In search of fast transit

“Boxcar Getaway” (oil on panel), by Bruce Ackerson, in his show “Birds-Eye Views,’’ at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s Hampden Gallery, through May 14.

The gallery says:

“From a birds-eye view, the artist presents narrative scenes which are an imaginative take on popular culture, modern life and the hidden world of the human psyche.’’

Mr. Ackerson is based in Northampton, Mass.

The Norwottuck Rail Trail Bridge across the Connecticut River at Northampton. The Norwottuck Branch Rail Trail, formerly the Norwottuck Rail Trail, is an 11-mile-long bicycle/pedestrian paved right-of-way running from Northampton through Hadley and Amherst, to Belchertown, all in Massachusetts. It opened in 1992, and is part of the longer Mass Central Rail Trail.