What’s Happening In Amherst?

More Local Events.
Events Listing Beginning The Week Of July 1, 2022

There’s a lot happening in Amherst!

After over a year hiatus, we are bringing back our events calendar – What’s Happening In Amherst?

With the shrinkage of public events during the pandemic, we discontinued posting our weekly community calendar and opted to run individual stories about select upcoming events.  Now, with the coming of spring and the seeming attrition of the pandemic, we’ve seen the return of a full and diverse slate of local happenings in and around Amherst and our weekly dispatch is starting to be overwhelmed by stories about upcoming events.   Moving forward, we intend to run a handful of stories/annoucements each week featuring a handful of upcoming events that might be of special interest or offer unique opportunities. We will list other events here, in the What’s Happening in Amherst? column which you’ll be able to find at the end of the “events section”.   In this weekly column we’d like to offer a comprehensive weekly calendar of things to do around the Valley but we just don’t have the wherewithal to pull that off.  So our events listing will be eclectic. But readers can count on finding an interesting list of things to do with an emphasis on the progressive.  

You can help us to make this calendar useful by sending your events listings to amherstindy@gmail.com.

IN PERSON EVENTS

EVERY SATURDAY through NOVEMBER 19. Amherst Farmers’ Market. Town Common 7:30 a.m – 1:30 p.m. Farm to table produce from local growers and producers. Food, music and events. More information including a list of vendors.

EVERY SUNDAY through OCTOBER 2: Early Bird. Early Birding at the Notch Visitors Center. 1500 West Street. 9:00-9:30 a.m. Join a Park Interpreter on a fun beginner bird stroll. Learn about birds, their behaviors, their needs and habitats. Listen, watch, stroll, sketch or journal on this interactive program. We will do a moderate, 1/2 mile hike around the visitor center and down a short trail. More Information.

THROUGH SATURDAY JULY 2.: Syncopate: Homage To Jazz at Gallery A3. Inspired by the syncopation of jazz, regional artists Donald Boudreaux, Andres Chaparro, Bobby Davis, Terry Jenoure, and Rodney Madison present paintings, drawings, photographs, prints, and sculptures that display a bold and beautiful interplay of complex visual rhythms in a new exhibit at Gallery A3, 28 Amity Street.   An online art forum is scheduled for June 16 at 7:30 p.m.  More Information here and here.

FRIDAY JULY 8 THROUGH SATURDAY JULY 30. Paintings by Evelyn Pye.  Gallery A3, 28 Main Street.
The gallery is open Thursday through Sunday from 3-8 p.m.

Evelyn Pye surrounds the viewer with large, medium, and small-scale landscapes, ranging from six feet to six inches, in oil on linen, canvas, or wood. The art of PAINTING, for Pye, is an immersive, interactive process as much as a final product. Three large paintings, each approximately four by six feet, look right into the water (or snow) of Pye’s home pond, showing the round of the year in winter, summer, and spring.  As she works with the physical materiality of the paint, Pye brings us to look closely: the pattern of the water becomes abstract while remaining a depiction of the pond with its reflections and shadows.  A kind of double vision. More Information.

THROUGH SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 1: Exhibit: Daniel Ellsberg, A Life Of Truth. The UMass Amherst Libraries host “Daniel Ellsberg: A Life in Truth,” a physical and digital exhibit drawing from activist and truth teller Daniel Ellsberg’s vast collection of documents, photographs, and artifacts. The Robert S. Cox Special Collections and University Archives Research Center acquired the collection in 2019.The exhibit is located in two locations in the W. E. B. Du Bois Library until September 2022. It begins on Floor 25 in the Reading Room of the Robert S. Cox Special Collections and University Archives Research Center (open M-F 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.) and continues on the Lower Level in the Learning Commons (accessible whenever the Library is open). More Information.

FRIDAY JULY 1: Amherst’s Independence Day Fireworks. beginning at 5:00 p.m.  behind McGuirk Stadium at UMass Amherst located on Stadium Drive. Fun for the whole family at this annual celebration. FREE parking.  Starting at 5:00 PM: Live Performances, Hot Air Balloon Rides, Beer Garden, Games, Prizes, Food, Raffles & More (Cash ONLY). Fireworks at 9:00 p.m. Questions?  rec@amherstma.gov or call (413) 259-3065

SATURDAY JULY 2: Berwick Fiddle Consort. Shutesbury Athletic Club. 6 p.m. 282 Wendell Road, Shutesbury. Featuring lively and original arrangements of traditional fiddle folk music in a relaxed, family-friendly atmosphere. The Athletic Club will be grilling hamburgers and hotdogs – on sale for $3/$2. Feel free to bring your own picnic meal. Event is free and open to the public.

FRIDAY JULY 15: Concert: Zoe and Cloyd. Wesley Methodist Church, 98 North Maple Street, Hadley. 7 p.m. Leverett Native and ARHS grad Natalya Weinstein returns with her Americana Group for a conert that’s been postponed for two years, due to the pandemic. More Information.

MONDAY JULY 18: Amherst Neighbors Member Appreciation Picnic. Mill River Recreation Area, Mill River Pavilion, 95 Montague Rd., North Amherst. 3:00 – 6:00 p.m. Amherst Neighbors, providing neighbor to neighbor support for aging well in the Amherst-Pelham communities, is holding its first in-person, outdoor event. Join us for a festive picnic, good food, fun and games, and a chance to meet and celebrate our members, volunteers, and potential members.  Some food foundations and beverages will be provided. Please bring a dish to share, if you can.  Registration encouraged but not required on our website www.amherstneighbors.org or call 413-345-2555.

SATURDAY JULY 23 and SUNDAY JULY 24: Jazz At Lincoln Center’s On The Road with The Sarah Hanahan Quartet. 7 p.m. The Drake. 44 North Pleasant Street. ON THE ROAD is a new initiative started by Jazz at Lincoln Center, presenting up and coming jazz icons in a touring setting through New England, performing at The Drake for a 2 night run. More Information. Drake’s Full Calendar Of Events.

ON LINE EVENTS
ONGOING: Annual ARHS Student Art Exhibit . The Art Department at Amherst Regional High School is proud to present AR[T]HS 2022, an online exhibitehibit of outstanding student artwork from the 2021-2022 school year. This juried exhibit,  – now in its 14th year,  – includes superlative work from all of the Art Department’s course offerings. The exhibit can be viewed here.

THURSDAY JULY 21: Online Art Forum. Gallery A3, 28 Main Street. 7:30 p.m. Zoom.
In an Art Forum Online  Evelyn Pye will be joined by Ellen Anthony, Ginnie Peterson, Alice Prussin, and Adin Thayer in a presentation of poetry and visual art. See the gallery website (www.gallerya3.com) to register for this Zoom event, which is free and open to the public. Register at www.gallerya3.com

MONDAY JUNE 27: Age and Dementia Friendly Town Listening Project. 2:30-4:00 p.m. On Zoom. Registration required. The Age & Dementia Friendly Amherst Working Group is hosting listening sessions in the Summer/Fall of 2022 to gather input from older adults and others who are aging in Amherst (that’s all of us!). Please join us for these important conversations! SESSION 2: SOCIAL PARTICIPATION & INCLUSION, COMMUNICATION & TECHNOLOGY,CIVIC ENGAGEMENT Register for this meeting at: https://tinyurl.com/AFAmherst2. More Information.