Givers

If you want to feel good about yourself, do something good for someone else.

When I attend corporate events, I typically fly beneath the radar. That’s especially critical when I bring along my camera [which is most all the time]. I take photos—mostly candids—at these gatherings for “professional use.” Our website’s “In the Community” page—as well as other online channels—[Wordpress; LinkedIn, e.g.] needs frequent feedings. Relevancy and recency make for a stickier post and in turn help garner additional impressions from visitors and referrals from around the web.

Community Access to the Arts, aka CATA, is a non-profit that continues to captivate many in our region. Their mission is peerless in a number of ways; physically challenged artists have a way to express themselves via painting on a canvas [or on acrylic, wood, among others]. They also have the opportunity to earn a commission from the sale of their work.
Executive Director Margaret Keller along with founder Sandra Newman and many others have made CATA into an agent of life, possibilities, renewal, community and stewardship. Getting to its current form took a lot of invaluable, selfless giving on their part and from others.

The CATA annual summer art show started with an exhibition at The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA. It’s an impressive collection of work. Click here for a virtual tour of the CATA exhibit along with other information about CATA and the othering offerings here in the Berkshires. There’s still plenty of summer left, so get out and enjoy what’s available. Immerse yourself in the possibilities.

Hancock Shaker Village

From the Clark, travel southwest to the town of Hancock and you’re sure to encounter a timeless, living museum. HSV is that and a lot more. The Shakers were a religious order dating back to the late 1700s in England. More than that, they were part of a movement that contributed to the freedoms and cultural growth that are integral to the broad fabric of American history.
At the annual summer gala, Executive Director & CEO, Jennifer Trainer Thompson spoke of her time at HSV, a 6-year slice of time that, as they say, happened in the blink of an eye. As mentioned above regarding CATA, it takes a tremendous amount of giving to make Hancock Shaker Village the place that it is now.
The combination of time, energy, and financial support, given to these 2 non-profits [like other non-profits, for that matter] make these institutions an indelible resource for many communities, near and far.