TWT Talk: March festival

TWT Talk: A column by Eugenie Sills

March festival a great success!

Wow! What an incredible March we’ve just had in the Berkshires with 30-plus venues offering performance, film, music, exhibits, talks and more as part of the First Annual Festival of Women in the Arts. Festival artists ranged in age from five to over 80. Their events took us on journeys from Iran to the former Congo, Italy to Appalachia. Audience members joined presenters in exploring the role of women in the arts and deconstructing gender. From intimate gatherings of a dozen to crowds of hundreds, women, men and children came together to enjoy women’s art, share our varied experiences and celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month. We were moved, enlightened and uplifted.

I didn’t get to every event (at 65 and counting I don’t think it would have been humanly possible!) but I did enjoy many—and the dozens of emails and phone calls I’ve received confirm my experience of an impressive and diverse array of talent and creativity on display from north to south throughout the month.

For those of us at The Women’s Times, it was special pleasure to welcome the 175 guests who gathered at Shakespeare & Company on March 13 to honor the recipients of our She’s Got Moxie! awards: Kelley Vickery, founder of the Berkshire International Film Festival; Laurie Norton Moffatt and Ellen Spear, co-founders of Berkshire Creative Economy Council; and Sara Katzoff, co-founder of the Berkshire Fringe Festival.These four women have launched new enterprises in the Berkshires within the past five years. Each of their ventures has shown signifigant success in a very short time and their achievements are remarkable: BIFF has put a new feather in the Berkshires’ cap with its high profile off-season festival. Berkshire Creative has changed the region’s conversation about art, culture, creativity and business. The Berkshire Fringe has diversified the region’s offerings and its appeal to new and younger audiences.

It was a great privilege for me to be joined onstage by Shakespeare & Company artistic director Tina Packer, Jacob’s Pillow executive director Ella Baff, and Barrington Stage Company artistic director Julianne Boyd—all Berkshire icons who have long been recognized for their moxie!—and dedicated festival partner Kevin Sprague of Studio Two, to bestow the awards. Also sharing the stage was dancer/choreographer Dawn Lane and a group of dancers representing Jacob’s Pillow, Community Access to the Arts and the community-at-large, who opened the evening with their moving piece, Common Ground.

I offer my deep appreciation to all who made this First Annual Berkshire Festival of Women in the Arts possible: the talented and ambitious artists and cultural venues who produced such an impressive array of events; the wonderful audiences who attended performances, screenings, openings and lectures; and the sponsors, advertisers and festival partners who supported this new collabrative enterprise. Brava!

Eugenie Sills
Founder and Publisher
esills@thewomenstimes.com