Community Calendar

Title: Everyday Sublime
Deadline: Submit work online May 10–June 7, 2026
Deliver work: Aug 1, 7-9 pm; Aug 2, 10 am-12 pm
Submission Fees: $38 for 3 entries; $7 for one additional entry, maximum 4 entries per artist Size limit: 2-D work, no wider than 26” and no taller than 72”; 3-D work, must not exceed 18 lbs. and 26 “ any direction
Juror: Andrew S. Yang
City/Town: Amherst
Website: www.gallerya3.com
Description: Traditionally, the sublime describes awe, wonder, and sometimes fear in the face of nature’s immensity. It holds a special place in art history in its challenge to artists to portray personal experiences in an impersonal universe. When the world can feel unnervingly tamed or overwhelmingly all-consuming, where and how does the Everyday Sublime present itself? Juror Andrew S. Yang lives in the Pioneer Valley and is a professor at the School of the Art Institute Chicago. Exhibit runs Aug 6-29.
Info: Full info on submissions: www.gallerya3.com

The Friends of the Westfield Athenaeum is seeking donations of gently used adult and children’s books, DVDs, and jigsaw puzzles for their upcoming book sale. Donations will only be accepted by curbside drop-off at the back door of the First United Methodist Church, 16 Court St., Westfield, during the weeks of April 6-11 and April 13-18 as follows: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10-1; Tuesday and Thursday from 4-7, and Saturday from 9-12.
Please note that we cannot accept musty or damaged books, encyclopedias, dictionaries, textbooks, Reader’s Digest books, or outdated manuals, travel books, or self-help books.
The book sale will be held at the Church on Thursday, April 23, 10-7; Friday, April 24, 10-5; and Saturday, April 25, 10-2. On Thursday only, we are offering a $5.00 discount for educators (bring your ID!) and new Friends members joining at the door.
The Friends of the Westfield Athenaeum is an all-volunteer 501(C)3 not-for-profit organization that supports the programs and services of the Westfield Athenaeum.

Please join us in a celebration of Happier Valley Comedy and the incredible growth of our performing community at the 2026 Happiness Festival Fundraiser featuring improv shows, super cool raffles, and an improv jam.

12:30-1:30 Happier Family Comedy Show
2:00-3:00 Long Form Improv Comedy with Sweet & Salty, Seriously?!, and The Silver Lining
3:30-4:30 Musical Improv with The Overtones, One Night Only, and The Altos
5:00-6:00 Long Form Improv Comedy with Catch That Eddy, Gluttony, and Oops All Animals
6:30-7:30 Open Improv Jam
8:00-9:00 The Understudies perform Musical Improv with Puppets
9:15 Raffle Drawing

All proceeds for this event support HVC's commitment to foster and grow a community of inclusion, kindness, and belonging.​
​Thanks for helping us make the Happy Valley HAPPIER!

New Exhibits at Gallery A3 in May

Mixed media collages on paper by Sue Curran join acrylic paintings on glass by GK Khalsa at Gallery
A3 in May. The exhibits are on display May 7–30, with the Opening Reception on May 8, 5–7 pm.

Join the Worthington Library for a special author event with Jedediah Berry, whose novel The Naming Song won the 2025 Massachusetts Book Award in Fiction. As part of the library’s monthly book club selection, attendees are invited to read The Naming Song in advance and then gather for a rich conversation with the author. Berry will share a reading from the novel, discuss its imaginative world and central themes, and take questions from the audience in a Q&A to follow.

The Naming Song is a wildly imaginative speculative novel that explores the power and politics of language through the story of an unnamed courier working for an authoritarian Naming Committee. New words become tools of control, and resistance brews among silent radicals and forgotten ghosts in a society where naming is both salvation and erasure. The Naming Song is a thrilling, thought-provoking adventure that fully embraces the beauty and power of what cannot be Named.

This program is sponsored by the Mass Book Awards Speakers Bureau and is presented in collaboration with the Massachusetts Center for the Book.

JEDEDIAH BERRY is the author of The Naming Song, which won the Massachusetts Book Award for fiction and was a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize. His first novel, The Manual of Detection, won the Crawford Award and the Hammett Prize, and was adapted for broadcast by BBC Radio 4. Together with his partner, writer Emily Houk, he runs Ninepin Press, an independent publisher of fiction, poetry, and games in unusual shapes. He lives in Western Massachusetts.

Join us for an artist talk with photographer David Ricci about his latest photobook Hunter Gatherer: Salvaged Stories of American Culture (MW Editions, 2026). This decade-long project reveals America's complex cultural history through objects and scenes discovered at resale marketplaces nationwide, exploring themes of consumerism, objectification, racism, beauty standards, pop culture, and Christianity.

David will trace his 50-year journey as a self-taught photographer, sharing highlights from his monograph EDGE (Fall Line Press, 2022) before focusing on Hunter Gatherer. He'll discuss stories behind key photographs, his creative process from image capture to final book design, and how his perspective as a white male from a middle-class Pittsfield neighborhood shaped the project.

One quarter of the images were captured at the Brimfield Antiques Fair in central Massachusetts, with nearly half taken throughout New England and New York—a strong regional connection for the Berkshire community. Copies will be available for purchase.

"LIVE from Ashtonwood" continues its 2026 season presenting award-winning vocalist Julia Danielle and young gun pianist Caelan Cardello.

As always, this house concert and series will be streamed LIVE and free of charge via Facebook here - https://www.facebook.com/AshtonwoodHouseConcerts.

The Hampshire Choral Society presents J.S. Bach's Magnificat in D major, with other works by Zelenka, Cozzolani, and Pergolesi. Directed by Paige Graham, with collaborative pianist Scott Bailey, and accompanied by soloists, orchestra, and organ.

CAPE REP THEATRE PRESENTS 9-BALL

Cape Rep Theatre begins our 2026 season with 9-Ball, written and directed by Art Devine. Performances will be held in Cape Rep’s Indoor Theater May 6 - May 31, Wednesday - Saturday at 7:30 pm, Sunday at 2 pm; additional matinees Saturday 05/23 & 05/30 at 2 pm. Tickets are $40, $30 for patrons 35 and under, student rush half price at the door day of show and Pay-What-You-Like the first Friday 05/08. Call the box office or see us online at caperep.org for reservations and information. Cape Rep Indoor Theater, North Side Route 6A E. Brewster, 508.896.1888 or www.caperep.org.

9-Ball
Written and Directed by Art Devine
Based on the Original Set Design by Dan Joy
Costume Design by Robin McLaughlin
Lighting Design by Trevor Norton
Based on the Original Sound Design by Tim Healy
Fight Choreography by TJ Glenn
Stage Manager Chelsey Brown

The year is 1967. Over a game of pool, two young men swap identities. One goes to prison; the other to war. Inspired by true events and pulsating with the sights and sounds of the late 1960s, 9-Ball was Art Devine’s hugely successful first play at Cape Rep. First produced in 2001, we are bringing it back for its 25th anniversary with Devine back at the helm.

Art Devine is very well known to Cape audiences as an actor, director and playwright and heads our TheatreLab playwriting classes. 9-Ball is the first of his three world premieres produced at Cape Rep. The set is based on the original design by Dan Joy and the sound design was originally done by Tim Healy. The production team includes Cape Rep resident costume designer Robin McLaughlin joined by lighting designer, Trevor Norton. Fight choreography is by TJ Glenn.

The cast is led by Macklin Devine (Trad) as Richie Feinberg and newcomer Elijah Corbin as Larry Doucette. Jimmy Sawyer (Peter and the Starcatcher), Cam Torres (She Loves Me) and Yakov Schwartzberg (She Loves Me) return to the Cape Rep stage joined by Ju’el Martin, Zack Johnson, Izaak van der Wende and Hugo William Ceraldi making their Cape Rep debuts.

All performances will be in Cape Rep’s Indoor Theater, 3299 Main Street, Brewster. New this season, more matinees! You asked, we listened! We have added more matinees across the season. Check each show’s schedule for exact dates! For further information or to purchase tickets, contact the box office at 508.896.1888 or online at www.caperep.org.

Title: Everyday Sublime
Deadline: Submit work online May 10–June 7, 2026
Deliver work: Aug 1, 7-9 pm; Aug 2, 10 am-12 pm
Submission Fees: $38 for 3 entries; $7 for one additional entry, maximum 4 entries per artist Size limit: 2-D work, no wider than 26” and no taller than 72”; 3-D work, must not exceed 18 lbs. and 26 “ any direction
Juror: Andrew S. Yang
City/Town: Amherst
Website: www.gallerya3.com
Description: Traditionally, the sublime describes awe, wonder, and sometimes fear in the face of nature’s immensity. It holds a special place in art history in its challenge to artists to portray personal experiences in an impersonal universe. When the world can feel unnervingly tamed or overwhelmingly all-consuming, where and how does the Everyday Sublime present itself? Juror Andrew S. Yang lives in the Pioneer Valley and is a professor at the School of the Art Institute Chicago. Exhibit runs Aug 6-29.
Info: Full info on submissions: www.gallerya3.com