August 4 First Fridays Artswalk: Live Music, Live Painting, and a Free Kids’ Paint & Sip!

The First Fridays Artswalk in downtown Pittsfield returns on Friday, August 4 from 5 to 8 pm. Enjoy live music at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts with sets by Robin O’Herin and Bernice Lewis, a live art demonstration with Diane Firtell at Framework, opening receptions, open studios, and a Free Kids’ Paint & Sip. Other participating venues include the Beacon Cinema, Berkshire Art Center, Clock Tower Artists, Hotel on North, Krol Headquarters, Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, Marchetti Headquarters, Methuselah Bar and Lounge, NUarts gallery + studios, Soda Chef, Soma’s Aromas, the Unitarian Universalist Church, and Witch Slapped.

 

Download the Downtown Pittsfield app in the App Store or on Google Play to follow a virtual walking tour of art on your cell phone. 

 

On Friday, August 4, Robin O’Herin and Bernice Lewis will share the stage at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, 28 Renee Ave. From 5 to 6:30 pm, Robin O’Herin will kick-off the evening with her original blues music, and from 6:30 to 8 pm, Bernice Lewis will treat audiences to her original songs.

 

Robin O’Herin is a touring blues and gospel musician, specializing in historically rich, often interactive concerts that include original and traditional American music. Her concerts are warm, affirming experiences she shares with the audience. Let her take you on a journey of musical exploration through the Delta and Piedmont regions of the South. Song selections may include Robert Johnson, Blind Willie Johnson, and Robin’s own original blues and fingerstyle ballads.

 

Singer-Songwriter Bernice Lewis has been a touring artist for almost four decades, performing at innumerable festivals, concert halls, coffeehouses, colleges, and house concerts. She is The Artist Associate in Songwriting at Williams College (Williamstown, MA) and founding faculty at Schreiner University’s Songkeeper Program (Kerrville, TX). She has released seven CDs of her original music and is currently signed to Houston’s Berkalin Records.

 

On Friday, August 4 at FRAMEWORK, 437 North Street, Diane Firtell will be hosting a free live painting demonstration from 5 to 8 pm where she will illustrate how she transfers one of her photographs onto a canvas and transforms it into a realistic oil painting.

 

Pittsfield artist Diane Firtell uses her camera, now mostly her iPhone, to capture the ever-changing beauty of the Berkshires. During this event, she will be working on Ranunculus Bouquet, a work in progress.

 

Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church will host a Free Kids’ Paint & Sip on Friday, August 4, 5 to 7 pm, in the auditorium at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 67 East Street, as part of the First Fridays Artswalk.

 

This free animal-themed Paint & Sip is best suited for ages 5 to 12, although younger and older children are welcome. All materials, instruction, snacks, and juice will be provided. Children are welcome to drop in anytime over the course of the event, and all children must be accompanied by an adult. The auditorium is on the second floor of the parish house, and the entrance is on Allen Street.

 

The Clock Tower Artists at 75 South Church Street will host an open studios event in their beautiful and ever-expanding space on Friday, August 4, and every First Friday of the month through December, from 5 to 8 pm, and on Saturday, August 5, and every first Saturday of the month through December, from 11 am to 4 pm. Witness the artists’ artistic processes firsthand and be captivated by an eclectic blend of masterpieces that will enchant and inspire you.

 

Artists with open studios in August include: Deborah H. Carter, Joan Palano Ciolfi, Marion H. Grant, Stacey Healy, Bruce Laird, Mark Mellinger, Linda Petrocine, Shany Porras, Sally Tiska Rice, Ilene Richard, Audrey Shachnow, and Stefanie Weber.

 

Hotel on North, 297 North Street, will feature a reception with the artists for When Soft Particles Soften: Abstract work by Justin Carafotes & Ryan Garvey on Friday, August 4 from 5 to 8 pm. Soft Particles was first presented at His Daughter Paloma Gallery in August of 2022 curated by Justin Carafotes. This is the gallery’s first traveling exhibition. The exhibition will be on view August 4 through September 30.

 

The Berkshire Art Center (BAC), 141 North Street, will continue to offer Free Family Drop-Ins on the First Friday of the month from 5:30 to 7:30 pm, year-round. For the month of August, The Berkshire Art Center will also feature two window displays: “HOW SHALL WE LIVE? Climate Visions of Berkshire Youth Artists II” and “Ping. Pong.” by multimedia artist Deborah H. Carter.

 

“HOW SHALL WE LIVE? Climate Visions of Berkshire Youth Artists II” will be on view August 4 through August 30 in the smaller window at 141 North Street. This is a juried exhibition of student art responding to the climate crisis, presented by Living the Change Berkshires. There will be a reception with the artists from 6 to 7 pm on Friday, August 4 as part of the First Fridays Artswalk.

 

The Unitarian Universalist Church of Pittsfield, 175 Wendell Avenue, will present works by artists Kas Maroney, Fern Leslie, Kamille Hylton-Alvarado, and the late Paul Glavin, August 4 through August 25, in a show entitled UU Artists Past and Present Views. There will be a reception with the artists on Friday, August 4, 5 to 7 pm, as part of the First Fridays Artswalk.

 

The UU Church of Pittsfield is known for its diversity and inclusion of people including artists, authors, revolutionaries, and activists. Included in this exhibit are voices from the LGBTQ+ community, established artists, new voices and more.

 

Witch Slapped, 78 North Street, will host a reception showcasing The Fantastical Artwork of Kit Curry on Friday, August 4, 5 to 8 pm.

 

Kit Curry’s serenely apocalyptic artwork draws upon those primordial beliefs — animism, witchcraft, the occult —that modernity and so-called enlightenment have failed to entirely exorcise. Combining graphite, charcoal, and pastel for a wide tonal range, Kit creates figurative and illustrative black and white chiaroscuro drawings in which witches and goblins dance amidst a crumbling world. Kit Curry’s artwork serves as a reminder of the mystery, terror, and delight of the strange world we inhabit. A glow in the dark shirt with one of Kit’s pieces will debut at the reception and will be available for sale.

 

On Friday, August 4 from 5 to 7 pm, Marchetti Headquarters, 314 North Street, will present Past and Present: Acrylic paintings by J J Tobin at an opening reception with the artist. J J Tobin has been making art for over 50 years, including paintings, sculpture, and murals. This show, on view August 4-30, will feature acrylic paintings on canvas and older assemblages.

 

Krol Headquarters, 139 North Street, will present “Flowers, Fruit and Veggies” by Ilene Richard on Friday, August 4 from 5 to 8 pm at an opening reception with the artist.

 

On Friday, August 4, 5 to 8 pm, NUarts gallery + studios, 311 North Street, will open their Hall Gallery featuring the works of resident artists including Richard Britell, Kathy Gideon, Brent Ridge, Joan Rooks, Marney Schorr, and Laura Thompson.

 

Soma’s Aromas, 81 East Street, will host a reception with in-house artist Irene Collias from 5 to 8 pm on Friday, August 4.

 

The Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, 28 Renee Avenue, will present CATA’s I Am a Part of Art through August 23, 2023. Community Access to the Arts’ Annual Art Show I Am a Part of Art features more than 150 paintings and drawings by artists with disabilities – the culmination of hundreds of CATA visual arts workshops serving teens, adults, and elders with disabilities.

 

Download the Downtown Pittsfield app in the App Store or on Google Play to follow a virtual walking tour of art on your cell phone.

 

First Fridays Artswalk is supported in part by a grant from the Mass Cultural Council, and a grant from the Pittsfield Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

 

This program is also supported in part by The Feigenbaum Foundation as well as a grant awarded by Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation’s Arts Build Community initiative with funding from the Barr Foundation.

 

For more information on First Fridays Artswalk, call Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. at 413-443-6501.