WHAT’S HAPPENING IN AMHERST?
Photo: Pixbay.com
There is a lot going on in the Amherst area this winter. Here is a select list of some events.
Every Saturday –All Winter Long. Winter Farmer’s Market at the Hampshire Mall. 10 AM – 2 PM. More Info here: https://wfmhm.com
February, March and April.. Free UMass Music Faculty Concerts at Benzanson Recital Hall, UMass. Dates and times below.
| Tues. Feb. 4, 7:30pm: Elizabeth Chang, violin & guest Steven Beck, piano Thurs. Feb. 6, 7:30pm: Greg Spiridopoulos, trombone & Nikki Stoia, piano Sun. Feb. 9, 4:30pm: Ayano Kataoka, percussion & guest Hiromi Fukuda, piano Wed. Feb. 12, 7:30pm: Faculty Chamber Series, Part III Thurs. Feb. 20, 7:30pm: Edward Arron, cello & guest Jeewon Park, piano Thurs. Mar. 5, 7:30pm: Faculty Jazz Concert Sun. Mar. 8, 4:30pm: Joshua Michal, horn & Ludmila Krasin, piano Sun. April 5, 4:30pm: Nadine Shank, piano with guest Gran Wilson, tenor & others Tues. April 28, 7:30pm: Gilles Vonsattel, piano More info on the above concerts plus a full schedule of Music Department events can be found here. |
Saturday February 1. Black History Month Flag Raising Ceremony 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM @ Front Steps, Town Hall. Join us for a reading of the 2020 Black History Month Proclamation followed by a Flag Raising Ceremony and Community sIng of the Black National Anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing”. Refreshments provided by the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce.
Saturday February 1. Reparations for Slavery: A Discussion with Dr. Amilcar Shabazz. 10:15 AM to 12:15 PM. First Congregations Church, 43 Silver Street. Greenfield. Free (donations welcome). Childcare available with advance request. Sponsored by Racial Justice Rising. For more info: email@racialjusticerising.org or www.racialjusticerising.org.
Saturday February 1-8. Amherst Winterfest. Eight Days of Activities. Check here for full schedule. https://www.amherstma.gov/3506/Winter-Fest Kick Off Event on Saturday.-Luminaria on the Town Common. 5-8 PM. features thousands of glowing candles transforming the Town Commons into a magical spot with live music from the The Amherst College DQ and Cajordion, live ice sculpting, food trucks like Holyoke Hummus Company, special food and drink outside on the patio at 30Boltwood,face painting and more.. This event is FREE!
Monday, February 3. Opening Reception for
BEYOND PLANET EARTH
Hot Housed, Volunteers, and Anomalies: Anne LaPrade Seuthe
Reception: Feb. 3, 5 to 7 p.m. Augusta Savage Gallery, UMass.
Exhibit runs February 3 through 24
Painter, educator, and our very own Hampden Gallery director Anne Laprade Seuthe exhibits paintings examining the inner and outer limits of worlds we know.
Monday February 3. Discussion: Police Violence & Black Communities: A Creative Response. 6:30 to 8 p.m. New Africa House Theater (lower level)
Join us for this lively conversation focused on the impact of police violence on black communities and how artists offer creative responses. Featuring Joe Gonzalez from PHILADANCO! The Philadelphia Dance Company in conversation with Amy Jordan and Touissant Losier from the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies. This event is free and light refreshments will be available. Space is limited.
TUESDAY February 4. Long Journey: Somali Immigrants and Refugees to the United States – On the Same Page-Amherst. 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM @ Woodbury Room, Jones Library. Elliot Fratkin will talk about nomadic pastoralism and how this ancient way of life fares in our modern world. He will also discuss the Somali refugee camps in Kenya and migrants to US, including Somali political participation.
Wednesday February 5. District 5 Neighborhood Association Rescheduled. 6:00-7:30 PM. Munson Library Lower Level Meeting Room. You can also find us on Facebook at AmhDistrict5. We use our Facebook page to share announcements and information relevant to District 5 and the Neighborhood Association.
Thursday, February 6. UMass Visiting Writers Series Hosts CAConrad and Dawn Lundy Martin for Reading and Book Signing. Old Chapel, 6-8 PM. CAConrad is a 2019 Creative Capital Fellow and the author of nine books of poetry and essays. Their “While Standing in Line for Death” received the 2018 Lambda Award. A recipient of a Pew Fellowship in the Arts, they also received the “Believer Magazine” Book Award and the Gil Ott Book Award. Their work has been translated into Spanish, Greek, Polish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Danish, French and German. They teach regularly at Columbia University and at the Sandberg Art Institute in Amsterdam. Influenced by Eileen Myles, Audre Lorde, Alice Notley and Emily Dickinson, Conrad writes poems in which stark images of sex, violence and defiance build a bridge between fable and confession. They are a visiting faculty member for spring semester 2020 at UMass Amherst.
Dawn Lundy Martin is a poet, essayist and conceptual video artist. She is the author of four books of poems, “Good Stock Strange Blood;” “Life in a Box is a Pretty Life,” which won the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Poetry; “DISCIPLINE; A Gathering of Matter / A Matter of Gathering;” and three limited edition chapbooks. Most recently, she co-edited with Erica Hunt an anthology, “Letters to the Future: BLACK WOMEN / Radical WRITING.” Her nonfiction can be found in “The New Yorker,” “Harper’s,” “n+1” and elsewhere. Martin is a professor of English in the writing program at the University of Pittsburgh and director of the Center for African American Poetry and Poetics. She is the recipient of the 2019 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award.
All events are free, open to the public and wheelchair accessible. More information on the event is available on Facebook Contact: Jennifer Jacobson, 413/545-5510, jenniferj@hfa.umass.edu or Heather Duggan, 413/545-8985, hnduggan@umass.edu
Thursday February 6. Amherst Arts Night Plus. 5-8 PM. Multiple venues in Amherst Center. Amherst Arts Night Plus is a free cultural event held in and around downtown Amherst, MA. Each first Thursday of every month, from 5-8PM, participating venues host gallery openings, concerts, lectures, and other creative events. For a listing of current shows, visit the “This Month” link in the main menu above. More info here:
Saturday February 8. Celebration of Black History Month. 11AM – 3 PM. Bangs Community Center. Celebration, food, entertainment and outreach to encourage people to register to vote. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the passage of the 15th Amendment which secured the right of black men to vote and it also makrs the 100th anniversary of the culmination of the women’s suffrange movement which resulted in the passage of the 19th amendment which secured women’s right to vote. This event is organized in cooperation with the Senior Center and the Town Clerk’s office
Sunday February 9. Amherst Historical Society Founders Day. 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM @ Woodbury Room, Jones Library. The Amherst Historical Society invites the public to celebrate the founding of the Town at the Society’s Annual Meeting. Dr. Maurianne Adams will receive the Conch Shell award for her contributions to Amherst’s history while serving on the committee that established the North Prospect, Lincoln-Sunset Local Historic District. Dr.Marla Miller, Director of the Public History Program at UMass Amherst, will speak on her work documenting the changing roles of women and their work before industrialization in western Massachusetts. Light refreshments will be served.
Wednesday February 12. Public Forum on East-West Passenger Rail Study. 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM. UMass Center at Springfield, Classroom 014
Tower Square, 1500 Main Street, Springfield, MA” Read the study here.
Friday Februay 14. Cuppa Joe with Town Manager Paul Bockelman and the Town’s new Principal Assessor, Elizabeth (Liz) Duffy. 7:30 – 9:00 AM at Bruegger’s Bagels.
Tuesday February 18. Refugees in Western Massachusetts – On the Same Page-Amherst 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM @ Woodbury Room, Jones Library. Jewish Family Services has played a vital role in Western Massachusetts in welcoming and resettling refugees. Sara Bedford will discuss their work with refugees from around the world, including Somalia.
Monday February 24 – Friday February 28. Early Voting: Presidential Primary 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM @ Town Hall.The 2020 Elections schedule is now available online. Please be aware that the last day to register to vote or change an address/party enrollment for the Presidential Primary is Wednesday, February 12, 2020 by 8:00 PM. The Presidential Primary is on Tuesday, March 3, 2020 with early voting in Town Hall from February 24-28, 2020 from 8:00 am – 4:30 pm.
Friday February 28. Black Art Matters Festival. Meade Art Museum, Amherst College. 5-8 PM. Join the Amherst College Multicultural Resource Center and the Mead as we conclude Black History Month with the Black Art Matters Festival, a visual art exhibition and performance showcase highlighting the work and artistic talent of Black student artists across the Five Colleges. All are invited for salon-style viewing of visual art, followed by a night of live music, spoken word, dance, and more! This program is offered in collaboration with the Amherst College Multicultural Resource Center, the Department of Black Studies at Amherst College, Student Activities, and AAS.Free and open to all! More information here:
Saturday February 29. Climbathon for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County. A Fundraiser for BBBS. 12-3PM Central Rock Gym, Hadley. $30. Registration. Register by FEB 22 at www.centralrockgym.com/hadley