Thursday, May 15 NEW YORK (AP) — It took only about 120 seconds last week for a Monet to exchange hands for a small fortune. Christie's auctioneer Christopher Burge started the bidding at $26 million for a 1873 Claude Monet painting of two puffing locomotives crossing a river bridge. The price then zoomed up, in $1 million increments.   Full Story

Thursday, May 15 SALEM, N.Y. — Susi Trombley, principal dance instructor with Classes at Fort Salem, announces two workshops for young people to take place this summer. A Young Actors' Workshop, for students who have just completed grades three through seven, will meet at Fort Salem in the mornings from June 30 through July 18.   Full Story

Thursday, May 15 BENNINGTON — The Better Bennington Corp. brings a solo exhibition of artist J. Seward Johnson's life-sized bronze sculptures to Bennington on May 19. The exhibition marks the first showing on a grand scale of Johnson's work in the region, and it will serve to give the community an in-depth view of this artist's unique creative spirit.   Full Story

Thursday, May 15 WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute received a three-year grant of $414,000 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in support of its Research and Academic Program. This is the second Mellon Foundation grant awarded since 2005 to the Clark's program.   Full Story

Tuesday, May 13 WESTON — The farm animals are putting on a play at the Weston Playhouse Theatre Company's free Family FunDay at the Weston Playhouse on Sunday, May 18 from 2-4 p.m. Visit a petting zoo, enjoy performances by students from Floodbrook and Cavendish Town Elementary Schools, and learn more about the Weston Playhouse Theatre Co.   Full Story

Tuesday, May 13 BENNINGTON — Cindy Kallet and Grey Larsen, folk singers who have toured nationally, will be at the Meetinghouse Café of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Friday evening, May 16, at 8 p.m. Cindy Kallet and Grey Larsen, each well-known and loved for their decades of music making, have joined musical forces in a new duo.   Full Story

Tuesday, May 13 I drove up to the Southern Vermont Arts Center's 79th Annual Members' Exhibition May 3 on a cold, gray, rainy day. Is that why my eyes kept drifting toward summery scenes, placid water, and vibrant flowers? The first work I saw, number one in Gallery I, was Kathie Thompson's "August Morn, Arlington," a sweetly soothing scene, lush and verdant, with still water, clear skies,   Full Story

Tuesday, May 13 MANCHESTER — Tickets are now on sale for the Southern Vermont Arts Center's Summer 2008 All That Jazz series. The SVAC Ticket Line, at 362-2522, will be open Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., through the end of May. This year's season includes some of the biggest names in the world of jazz — Bucky Pizzarelli and the John Pizzarelli Trio, July , the Duke   Full Story

Tuesday, May 13 NORTH BENNINGTON — The Sage Street Mill, home of the VAE, will host the Spring Fling Dance Party Saturday, May 17 at 7 p.m. The party will be complete with light appetizers, a cash bar, and dancing to the sounds of DJ Rich Ryder. There will also be a silent auction and raffles to spice up the evening.   Full Story

Tuesday, May 13 BENNINGTON — On Sunday, May 18, at 4 p.m., Sage City Symphony, under the direction of conductor Michael Finckel, will present the final concert of the orchestra's 35th anniversary season. The concert is free and open to the public and will be held in Greenwall Auditorium in the VAPA building on the Bennington College campus.   Full Story

Tuesday, May 13 DORSET — An artists' reception is planned for Saturday, May 17 from 3 to 6 p.m. at Redux Art and Antiques Gallery. Redux is located at 3266 Route 30 in the Village of Dorset. Many of the artists represented by the gallery will be present. Some of the artists expected to attend include, Arthur Jones, Pam Marron, JoAnne Stimson, Thomas and Elizabeth Torak, Christopher   Full Story

Tuesday, May 13 BRATTLEBORO — The Brattleboro Music Center will be presenting a new workshop for singers led by soprano Junko Watanabe and pianist and conductor Susan Dedell. The Opera Ensembles workshop will be held on five consecutive evenings from Sunday, June 22, through Thursday, June 26, from 6:30 to 9:30 pm.   Full Story

Tuesday, May 13 BENNINGTON — Francis Biddle was an honored statesman, practicing lawyer, author, attorney general under Franklin D. Roosevelt, a judge at the Nuremburg trials, and, in the last year or so of his life, boss to Joanna McClelland Glass. Years later, Glass was moved to write a play about her former boss, her year as his secretary, and the contrasts and differences that   Full Story

Tuesday, May 13 NORTH ADAMS, Mass. - "Talking With" by Jane Martin will be performed at Main Street Stage 57 Main Street, North Adams Produced by Melissa Quirk, this show features many of the talented members from the Town Players' production in March. "Talking With" is a series of stories about individuals: an actress just moments before the curtain rises, a housewife fantasizing about   Full Story

Tuesday, May 13 CAMBRIDGE, N.Y. — The Theatre Company at Hubbard Hall will present the enduring Broadway musical, "Man of La Mancha," May 15 through June 1. Filled with soaring music (including the iconic anthem, "The Impossible Dream"), Man of La Mancha, with book by Dale Wasserman, music by Mitch Leigh and lyrics by Joe Darion, follows Don Quixote and his servant Sancho in the knight's   Full Story