September 25, 2025
NORTH ADAMS, MA – Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts is pleased to present “Scenes
from The Center for Resourceful Living, North Adams State College, 1975-1980,” on
view at the MOSAIC Event Space, at 49 Main St. in North Adams, from October 3-November 2. An opening reception will
be held on Friday, Oct. 3, from 5-7 p.m., during North Adams’ First Friday celebration.
The MOSAIC exhibition of photographs documenting The Center for Resourceful Living highlights the 50-year anniversary of the founding of The Center and offers a peek
inside this adventurous program at the then North Adams State College in the late
1970s.
The Center for Resourceful Living featured hands-on learning and academic courses
for students to explore life choices and innovations through localized solutions,
renewable energy, and reducing the use of environmental resources. It was the vision
of MCLA Professor Lawrence Vadnais and his wife, Elizabeth. Despite its brief existence,
The Center had a substantial impact on the lives of those who engaged with its programs.
Participating students ran a college farm, learned to grow and preserve food, created
infrastructure powered by renewable energy, raised livestock, used draft animals to
accomplish farm work and logging for construction, and acquired other practical skills
and knowledge. Some might say the program was before its time in its anticipation
of necessary actions to avert changes in the climate. Others may notice that now,
50 years later, we are still asking the same questions.
The exhibit features photographs from The Randy Trabold Collection, donated to MCLA
by Ida Trabold, and MCLA’s Freel Library Archives. Additional photographs are courtesy of those who participated in The Center’s programs.
Coupled with the photographic exhibit, a documentary film, “Did You Put Milk in the
Bucket?: A Tribute to The Center for Resourceful Living,” will be shown on Saturday,
Oct. 11, at 7 p.m., in MCLA’s Murdock Hall, Room 218. The film screening serves as
this year’s Elizabeth and Lawrence Vadnais Environmental Issues Lecture.
Both the exhibit and the film screening are free and open to the public. The photographic
exhibit is curated by and the documentary film was created by Sharon Wyrrick, who
will attend the screening.
MOSAIC Event Space hours are Tuesdays through Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and
Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
This program is funded in part by a grant from the Cultural Council of Northern Berkshire,
a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
About MCLA
At MCLA, we're here for all — and focused on each — of our students. Classes are taught
by educators who care deeply about teaching, and about seeing their students thrive
on every level of their lives. In every way possible, the experience at MCLA is designed
to elevate our students as individuals, leaders, and communicators, fully empowered
to make their impressions on the world. In addition to our 130-year commitment to
public education, we have fortified our dedication to equitable academic excellence.
MCLA has appeared on U.S. News & World Report's list of Top Ten Public Colleges for
11 consecutive years, earning the No. 6 spot on the list of Top Public Liberal Arts
Schools in the nation for 2026. The College's focus on affordable education and economic
prosperity is reflected in additional 2026 U.S. News rankings: No. 6 for Top Performer
on Social Mobility for liberal arts colleges in the state and No. 4 for Top Performer
on Social Mobility for public liberal arts colleges in the country. These rankings
measure how well schools graduate students who receive Federal Pell Grants.
