Salon Highlights Art, Architecture, Film

The third in a series of monthly Hillside Salons of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 17 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, 125 West Bay Rd., Amherst. It will feature one of the museum’s architects, Kevin Chrobak of Juster Pope Frazier, Northampton.

Chrobak will discuss how an architect uses tools such as sunlight, building orientation, vistas, natural materials and imagination to create a space that fits the building owner’s and users’ needs. The architect will also talk about how this collaborative process contributed to his plans for churches, apartment buildings and offices in the local area. The salon’s format allows each artist 20 seconds per slide to show 20 views of his or her work, a total of only about six and a half minutes per person. After these, the gathering is open to discussion.

Hillside Salons are held on the third Tuesday of each month. Space is limited; for more information or to request a reservation, call (413) 545-4336, or e-mail: Hillside@umass.edu.

In addition to Chrobak, other artists to be featured:

Daniel Schrade of Hampshire College. For about 10 years, Schrade has been integrating text and word fragments into painting on canvas and paper. “In 2003, I started to add figurative personages into my paintings, often as elements that occupy the liminal spaces between fore-and background,” he notes. Motifs are repeated and worked out in varied forms in series so they become “a kind of very personal cultural archive” that includes the “Afronaut” and “Brother Beethoven” figures.

Stephen Petegorsky of Florence. The photographer says he has been drawn to photograph animals for as long as he has been making pictures. Petegorsky is inspired in part by museum dioramas, creating more personal ones by using diverse backgrounds. His other portfolios include landscapes, an ongoing project based in a prosthetics clinic in Nicaragua, and “Gold Leaf,” a work about time, memory, change and mortality.

Kate Geis of Northampton. This Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker is perhaps best known for her feature-length film Riversense, that describes a way of life through the eyes of several whitewater paddlers drawn to dangerous water for different reasons. Geis has also produced television programs including the 1995 Billboard Music Awards, the Second Annual Saturday Night Live Mother’s Day Special and the All-Star Fiesta at Ford’s Theater.

Michael Mazur of Leverett. The owner of Earthworks, a garden design and construction company, Mazur has spent 25 years building gardens throughout New England which include sculpture, artistic bouldering, stone walls and flatwork. Mazur’s work is on display at the Boston Flower show each spring.

Gartner Grows With Tax Credit, Incentive

The state of Connecticut is helping Gartner, Inc. of Stamford expand its operations, retaining 861 jobs and creating approximately 300 additional positions over the next 5 years.

Founded in 1979, Gartner is a research and advisory company with 4,100 associates worldwide, including more than 1,100 research analysts and consultants. It has clients in more than 80 countries.

The Department of Economic and Community Development is providing a $5 million, low-interest loan to the company for building and leasehold improvements and equipment, as well as up to $20 million in Urban and Industrial Site Reinvestment Tax Credits.

The Connecticut Development Authority has approved a sales and use tax exemption of up to $1 million.

Seeking 'Smart' Development Proposals

The EPA Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation is seeking applications for technical assistance from communities that want to incorporate "smart growth" in future development to meet environmental and other community goals.

Eligible entities are tribal, local, regional, and state governments, and nonprofit organizations that have a demonstrated partnership with a governmental entity. Applications are due April 23, 2009.

EPA has identified some key areas in which communities are likely to benefit from technical assistance: green job development; corridor redevelopment; green building development; climate change (both mitigation of and adaptation); and other topics.

Proposals are not limited to requests for technical assistance. For details visit http://epa.gov/smartgrowth/2009_sgia_rfa.htm.

Selected communities or states will receive visits from a team of experts organized by EPA and other national partners. EPA plans to assist three to five communities in a year. Selected communities in will be announced in fall of 2009. For more about smart growth and community building, see this link.