Collaborative Effort Fills North Adams Main Street With Art for the New Year

12/27/19

NORTH ADAMS, MASS.—Downtown North Adams is glammed up for the new year, thanks to an artistic collaboration among the City of North Adams and MCLA’s Berkshire Cultural Resource Center and Fine and Performing Arts Department.

New work from local artists, one MASS MoCA artist in residence, two MCLA alumni, and eight MCLA students has been placed in storefront windows along Main Street. “We wanted to ignite Main Street in a way that reflects the rich and eclectic arts community that works here, studies here, and comes here to experience all that North Adams has to offer,” said MCLA BCRC Director Erica Wall.

With help from Installation Space Gallery and the North Adams Cultural District, art by by Tara Sabharwal, a December 2019 artist in residence at MASS MoCA, is now featured in the window of MCLA’s Design Lab, 49 Main Street. MCLA seniors Emery Bibbins, Liz Brick, Gillian Fournier, Spring Hajjar, Samantha Hinds, Sierra Lamonde, Kelsey Sherman, and Macie Turrell have work displayed in the space’s opposite window (this group of visual arts majors will also have a traditional senior art show at MCLA Gallery 51 in April).

Jon Verney’s “Sightseer” is featured at 105 Main Street. The windows at 107 Main Street will show work by Galen Cheney and Debi Pendell. Work by Nate Massari ’16 is featured across the street at 68 Main, and work by Halie Smith ’18 is displayed in the windows of 70 Main Street. 

To read more about the artists and obtain a walking map, visit MCLA Gallery 51 at 51 Main Street in North Adams.

“MCLA’s downtown presence and programs through the Berkshire Cultural Resource Center, the Design Lab, and other initiatives enlivens and enriches both the college and the city,” said North Adams Mayor Tom Bernard. “This new collaboration builds on our strong partnership to highlight the vibrancy and variety of our cultural district, to showcase the incredible talent of professional and student artists, and to activate downtown storefronts as platforms for community engagement.”

MCLA’s Berkshire Cultural Resource Center (BCRC) provides opportunities, resources, and support to the Northern Berkshire Community. BCRC brings together the Northern Berkshire , MCLA and greater Creative Communities through its cultural programming including: MCLA Gallery 51, Downstreet Art, B-Hip, and MCLA Presents! We will promote, facilitate, and encourage a dialogue in order to foster a sustainable creative community. BCRC is a collaborative project of MCLA, MASS MoCA, and the City of North Adams.