Events

CATA and Berkshire Botanical Garden Present "Wild Findings"

CATA and Berkshire Botanical Garden Present "Wild Findings" — An Exhibit of Nature-Inspired Work by Artists with Disabilities

STOCKBRIDGE, MASS. — Community Access to the Arts (CATA) and Berkshire Botanical Garden present "Wild Findings," a collection of paintings, drawings, photographs, and collages inspired by nature, created by artists with disabilities. The exhibition will be on display at Berkshire Botanical Garden's Leonhardt Galleries from March 1-24.

The gallery, located at 5 West Stockbridge Rd., Stockbridge, Mass., is open Tuesdays through Sundays, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free.

A free, opening celebration will be held on Friday, March 1, from 3 to 5 p.m. RSVP's are requested at CATAarts.org/BBG2024.

The 30-plus works featured in the exhibit were created through CATA's year-round workshops serving children, teens and adults with disabilities. Some of the works were created on-site at Berkshire Botanical Garden as part of an ongoing partnership between CATA and BBG, while others were created by CATA artists at day programs and residences serving people with disabilities, as well as in CATA's studios in Great Barrington. The exhibit includes botanical studies, landscapes, abstract paintings, and photographs each ranging widely in stylistic expression and scale of size.

All works are available for sale. Every work sold provides a commission to the individual artist and supports CATA's programs.

About Community Access to the Arts: Community Access to the Arts (CATA) nurtures and celebrates the creativity of people with disabilities. Through dynamic arts workshops and public events, CATA artists tap into their potential, explore new talents, and share their unique points of view with the wider community. CATA collaborates with 50 partner organizations to bring visual and performing arts programs to 800 people with disabilities across Berkshire County, Massachusetts and Columbia County, New York. Learn more at CATAarts.org.

About Berkshire Botanical Garden: Established in 1934 as the "Berkshire Garden Center" and revered as one of the older public display gardens in the Northeast, Berkshire Botanical Garden is a not-for-profit, membership-supported educational organization encompassing 24 acres. The Garden is open year-round for classes, lectures, workshops, and exhibits, and the display gardens can be visited daily from April 29 through Oct. 31, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Garden's mission is to fulfill the community's need for information, education and inspiration concerning the art and science of gardening and the preservation of our local environment.

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"Wild Findings" — Community Access to the Arts (CATA) and Berkshire Botanical Garden present an art exhibition featuring nature-inspired paintings, drawings, photographs, and collages by artists with disabilities. The exhibition will be on display at Berkshire Botanical Garden's Leonhardt Galleries from March 1-24. The gallery, located at 5 West Stockbridge Rd., Stockbridge, Mass., is open Tuesdays through Sundays, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free. Visit BerkshireBotanical.org for more information.

More events at BBG in February:

16: Soups from Scratch

17: The Supply and Demand of Straight Native Species

17: Medicinal Mushrooms

24: Galantines Snow Moon DIY Herbal Spa Day

24-25: February Science of Plant Propagation

24 through March 16: An Introduction to Greenhouse Management

26-27: The Language of Flowers Continues with a Splash of Red

Norman Rockwell Museum Mystery and Wonder: Highlights from the Illustration Collection

March 2 through June 16, 2024 https://www.nrm.org/2023/12/mysteryandwonder/"

Explore the captivating worlds of mystery and wonder in this exhibition featuring highlights from the Norman Rockwell Museum's Permanent Collection, which now holds almost 25,000 illustrations by prominent artists working across genres and time periods. On display are cover art for award-winning novels and mysteries, children's book illustrations inspired by classic tales, fantastical anthropomorphic drawings, and heart-stopping editorial images.

Specific selections include Teresa Fasolino's colorful, clue-filled mystery novel cover illustrations; Thomas Woodruff's ethereal book jacket art for best-selling novels by Anne Tyler and Gabriel Garcia Marquez; lighthearted visual puns for Stewart Edelstein's Dubious Doublets by James Grashow; luminous watercolors for The Wizard of Oz and other stories by Thea Kliros; steamy pulp illustrations by Everett Raymond Kinstler and Mort Kunstler; mystical three-dimensional illustrations for books and magazines by Joan Hall; fictional American histories by Julian Allen; a fun and engaging Rockwell Who-Dun-It; and a brand new Rockwell acquisition that offers mysteries of its own.

Members Free; Adults $20, Seniors/Retired Military $18, MA Teachers Free, College students $15

March 9 Members Reception 5PM - 7PM Mystery and Wonder: Highlights from the Illustration Collection. Enjoy light refreshments, meet some of the artists featured in the exhibition, and view a newly acquired Rockwell work depicting the Election of 1800. RSVP

Photo: Berkshire Botanical Garden