The August First Fridays Artswalk will encompass over a dozen art shows featuring over a dozen accomplished regional and student artists in Pittsfield’s bustling Upstreet Cultural District. Venues will reach as far south as the Berkshire Museum and as far North as Berkshire Medical Center. The August First Fridays Artswalk will kick –off with opening receptions and artists present throughout the “walk” from 5 to 8 pm on Friday, August 3rd. There will be a free guided walking tour beginning at 5 pm on August 3rd at the Intermodal Center at BRTA, 1 Columbus Ave.
The Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, 28 Renne Avenue, will be hosting “Dreaming of Light”, an exhibition of oil paintings by Sean McCusker, from August 1st to August 31st; with a reception held during First Fridays Artswalk on Friday, August 3rd from 5 to 8 pm.
McCusker’s work is the stuff of dreams. Mysterious landscapes that light the imagination. Sean’s oil paintings glow with an inner light that has to be seen to be believed. Each painting painstakingly built from as many as 30 layers, these polished gems are a spectacle to behold.
For the month of August, The Kinderhook Group Real Estate, 137 North Street, will feature “iPaint on My iPad: Meditations in Light & Color” by Nina Lipkowitz. Lipkowitz’s iPad paintings are created using two apps, Brushes and Brushes Redux. With the touch of her index finger, she paints in light with infinite marks, brushes and colors. Ultimately the work is printed as beautiful, limited edition, archival, pigment prints on the finest watercolor printer-papers and canvas available. Many of them are also hand enhanced with watercolor, gouache, acrylic and gold leaf. Miro, Kandinsky, Calder, Matisse, Van Gogh, Klee, and the Fauves are just a few artists who have inspired her work. There will be a reception for her iPad paintings as well as photography by John Lipkowitz on Friday, August 3rd from 5 to 8 pm at The Kinderhook Group.
Runway paintings by Grier Horner will be on display at Steven Valenti’s Clothing in August 2018.
NUarts Studios and Gallery, 311 North Street, will feature “An Art Show from the Heart” featuring the Arts in Recovery for Youth Program, for one night only, Friday, August 3rd, 5 to 8 pm.
Art Therapist and Teaching Artist, Marney Schorr will feature new art work, for sale, by eight young artists in Pittsfield: Breanna Lytle, Jack Kelly, Aidan Spaniol, Leah Jordan, Bella Sark, Sanye Burns, Keerah Morgan and Kiara Taylor. These emerging artists will showcase original paintings, clay sculpture, and illustrated poetry books, as well as, t-shirts and coffee mugs. All proceeds from the sale of works on display will help to raise funds for the Arts in Recovery for Youth Program initiated and run by Marney Schorr. The artists will be available to answer questions and teach their expressive arts techniques in Studio 12. Light refreshments will be served.
New shows from local artists will also be displayed at the following locations as part of First Fridays Artswalk: Steven Valenti’s Clothing, The Marketplace Café, The Funky Phoenix, Berkshire Paint and Sip, the Whitney Center for the Arts, the Brothership Building, and Berkshire Medical Center.
First Fridays Artswalk is presented by Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. Most art exhibits are on display in participating venues throughout the month. Please check with venues for hours of operation. For more information on First Fridays Artswalk and to view a listing and map of all participating artists and locations, visit www.FirstFridaysArtswalk.com.
Featured images (left to right): Nina Lipkowitz at the Kinderhook Group Real Estate, Sean McCusker at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, Peggy Rivers at the Whitney Center for the Arts