Revelry Exhibit

Revelry EXHIBIT - EXTENDED!

FEATURING THE WORK OF more than 35 local artists

Exhibit: April 2 - May 27

Reception: Friday, May 12, 5-8pm

This exhibit, hosted by the Northampton Center for the Arts, features the artwork of over 35 local artists. All art is for sale, and proceeds will be split between NCFA and the artists as part of our spring fundraising!

See the art for sale here! (Includes sizes and prices)

The price list and availability can also be found here, and you can purchase art by emailing revelryart@nohoarts.org. Purchases will support both the artist and NCFA!

Join us for a final reception on Friday, May 12th from 5-8pm as part of Arts Night Out, with refreshments, live music, and performances by SCDT’s teen dance company Hatchery from 5:30-6:30pm!

Featured Artists: Alexa Burke, Amy Kotel, Andrew Grant, Annaleah Gregoire, Anne Cloutier, Arch MacInnes, Beth Crawford, Bonnie Sennott, David Andrews, Dawn Allen, Deb Lohmeyer, Deborah Rubin, Debra Hoyle, Ebbie Russell, Elizabeth Meyersohn, Emikan Sudan, Harold Dumas, Jackie Gallo, Jeannie Donovan, Jeff Wrench, Jennifer Lotstein, Jenny Tibbetts, JoAnn Denehy, Kerry St. Laurent, Kim Condon, LESN101, Linda Baker-Cimini, Lindsay Fogg-Willetts, Mary Walsh Martel, Mary Witt, Megan Weiner, Mona Shiber, Petula Bloomfield, Sally Curcio, Sara Gately, Steve Monterosso, and Tara Bronner

Vishniac

Film Screening: Vishniac

Presented by the Pioneer Valley Jewish Film Festival

Sunday, May 7, 2023, 3:30 PM

Tickets: $12 general admission, $11 students and seniors (65+)

Purchase Tickets Here

After three years of disruption (and creative adaptation), the Pioneer Valley Jewish Film Festival is officially back in person in 2023! A world-class showcase of the best in foreign and independent cinema, PVJFF welcomes everyone to engage with Jewish culture and conversation. Please join us for our screening of the documentary feature Vishniac at the Northampton Center for the Arts.

Roman Vishniac is best known for photographing Jewish life in Eastern Europe in the 1930s. Few could have predicted that these photographs would provide the last visual records of an entire world. But while Vishniac owes his fame to this specific collection, his prodigious body of also includes considerable contributions in the field of microscopic photography. This exploration of Vishniac’s career and photographs brings to life the world in which he worked and details his dramatic life story and flamboyant personality. Introduction by Dr. Simon Sibelman, Professor Emeritus of Judiac, Holocaust, and Peace Studies at Appalachian State University, and former Executive Director of the Virginia Holocaust Museum.

For the full film line-up, please visit PVJFF.org.

March 1968

Film Screening: March 1968

Presented by the Pioneer Valley Jewish Film Festival

Wednesday, May 3, 2023, 7:00 PM

Tickets: $12 general admission, $11 students and seniors (65+)

Tickets will be available at the door. Questions? Call 413-739-4715!

After three years of disruption (and creative adaptation), the Pioneer Valley Jewish Film Festival is officially back in person in 2023! A world-class showcase of the best in foreign and independent cinema, PVJFF welcomes everyone to engage with Jewish culture and conversation. Please join us for our screening of the film March 1968 at the Northampton Center for the Arts. 

Hania and Janek, a pair of rebellious college students blinded by love, find themselves swept up in the raging socio-political crisis of 1960s communist Poland. Although initially apathetic, the young couple find that the growing government censorship and antisemitic purges cannot be ignored. This handsomely crafted historical drama depicts the inexorable convergence of a whirlwind romance, a battle for national identity, and political awakening. Introduction by Justin Cammy, Professor of Jewish Studies and of World Literatures, Smith College.

For the full film line-up, please visit PVJFF.org.

This screening is co-sponsored by Lathrop Community Inc.

Revelry at 33

A CELEBRATION AND FUNDRAISER FOR THE NORTHAMPTON CENTER FOR THE ARTS

SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2023

7:30-11:00PM

TICKETS: $40 IN ADVANCE; $50 AT THE DOOR

ADVANCE TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE UNTIL 4PM THE DAY OF THE EVENT

The Northampton Center for the Arts (NCFA), a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that provides affordable space for artists, performers, and educators, and offers programming dedicated to arts education, multidisciplinary collaborations, and community connections, has been serving Northampton and the Connecticut River Valley for 40 years! To ensure we can keep that track record going, we are thrilled to be hosting our second annual fundraising event for the evening of Saturday, April 29 called Revelry at 33, so named because it’s happening in the beautiful Flex Space at 33 Hawley, the arts center we are proud to call home. This is a fun and meaningful way to support the Center, especially as we navigate this period of reduced programming due to the current construction at 33 Hawley.

Join us for live music from Now’s The Time Jazz Trio, yummy vegetarian hors d’oeuvres from Haymarket Cafe, and signature cocktails mixed up by Kayla Manzi from The Majestic Saloon. At 8:30pm, local favorites Soul Magnets will play a set in the Flex to get us all dancing! During the month of April, leading up to the event, we are holding an art sale featuring the work of 35 fabulous local artists. (This link includes sizes and prices of artwork.) The price list and availability can be found here, and you can purchase art by emailing revelryart@nohoarts.org. Purchases will support both the artist and NCFA. On the night of Revelry, there will be a silent auction. So, mark your calendar, order your tickets, and come party with us! You’ll be helping the Center to keep going strong. Let’s eat, drink, and be merry in celebration of our local arts scene!

Spring is Here and: WE DANCE!

Spring is Here! Social Dance

Sunday, April 23 from 3 to 5:45 PM

With Host Meli Morash and DJ Joni Fraser

Instructional East Coast Swing! by Evelyn Bloom

Cover: $12

Bread & Puppet Theater

Bread & Puppet Theater Presents Inflammatory Earthling Rants (with help from Kropotkin)

One Night Only!

Wednesday, April 19 at 6:30 PM (Doors open at 6)

Tickets: $20 at Bread & Puppet

The Bread & Puppet Theater returns to Northampton as part of its 60th anniversary a tour, presenting the company’s latest show: Inflammatory Earthling Rants (with help from Kropotkin). One night only: Wednesday, April 19, 2023 @ 6:30pm.

Tickets: $20 at https://breadandpuppet.org/product/inflammatory-earthlings-rant-with-help-from-kropotkin-northampton-ma-wednesday-4-19-23-630pm

GRACELAND

Graceland — A Multimedia Dance Performance by

The Legible Bodies

Saturday, March 25 — 6:30 and 8:30 PM

For tickets ($20), please visit GRACELAND

Join The Legible Bodies for an evening of work that pays homage to one of the great records of our time in a display of movement, music, and art. Set to the album if the same name by Paul Simon, Graceland features contemporary dance with a dynamic backdrop that changes with each piece. The audience is transported into the heart of the music, invited to connect with the stories being brought to life onstage. Taking inspiration from the album’s themes of life, culture, and family, this concert artfully reflects on modern day issues.

For tickets ($20), please visit https://www.legiblebodies.com/events/tickets/

Fun with St. Patrick's Day and Meli's 79th Birthday Dance!

Fun with St. Patrick's Day and Meli's 79th Birthday Dance!

With your host Meli Morash and DJ Joni Fraser

Sunday, March 19, from 3:15 to 5:45 PM

Cover: $12

Stop by for Great Sunday Afternoon Dancing of Ballroom and Latin Tunes.

3:15 to 3:30 — Instructional  "BACHATA DANCE"  by MELI

3:30 to 5:45 — Social Dance!

Cover charge is $12

Karen with a "K"

Photo by Paul Bloomfield

Karen with a “K”

A dance play by Cat Wagner and Kelly Silliman

Saturday, March 18 at 4:00pm

Tickets: $15-$25 sliding scale, No one turned away

TicketS available here!

In Karen With a “K,” longtime collaborators Kelly Silliman and Cat Wagner take on the mythology of the “Karen” persona and its increasingly ubiquitous use as a social meme. “Karen” has become a commonplace, pejorative term for white women who seem entitled beyond reason and who may also weaponize their privilege within certain contexts. In this dance play, Silliman and Wagner utilize “iconic” Karen moments from the past few years as a way to examine how racism and misogyny intersect in contemporary culture. They believe humor can offer opportunities to build tolerance for the messiness and discomfort inherent in personal growth, and also that self-reflection must be matched by thoughtful action.

Content Advisory: This piece contains audio from several viral videos of “Karens” which portray high emotions and include occasional profanity.

Cat Wagner and Kelly Silliman have been collaborating since 2013, shortly after they both graduated from the Smith College MFA program in Choreography and Performance. They create dance plays to explore contemporary feminism, intersectional identities, and American pop culture in playful, absurdist ways. Cat Wagner is the dance instructor at Stoneleigh-Burnham School in Greenfield, MA. Kelly Silliman is the Program Director at the Northampton Center for the Arts, and a core collaborator with Deborah Goffe/Scapegoat Garden. Kelly was also the founder/director of the tinydance project from 2012-2022.

33 Hawley is a fully accessible, ADA-compliant building. Bathrooms are labeled and include all-gender options. Masks are optional. The three spaces that the Center stewards (The Flex, Eli’s Room, and Carole’s Dance Studio) have HEPA filters running 24/7, in addition to the building's state of the art HVAC system.

Exhibit Reception: Currents

Exhibit Reception: Currents

Featuring the work of Lee Thomson and Sophie Chambers

Live music by Shannon Lambert

Friday, March 10, 5:00-8:00pm

Free!

Please join the Northampton Center for the Arts, A.P.E. Ltd., and Northampton Open Media at 33 Hawley for a reception for Currents, with refreshments and live music by Shannon Lambert during Arts Night Out on Friday 3/10 from 5:00-8:00pm! This exhibit, hosted by the Northampton Center for the Arts, is two in one! Currents and Coastlines, with artwork by Lee Thomson, can be seen on the mezzanine level, and Cutting Currents, with artwork by Sophie Chambers, can be seen on the ground floor level of 33 Hawley.

Sponsored in part by River Valley Co-op and Downtown Sounds Workers Co-op. THANK YOU!

Lee Thomson is a contemporary fiber artist living and working in western Massachusetts. Her stitched textile works draw on a background in geology, geography and cartography to explore the landscape from the bones up. Using quilting materials and fine art sensibilities, she creates visual work in a tactile medium. Starting with layered fabric, details are drawn in thread and the finished work shows a familiar landscape in a new way. Lee’s work has been shown in regional exhibits in New England, including group and solo shows, as well as local galleries.

Sophie Chambers started making art with more regularity during the summer of 2022 in a concerted effort to not burn out at her day job. That being said, art has been a companion throughout her life; first in the form of music and musical theater, and in more recent years through writing poetry and doodling. Sophie does her best to access the curiosity and freewheeling imagination that was so intrinsic to her childhood while using art to process her lived experiences. As a result, her art often speaks to more serious sociopolitical issues even while her creative self is very much rooted in the playfulness of an inner child.

Born across the river and raised in Amherst, MA, Shannon Lambert’s music fuses electro-acoustic and American roots elements with the DIY aesthetics of bedroom pop. Her self-produced debut album, Cool Girl (2021), utilized the challenges of recording in early-pandemic isolation as a creative framework through which the singer explored themes of finding and losing home against the backdrop of Western Mass. As she writes with a sophomore album in mind, Shannon’s newer work leans further into alt-folk aesthetics and draws on the singer’s choral background to showcase the voice as an instrument of both storytelling and texture-making capabilities. Her music is available to stream everywhere.

Please Ship This Wet Gift

Please Ship This Wet Gift — a clown presentation about terrible feelings

Saturday, February 25 at 10:30am

Sunday, February 26 at 1:00pm

Cost: sliding scale $5-$15 for children and students, $10-$20 for adults

Tickets Available here!

Please Ship This Wet Gift is one clown's presentation about terrible feelings, and provides an opportunity for family audiences to laugh together about feeling bad. Everyone can go home when she thinks you're prepared.  (Because it's better if you're prepared.) (And she'll be the guy who prepared you.) Performed by Marta Mozelle MacRostie of Brave Bucket Co. and directed by Hannah Simms, this original work uses audience suggestion, audience participation, drawing, made-up songs, puppetry, and cardboard sharks to bring some empathy, laughter, and lightness to the heavy stuff.

Recommended for ages 4+ and adults who like awesome things, younger siblings always welcome!

Marta Mozelle MacRostie (Performer/Designer) is a puppeteer, clown, designer, builder, teacher and vocalist based in NYC. She holds a degree in Puppetry & Music from UMass Amherst, studied clown at Movement Theater Studio, and is a many-time alum of the O'Neill National Puppetry Conference. Marta's previous show for family audiences Help Save the Monkey! (with collaborator Liz Hara) premiered in the 2014 New York Children's Theater Festival, and was awarded a 2014 Jim Henson Foundation Family Grant.

Hannah Simms (Director) is a director and teacher based in Hartford, CT, where she is an ensemble member at HartBeat Ensemble. She is a graduate of the Dell'Arte School of Physical Theatre, the NTI Advanced Directing Semester at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, and the Ada Comstock Program at Smith College.

Marta & Hannah met on their afterschool softball team in Amherst, MA. Their team never won a game, but they did do the bunny hop in the outfield. They're so pleased and excited to bring this work to their hometown. This weekend of performances is dedicated to the memory of Marta's mom, Robin MacRostie, who was an active and loved member of the Valley dance and arts community, and a longtime artist, student, teacher, and supporter of many programs at the Northampton Center for the Arts.

Fun with Mardi Gras Party!

Fun with Mardi Gras Party — Social Dance!

With Host Meli Morash and Guest DJ Raphael

Sunday, February 19, from 3:30 to 5:45 PM

From 3:15 to 3:30 — CUPID Shuffle by Raphael

Cover: $12

FUN with MARDI GRAS PARTY!
Stop by for Great Sunday Afternoon Dancing of Ballroom and Latin Tunes.
We will have Masks and Beads too.

Your host: Meli Morash, with
GUEST DJ RAPHAEL !

Exhibit: Deconstructions

EXHIBIT: DECONSTRUCTIONS

Deconstructions, an exhibit hosted by A.P.E.@Hawley, features new work by three UMass Amherst Studio Arts undergraduate students: Adrienne Albro-Fisher, Isabela Cusano, and Henry Prentiss. The exhibition explores vulnerability, decay, displacement, and claustrophobia, presenting viewers with reflections on human relationships with organic and constructed environments. The exhibit will be on display January 6-February 25, 2023.

Youth Performance Festival 2023

Youth Performance Festival

Saturday, February 11, 7:00pm

Sunday, February 12, 2:00pm

Tickets: $5-$25 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds

Tickets Available Here!

The Youth Performance Festival (YPF), a collaboration between Play Incubation Collective and the Northampton Center for the Arts at 33 Hawley, is a FREE opportunity for youth artists ages 8-18 to create original performance pieces under the guidance of mentor artists in the fields of music, dance, theater, poetry/spoken word, and video. YPF centers the creative agency of young artists, and is committed to supporting them as they discover their own creative processes. The festival performances showcase the work that young artists have created over the six week rehearsal process!

Live Music in (and Around) Northampton: A Presentation & Panel Discussion

Tizzy playing at the Bay State Hotel in October 2000.   Seth Kaye Photography.

Historic Northampton presents

Live Music in (and Around) Northampton: A Presentation & Panel Discussion

Sunday, January 29, 2023 at 2 PM

Registration is required to reserve a seat.
Sliding scale admission: $5-20.
Students: free of charge

Learn More | Register

Inspired by Steve Waksman’s recent book, Live Music in America, this panel discussion will focus on the past few decades of Northampton’s live music scene and the city’s musical life more broadly. A panel of local music insiders will reflect on the scene’s history since the 1970s, its present, and where it might go next. Preceding the panel discussion will be a brief presentation by Dylan Gaffney of Forbes Library, who will share archival photos and other materials to illustrate some of the venues and events that have defined Northampton music through the years.

The panel will be moderated by Steve Waksman, Smith College Professor of Music, and will feature:

• Beth Caurant, founder and guitarist, Lilith

• Joan Holliday, Program Director and afternoon drive host on WRSI, 93.9 The River

• Neal Robinson, Iron Horse Music Hall|Race Street Live

• Glenn Siegel, founder, Magic Triangle Jazz Series and co-founder, Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares

Register at https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventRegoeidk=a07ejjw8fmq7aa6445c&oseq=&c=&ch=

New Year Social Dance Party!

New Year Social Dance Party!

Sunday, January 22, 2023, from 3:15 to 6 PM

With Host Meli Morash and DJ Joni Fraser

Cover: $10

We stepped  into the New Year — Wishing you all a Happy & Healthy 2023!

Our first dance of the year will be on Sunday, January 22, at the Center for the Arts. We are inviting you all to come and have a FUN Sunday afternoon.

Please tell a friend and share with them!

Dancing is good for BODY and SOUL! If you are looking for a FUN way to listen to music, energize your body, and stimulate your brain then consider getting into Ballroom Dancing/Latin. Come and join us at NORTHAMPTON CENTER FOR THE ARTS!

Cover: $10

Art Gallery Listening Session

Art Gallery Listening Session

Saturday, January 21, 1:00-2:30pm

Refreshments and childcare provided!

FREE!

We are thrilled to announce that in January 2024, after the final construction phase of 33 Hawley is complete, the Center will be stewarding a brand new art gallery! We envision this gallery as an accessible and welcoming space partially programmed by a committee that includes community members. As we work towards this vision, we want to hear from you! What do you want to see in an art gallery? What’s missing from the gallery scene in our area? What do you love about specific galleries that you want to see included in our approach? Please join us on Saturday, January 21, from 1-2:30pm for a listening session and share your thoughts! (We will also be sending out a survey after the listening session to invite feedback from folks who aren’t able to attend). Refreshments and childcare provided!

Questions? Email ncfa@nohoarts.org!

Live Music in America: A History from Jenny Lind to Beyoncé

Historic Northampton presents

Live Music in America: A History from Jenny Lind to Beyoncé
A book talk by Steve Waksman, Smith College Professor of Music

Sunday, January 15, 2023 at 2 PM

Registration is required to reserve a seat.
Sliding scale admission: $5-20.
Students: Free

Learn More | Register

Smith College Professor of Music Steve Waksman will discuss his new book, Live Music in America: A History from Jenny Lind to Beyoncé. Starting with Jenny Lind's fabled U.S. tour (she performed to large crowds in Northampton in 1851 and 1852) and winding all the way into the twenty-first century, Live Music in America is the first book to consider the history of live music in the U.S. across genres and time periods. It draws upon previously unstudied archival materials to shed new light on the origins of jazz, the emergence of rock 'n' roll, and the rise of the modern music festival. Dr. Waksman's presentation will be illustrated with photos from his research along with music and video clips.

Register at http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=mdtu7ycab&oeidk=a07ejjw8fmp0ba12a09

Exhibit Reception: Deconstructions

Exhibit Reception: Deconstructions

Friday, January 13, 5:00-8:00pm

Free!

Please join the Northampton Center for the Arts, A.P.E. Ltd., and Northampton Open Media at 33 Hawley for a reception for the opening of Deconstructions with refreshments and live music by Lucia Dostal during Arts Night Out on Friday 1/13 from 5:00-8:00pm!

Deconstructions, an exhibit hosted by A.P.E.@Hawley, features new work by three UMass Amherst Studio Arts undergraduate students: Adrienne Albro-Fisher, Isabela Cusano, and Henry Prentiss. The exhibition explores vulnerability, decay, displacement, and claustrophobia, presenting viewers with reflections on human relationships with organic and constructed environments. The exhibit will be on display January 6-30, 2023.

Lucia Dostal will lead a group of talented musicians in performing a groovy selection of songs, including Fleetwood Mac, Joni Mitchell and some classic jazz standards, as well as original songs heavily influenced by Lake Street Dive, Carole King and Andy Shauf. The performers include: Lucia Dostal (vocals), Tommy Harte (guitar), Elena Ciampa (bass), Izzy Davis (drums).

Sponsored in part by River Valley Co-op and Downtown Sounds Workers Co-op. THANK YOU!

Lucia Dostal

Holistic Classical String Quartet Concert

Holistic Classical String Quartet Concert

Sunday, January 8 at 7 PM

Tickets: $30 Regular, $15 Student/Unemployed

Ticket link: Holistic Classical

Classic Music. New Culture. 

Relax and revel as you take in glorious chamber music in an atmosphere encouraging presence and connection. 

Join musician-facilitators Charlotte Malin of Resonant Heart Healing and Carson Marshall of Clearing the Stage for a sonic journey weaving together elements of meditation, conversation, and opportunities for creative self-expression. This is an unconventional concert for those who want to explore a more liberated listening experience, without sacrificing high-quality musicianship and a focused environment. 

Music by Mozart, Beethoven, and folk arrangements by the Danish String Quartet

Carson Marshall and Emma Carleton, violins

Charlotte Malin, viola

Wayne Smith, cello

For tickets, please visit https://www.resonanthearthealing.com/event-details/holistic-classical-string-quartet-concert