the Daily Hampshire Gazette, the Republican, UMass Amherst, the Amherst Valley Press Club, Western New England University, WGBY, WGGB (abc40 and Fox 6), WSHM (CBS 3), and WWLP (NBC 22). Tickets are general admission only.

 

Western Mass.

Business Expo

Oct. 11: BusinessWest will again present the Western Mass. Business Expo. The event, which made its debut last fall at the MassMutual Center in downtown Springfield, will feature more than 180 exhibitors, seminars, special presentations, breakfast and lunch programs, and the year’s most extensive networking opportunity. Comcast Business Class will again be the presenting sponsor of the event. Details, including breakfast and lunch agendas, seminar topics, and featured speakers, will be printed in the pages of BusinessWest over the coming months. For more information or to purchase a booth, call (413) 781-8600, e-mail [email protected], or visit www.wmbexpo.com.

 

Novelist, Playwright to Speak at STCC

Oct. 12: Andrea Hairston, novelist and playwright, will visit the region as part of the Ovations series, sponsored by the Chicopee Savings Bank Endowment for Academic Excellence, the STCC Office of Academic Affairs, and the STCC Honors Program. There will two performances, at 10:10 and 11:15 a.m., in Scibelli Hall. Both are free and open to the public. Hairston is the Artistic Director of Chrysalis Theatre. For more than 30 years, Hairston has created original music, dance, and mask productions. In 1997, Hairston turned her interest to science fiction and wrote a sci-fi theatre jam, Archangels of Funk. She also published her first sci-fi novel, Mindscape, which won the Carl Brandon Parallax Award. Tony Award winning playwright Pearl Cleage said, “Andrea Hairston’s Mindscape starts with a vision of the way things ought to be and then takes us along on the amazing journey that must be undertaken to make that vision a reality.” Hairston has spent her career exploring the links between arts and science. This multi-faceted presentation will feature readings, music, and performance. For additional information about the Ovations series, contact Philip O’Donoghue at (413) 755-4233 or [email protected].

 

An Evening of

Classical Music

Oct. 19: The New England Farm Workers’ Council, the North End Educational Development Fund, the Student Prince & Fort Restaurant, and the Puerto Rican/Latino Leadership Council will present “Diversecity,” an evening at Springfield’s Symphony Hall with the internationally renowned Puerto Rico Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring 70 musicians and guest singers. The symphony will be conducted by Maestro Rafael Enrique Irizarry III, with special guest Kevin Rhodes. The event, starting at 7:30 p.m. and hosted by Bax & O’Brien of Rock 102, is intended to bring local residents together in celebration of the strength, diversity, and cultural richness of this region and its people. Tickets may be purchased at symphonyhall.com or ticketmaster.com.

 

Writer, Essayist to Speak

Nov. 5: Anne Fadiman, a writer, essayist, and author whose first book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, won her a National Critics Book Circle Award, will visit the region as part of the Ovations series, sponsored by the Chicopee Savings Bank Endowment for Academic Excellence, the STCC Office of Academic Affairs, and the STCC Honors Program. There will two performances, at 10:10 and 11:15 a.m., in Scibelli Hall. Both are free and open to the public. The Washington Post called Fadiman’s book “an intriguing, spirit-lifting, extraordinary exploration.” The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down tells the story of Lia Lee, the daughter of Hmong immigrants from Laos, who was diagnosed with epilepsy in 1981. What follows is the story of a clash of cultures as well as an examination of the U.S. healthcare system. The book is often taught in university literary journalism courses across the country and serves as a casebook for cross-cultural sensitivity. Fadiman also is the author of Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader and At Large and At Small: Familiar Essays. She currently resides in Whately and is a professor of English and writing mentor at Yale University. For additional information about the Ovations series, contact Philip O’Donoghue at (413) 755-4233 or [email protected].

 

40 Under Forty Reunion

Nov. 8: BusinessWest will stage a reunion featuring the first six classes of its 40 Under Forty program. Details on the event will be forthcoming. What is known is that it will be staged at the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House in Holyoke, and will be open only to 40 Under Forty winners, sponsors, and their guests, as well as judges of the first six contests. For more information on the event, call (413) 781-8600, or e-mail [email protected].