The Fetish of Love works inspired by West African Fetish Dolls by Belinda Lyons Zucker

Salmon Falls Artisans Showroom celebrates both Black History Month and Valentines Day with the Fetish Dolls of Belinda Lyons Zucker. Gallery Two will show her series of dolls and figures designed to celebrate and just possibly bring love into your life. Lyons Zucker, who lives in Turners Falls, is accomplished in ceramics, painting and the fiber arts. She has brought all these skills together to create more than 400 figures and dolls in her lifetime. She states that she creates her figures as ‘mediators.’  This idea of object serving as mediator comes from West Africa, where Lyons Zucker has traced her own lineage back to her great, great, great grandmother on her mother’s side. This grandmother was brought over from Sierra Leone to work the rice fields in the Carolinas. To create a fetish doll in the traditional sense, there needs to be a person asking for intercession to get something they want, and a Shaman willing to create a figure for that person.  The doll or figure will become the object able to help the asker attain their desire. It is a contract of spirit and honor. Lyons explains that there is probably not one African culture in which dolls, figures or masks are not incorporated into everyday life to serve all kinds of purposes. Reception on February 11 from 3-6 pm. The experience of this exhibit is not just for viewing. Lyons Zucker invites you to make your own Love Fetish Doll Sunday, February 12 from 1-3pm at the gallery. The plain doll will be provided and Lyons Zucker will teach participants how to add the charms, words and embellishments to personalize it into their own doll. Please call the gallery ahead to register for the workshop at 413 625-9833 or email SalmonFallsGallery@megaplanet.com. The cost for the workshop is $45 including all materials. To see more of Lyons Zucker’s dolls go to http:www.picturetrail.com/beezdolls.

01:00pm - 05:00pm  Imitating Art - A Student Photographic Exhibition

Hallmark Institute of Photography is pleased to present Imitating Art, a student photographic exhibition of one of our favorite assignments. For this assignment, Hallmark students study the history of art, and attempt to photographically reproduce an original work of art. To create their image, students must study lighting, color, gesture and propping to analyze their roles in the original piece. Meticulous attention must be paid to the small details; the curve of a hand, the tilt of a head, the drape of a fabric. Finding specific props and understanding their importance in the overall image leads to a journey of discovery and growth. Exhibit at the Gallery at Hallmark located at 85 Avenue A in Turners Falls. Gallery open Friday thru Sunday, 1:00 to 5:00 pm. 413.863.0085

10:15am  Storytime

Featuring stories, activities, crafts and music. Held at at Carnegie Library located at 201 Avenue A in Turners Falls. (FREE) 10:15 am. 413-863-3214.

12:00pm - 02:00pm  Writer's Lunch

Bring your laptops or notebooks and spend some time in the library’s meeting room working on your novel!Open to the public. Held in the Levanway Meeting Room at Greenfield Public Library, 402 Main Street in Greenfield. 12:00 - 2:00 p.m. 413-772 1544