Artist Spotlight: Virginia Abbott
I found Virginia Abbott, a long-standing Banana Factory Arts Center resident artist, hard at work in her studio one Wednesday afternoon. Abbott warmly welcomed me. Her space is bright, open, and inviting. Like many of the studios at the Banana Factory Arts Center, there’s an almost palpable energy here—“good vibes,” if you will. Abbott has…
Tom and Betty Druckenmiller with Norm Williams: A Night of Music on the “Porch”
On Friday, June 9th Tom and Betty Druckenmiller with Norm Williams took to the Godfrey Daniels stage, which celebrated 41 years in March. In an attempt to make the listening room as much like a porch as possible the group brought iced tea which they served in mason jars and Tom brought along an antique…
Giving Voice to Emily Dickinson’s Quiet Passion
Many Tuesdays before the film screening I sit outside the theater with Dana Baker, the Frank Banko Alehouse Cinema Coordinator, and…
Tuesday Talkback with Bob Kilker: Norman
NOTE: The discussion of Norman below contains some plot spoilers. Joseph Cedar’s Norman, the Israeli director’s first American production, is a film…
Dick Boak at Northampton Community College’s Fab Lab Coffee House
Dick Boak from C.F. Martin & Co. regaled an intimate crowd at NCC’s Fab Lab Coffee House on Thursday evening, May…
Tuesday Talkback with Bob Kilker: “Get Out” (2017)
I’ve enjoyed leading discussions of so many brilliant and entertaining films at the Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas through the years, but…
Jane Austen Discussion Group: Creepy Castles and Communal Reading
2017 marks the 200th anniversary of beloved British author Jane Austen’s death, as well as the publication of her two final…
Tuesday Talkback: Gifted
Whenever I introduce my undergraduate students to the classic maternal melodrama, Stella Dallas, I always feel a little sad that they…
Artist Spotlight: Melissa Perhamus
Since the age of seven, Melissa Perhamus knew that “there was something powerful” to her art. So, from the third grade…
On the Road, In the Round: Songwriters & Story Tellers
“On the Road & In the Round: Songwriters & Story Tellers” with Thom Schuyler, Craig Bickhardt, Jack Sundrud, and Jack Murray…