Infinity (and Beyond)

Infinite possibilities: I have fond memories of Hartford and my alma mater,
including the creativity that came out of the Hartford Art School...
I still love visiting and seeing the students' work. Photo by JC, 2015.

Earlier this week I wrote about my recent interview with WNPR for their program, Where We Live. The Hartford-based NPR station is part of the Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network, located just down from where I used to live.

In addition to their quality radio programming, CPBN appears to produce some fine TV shows as well. The one I am most intrigued by is Infinity Hall Live, a nationally-syndicated program, filmed at the historic Infinity Music Hall in Norfolk, Connecticut. Think "Austin City Limits: the East Coast version"... from what I have seen, the show is an entertaining mix of performances and interviews with national music acts. The show seems similar, in concept, to what I have attempted to do with my own Berkshire Soundstage program over the years; the added bonus is that it is filmed in an intimate, beautiful setting.

Alt-rock heroine, Tori Amos comes to life from the stage of 
Infinity Music Hall. Courtesy: Infinity Hall Live.

Infinity Hall Live begins their fourth season this weekend with America, the uh, American rock band. A little before my time, but I recognize the songs: "Ventura Highway," "Sister Golden Hair," "You Can Do Magic"... anyone with access to a radio during the late 70s knows these songs as well as they can recall "A Horse With No Name."

Other acts scheduled for season 4 include Toad the Wet Sprocket; Tedeschi Trucks Band; Jackie Greene; and Sadie and the Hotheads, fronted by Downton Abbey's Elizabeth McGovern (my wife will be thrilled!). As they say, check your local listings, or you can catch the premiere on the show's website.

A couple months ago I met up with some of the staff at CPBN, to discuss the possibility of future collaborations. To give them an idea of what I can do, I created a short promotional video using footage from their show. It features some clips from Tori Amos and Robert Cray, who will be featured this season, as well as Wilson Phillips (my favorite was Wendy Wilson...swoon). I had good fun putting this together... hopefully they won't mind me sharing: 

 Always a supporter of live music, I wish IHL luck with their new season. I am also excited about the start of summer, and hopefully the chance to see some more live shows myself (Psychedelic Furs, anyone?). Inside... outside... it's all good.

Related Links:

Infinity Hall Live website

Infinity Music Hall

Tooned In

Roz Chast and her husband, humor writer Bill Franzen
at the opening. Photo by JC for NRM. ©NRM

Our new exhibition, Roz Chast: Cartoon Memoirs opened this past Saturday at Norman Rockwell Museum, with the artist on hand to help celebrate. Roz was gracious enough to conduct a couple press interviews for me during the day (with some reporters very appreciative of her work), and offered a walkthrough of the exhibition for those attending an evening gala. Click here to view some of my photos from the sold-out event.

Those visiting the exhibition, which is on view at the Museum through October 26, will also have a chance to see the video that I created for the show. Or... you can view it below. I'm pretty satisfied with this version, but do hope to go back in and make a few updates...bird is the word.

In the meantime, no rest for the weary! it's off to the United Nations... more details soon.

Related Link:

"Flights of Fancy," written by JC, Norman Rockwell Museum website, June 2015

Exhibition press release, written by JC, Norman Rockwell Museum website, May 2015

It's a Living

The Berkshires' summer season has begun. In my opinion, there's no better time to visit the area. 

First impressions: entering the Berkshires from New York's Hudson Valley.
Photo by Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved.

A couple weeks ago I appeared as a guest on the WNPR morning show, Where We Live, extolling the virtues of a trip to Western Massachusetts and Norman Rockwell Museum. Not my smoothest interview, but I was happy to take part. I was joined by representatives from Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival (coincidentally, how I first learned of the area), Shakespeare & Company, and The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, where the radio interview was broadcast. 

WNPR is based in Hartford yet the show's host, John Dankosky, lives in an area of Connecticut not far from the Berkshires and so decided to broadcast his show live in Great Barrington, on the occasion of the Berkshire International Film Festival. It's interesting for me to recall that during my own years in Hartford, where I attended college, I had no concept of the Berkshires and frequently drove right through its outskirts (none the wiser) during trips to visit my family in the Hudson Valley. 

Go pro: courtesy "Out" magazine.

As I mentioned to Dankosky before we went on the air, my first impression of the Berkshires was that of a "summer camp" for artists, after being tipped off to area by a dancer who was studying at Jacob's Pillow. While working part-time in New York City and living in the Hudson Valley over ten years ago, I started making frequent trips to the Berkshires, enjoying its beautiful countryside, finding part-time work at the Pillow, performing with acting troupes in the area and, of course, working full-time at Norman Rockwell Museum. The rest, as they say, is history.

In the May issue of Out magazine, I offered further insight into my time spent in the area, and was featured as a "pro tip" on the joys of hiking the Berkshires' scenic hills. This is certainly a unique aspect of the area. 

As I mentioned in the WNPR interview, right down the street from the Rockwell Museum  you can take a hike up the mountain where Herman Melville was inspired to write Moby Dick. We talked about the other significant artists and activists who lived in the area, including Norman Rockwell, and theorized about what it was about the area that continues to draw such people. Following the interview, I drove a few miles away to finally visit the newly opened W.E.B. Du Bois homesite, dedicated to the influential American humanist and civil rights activist, who grew up in Great Barrington. Like much of the Berkshires, it was a pleasantly meditative stroll through both nature and history.

History happened here:
entrance to W.E.B. Du Bois homesite.
Photo by Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved.

They say the grass is always greener... for me, living in the Berkshires for a few years started to feel a little claustrophobic (especially during the winter), so I am happy to now be commuting from the nearby Capital Region. It's the best of both worlds. Due to a technical glitch, you'll hear my mic cut out at the end of the radio segment, but what I was trying to say is that the Berkshires is an easy drive from such areas as Albany, Boston, and New York City, and visitors are in for a real treat this summer (we just opened a show on New Yorker artist Roz Chast, and I'll write more about that shortly). Personally, I'm looking forward to the exhibition of Vincent Van Gogh's landscapes that will be on display at the Clark Art Institute... Van Gogh is one of my favorite artists, and what could be more fitting than a show about the great outdoors here in the Berkshires?

Related Links:

"Live from the Mahaiwe: Arts in the Berkshires," Where We Live, WNPR, May 29, 2015

"Spotlight on the Berkshires," Out Magazine, May 25, 2015

Berkshires.org