Catherine Barber

Hundreds of doctors, researchers, and volunteers sit in the audience.  Catherine Barber, a renowned researcher at the Harvard Injury Control Center, is on stage giving a lecture. Although the subject matter is serious, her speech is hopeful.  Barber is here to discuss suicide prevention. Over the past several years, she has developed and refined the Means Matter campaign, a program designed to increase the number of suicide prevention groups for at-risk youths by reducing their access to lethal weapons.  Barber is in the early stages of the research that she hopes will support the correlation between suicide and lethal weapons.

Off stage, Barber is much more lighthearted.  She has a youthful presence. Her style is reminiscent of the seventies, but with a modern twist.  She is dressed casually in a chunky knit sweater and black pencil skirt, and her long, gray-brown hair sits at her shoulders.  But the seriousness of her work doesn’t seem to have aged her.  She is in her forties, but she is surrounded by youth on a daily basis, from her two teens at home to the students at the Harvard School of Public Health.  She loves to keep up with teen culture and the latest exercise fads.  It is the vitality of youth that drives her passion for her research in preventing young adults access to lethal weapons.  Barber is lucky.  Her home is a happy one.  She doesn’t have to worry about her family in terms of poor mental health.  But there are thousands of young adults who don’t have stable homes, who don’t have Barber’s passion for life, and who could gain access to lethal weapons and take their life away.  This is what Barber aims to prevent.

Barber has always been drawn to public policy.  She grew up watching her mother perform research on moral decision-making in young people and became interested in issues of humanity and equality.  But as a young adult she was torn between her love for the arts and her desire to influence public ways of thinking.  In both high school and college, she was heavily involved in arts administration.  In high school she ran a folk music coffee house and recruited performers from around the nation.  After attending Hampshire College, where she graduated with degrees in Women’s History, Social Theory and Graphic Design, she ran an outdoor performing arts series in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Beacon. A Local Art Destination

BEACON, N.Y. – I was tired of the conventional art scene.  Visiting museums in New York City meant hours of travel time, hidden expenses and big crowds. Beacon itself had popped up on the international art map when Dia: Beacon opened its doors in 2003.  The contemporary art museum drew crowds from around the world, but while some tourists made the trek to Main Street, many just got right back on the train, forgetting that Beacon was home to over twenty galleries, each with its own unique perspective on art.  “The museum’s important,” said local gallery owner Michael Benzer. “But it’s the artists that have moved here, who have opened studios and hosted shows, that have allowed Beacon to become an art destination.”

I myself was guilty; I had been to Beacon several times but had never made it past the train station.  Just a twenty-minute drive from my home, Beacon’s Main Street seemed like the perfect place to immerse myself in the local art scene.  So I headed over to Beacon for the evening to check out the art and grab a bite to eat.

My trip to Beacon fell on Second Saturday, an evening once a month where the galleries extend their normal hours and host art shows, musical performances, and wine tastings.  I began the night on the West End of Main Street at Hudson Beach Glass. Located in a renovated firehouse, the colorful glass bowls, vases, and sculptures could be spotted through the windows.  The gallery was filled with people, some talking, others browsing the work and a class on glassblowing was just winding down.  Co-owner Michael Benzer was chatting with customers but encouraged me to give myself a tour of the galleries.  “Be sure to check out the third floor.  There’s a great view of the Valley.”