Program for 2011
Program by date
May-July, 2011
August-September, 2011
Program by type
Gallery Exhibits
Lecture Series
Special Events
Summer Solstice Opening
Party
Women Burning Bridges
Becket Community Fair
Donors' Buffet Reception
A Tasty Event
Shot in the Dark
The Bawd of the Bard
Annual Members' Meeting
Timber Framer's Art
Harvest Party Celebration
Writers Reading
Workshops
Visual Arts
Theater Arts
Outdoor Arts
Physical Arts
Social Arts
Young Peoples Program
Ninth Annual Young
People's Arts Festival
Go figure
I Love Art
Marmalade Production’s
Big Puppet Day
Shakespeare
Families Dance Together
at the Pillow
Clay Work Basics
Camp Imagination
The chisel travels intently across the wood grain, cutting and chiseling away, leaving behind a rough landscape of hills, valleys and jagged edges. The resulting images are often bold, raw, and succinct. It is in this vein that Collateral Damage was produced, reaching down to the depths of one soldier’s soul, translating the raw emotion of his war experience into imagery, challenging the viewer to step into the scene, to hear the sounds, to taste, to touch, and to experience the sensations of that moment it time. 
Experience the creative work of students in Jennifer Annand’s art classes at the Becket Washington School. These young artists, grades kindergarden through 5, have much to teach us through the joy they bring to their projects and how we see others. This year’s exhibit will include work from every student exploring the global issues in a child’s world, from a child’s perspective.
In recent years I have developed a practice of meditation. These paintings express my understanding of the interplay of the inner and outer worlds of experience. The images are derived from my love of light, color, landscape and architecture. I think of this body of work as "Mindsight."
A long-time resident of Pioneer Valley, I consider myself part of the Outsider Artist Movement. Silver is my main medium, though I work in numerous other mediums, including lapidary work (with semi-precious gemstones) and glass (fusing and Dichroic) both of which I utilize in my silversmithing work. I use my life as my pallet, my favorite saying is “anything worth doing is worth over doing” and I really emphasize this with my artwork. 
Marguerite Bride, Watercolors; Nina Evans, Watercolors/Glass; Robert Alan Hyde, Metal; Tiffany Hilton and Andrew Quient, Pottery; Wilma Rifkin, Watercolor & Drawing; Katherine Borkowski-Byrne, Mixed Media; Wednesday Nelena Sorokin, Oil; Pottery canister by Tiffany Hilton.
Having discovering the subtle beauty of wood fired pottery many years ago, my work continues to reflect the serendipitous effects of fire. Most pieces are thrown on the wheel and then altered. This allows me to make just about any shape I can imagine. Using glazes sparingly, I like my pots to retain the look and feel of the clay, the hands, and the fire that created the piece. 
Inspiration for my artwork comes from my affinity for nature and the realist tradition of landscape painting. The hills, rivers, forests and changing seasons of the Berkshires are my subject. I venture into my surroundings and explore the possibilities. As I work on site and apply pastel to paper, I constantly evaluate the landscape. I simplify, dramatize and compose the various graphic elements in order to capture the essence of the scene.
I use a wide range of techniques and materials in my work, among them chain maille, bead weaving, wirework, & bead stringing. I love learning & incorporating new methods. Having a textile design background, I especially enjoy adapting fiber techniques for jewelry, using wire, cord, ribbon, macramé, crochet, spool knitting, netting, weaving, knotting & braiding.
I love to photograph flowers and have photographed them from the inside out and the outside in, from top to bottom and in-between. There are many features of flowers that are beautiful and interesting, but each individual photograph shows only one part of the flower. I therefore set out to create photographs that showed many aspects of the flower in a single image. This meant taking multiple photographs and merging them into a montage. The end result is a floral image that shows many views of the flower’s beauty in a single image. Look closely and you will see the different features. 
Using traditional oil painting methods, these paintings represent an ongoing exploration of the infinite possibilities for rhythms of color in nature. Working consistently over the last thirty years at the foothills of the Catskill Mountains, I have aspired to see and listen to the beat of this exquisite environment. I strive to come closer to producing a statement illustrating that in a world of horror, chaos and injustice, the beauty of nature and the light that is cast upon it is always here.
My ceramic work includes expressive wall faces decorated with accessories such as jewelry, studs, and glasses as well as randy Pan and Satyr sculptures. "The Wharf Rats" is a miniature jazz band of mouse musicians sculpted in wax and cold cast in bronze and brass. Also exhibiting my distinctive mixed media paintings and collage, plus steam punk-y geared handbags, fabric necklaces, more!
I
always found nature, details and textures of closely observed landscape, exciting - while the ever changing weather inspire in me a need to capture its’ many fleeting moods. This need to be able to express what I saw and felt motivated me to learn the craft of photography and printing techniques. I learned from books, by trial and error. In the process I found ways to greatly enlarge very small things expanding my vision into a tiny universe of roadside weeds, grasses and tiny flowers. Their large portraits reveal beauty not so easily observed with a casual eye. It feels like a journey of discovery.
I studied photography at The School of Visual Arts in NYC in the early 70’s. Until recently I worked in the field of alternative dispute resolution, a field I practiced with passion. I am excited about redirecting my energies to my chosen art medium and is pleased to launch my exposure through BAC. I have farmed since the early eighties and bring that familiarity to this series depicting what I consider an “at risk” profession.
Will Beemer is the Director of the Heartwood School for the Homebuilding Crafts in Washington, Massachusetts and former Executive Director of the Timber Framers Guild. 