November 20 - January 2000 10:00 AM , 11:00 AM , Noon 39 South Street, Route 7 Pittsfield, MA 01201 (413) 443-7171 www.berkshiremuseum.org Open year round, call for hours. Admission is charged, free for members and children under age 5. The museum is wheelchair accessible with some limitations. The letterhead of The Berkshire Museum says it all: "Art/Natural Science/History." The museum's mission is to remain a "community museum," bucking the increasing trend towards specialized museums, which cater specifically to sports, computers and the like. Though certainly popular and not without a sort of educational value, these types of offerings lack the Berkshire Museum's multi-disciplinary qualities. Since 1903, when philanthropist and paper scion Zenas Crane opened the museum, thousands have flocked annually to enjoy the splendid collection, which currently houses 18 galleries of art (among the collections, works by Alexander Calder, Rembrandt, Peale, Copley, Stuart, West and Reynolds, as well as many abstract works), an interactive aquarium, a gift shop and a number of wonders of art, science and nature. The museum also houses the Little Cinema, an intimate place for viewing the best in independent American and foreign films, both contemporary and classic. The Berkshire Museum offers tours, lectures, classes, special exhibits and demonstrations; one of the most acclaimed was the popular Robot Zoo. Many thousand Berkshirites and visitors enjoyed this important work, in its only New England appearance, which offered a glimpse at hybrids of nature and technology that was both highly entertaining and informative (a description which, in itself, could also serve as a fitting epigram about The Berkshire Museum). The offerings for winter of 1999-2000 carry on the tradition of unearthing and contextualizing historical and cultural collections from the area and the world. Among them: The best known and loved of perennial New England Classics, the 15th annual Festival of Trees and the Holiday Experience, celebrating the holidays for a newly extended six-week timeframe, returns November 20, 1999 to January 3, 2000. The Festival will offer the usual fun, kicking off with a preview party and featuring over 200 ornamented trees throughout the museum creatively decorated trees displayed in the Museum's painting and sculpture galleries. Holiday photos and song from many eras augment the whole display. Enjoy the balletic, madrigal, theater, craft and instrumental entertainment and, if you wish to be among the cognoscenti, mark your calendar for this exclusive SPECIAL EVENT: the 15th Annual Festival of Trees Preview Party, November 19, 1999, strictly from elegant! This is sure to be a hit, so call the Museum for reservations! Contact the museum for more information on lectures, concerts, the "Refrigerator Art Gallery," the "Vend-o-Mat Café" and special cultural day trips.
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