[Forum] Meeting Notes & List Discussions

[Karen Kane]

I think that getting involved with the Fall Foliage Parade is a  
really really good idea, and we should do that...
but, that's only one project, seen-one-afternoon-in-a-year public  
art.  I think we need an ongoing development of relationship between  
art / the art community and the city of North Adams, at least.


On Mar 6, 2007, at 11:35 AM, Veronica Bosley wrote:

> I agree that although it would be nice to have someone like Megan  
> working
> for the art in North Adams or North County in general, but I am  
> unsure of
> the feasibility of this and think that if we as an arts community  
> organize
> around certain causes/projects we could also become very successful.
>
> I think that a great way to invlove the local commuity is by trying  
> to tap
> in to some of the long standing traditions here and carve out a  
> space for
> artists. One idea I had (although not being an artist I don't know  
> exactly
> how tihs idea will be received) was for artists to become more  
> involved
> with the Fall Foliage Parade by working with corporate sponsors to  
> make
> floats, design posters, ads, etc. surrounding this event.
>
> As a native of the Berkshires I know that the parade has been a long
> standing tradition that nearly everyone in the community attends. I  
> also
> know that the parade used to be a lot more fun and full of life,  
> mostly
> because there were more organizations around to promote it and make  
> floats
> for it. If the arts community could work together or maybe with local
> businesses I think we could make direct positive contact with the
> community through involvement with this event.
>
> I understand artists wanting to be able to do their own kind of  
> artwork
> only, but this would be a great way to market artists and get the
> community interested and in support of area artists so that  
> everyone can
> ultimately "do their own thing".
>
> Al Bashevkin <abashevkin at nbccoalition.org> writes:
>> I must say I am impressed by the communications that occur within  
>> this
>> forum.  If I may add one more thing, I'd say look to the North as  
>> well as
>> the South. Bennington Vermont (my hometown) seems to have an active
>> artists
>> guild and has used art to both raise money and awareness for our  
>> local
>> artists. And there is no art-czar to my knowledge within  
>> Bennington. It's
>> people like y'all who do it.
>>
>>
>> on 3/6/07 11:04 AM, Kurt Kolok at kurt at kolokgallery.com wrote:
>>
>>> The disconnect between the arts communities of North Adams and
>>> Pittsfield seems obvious in these posts.  I have to agree with  
>>> Joshua.
>>> Pittsfield does not have a major contemporary arts venue to catapult
>>> from/with, yet they are doing amazing things in a fraction of the  
>>> time
>>> we've had Mass MoCA.  It is not all about baseball mitt  
>>> sculptures--that
>>> is such a small fraction of what they're doing.  Even though they  
>>> may
>>> not be the most fascinating works of art they've accomplished their
>>> goal--to engage the local (non-art) Pittsfield community and raise
>>> awareness of the arts in their minds while bringing artists (who've
>>> chosen to paint large baseball mitts) together for a common cause.
>>>
>>> Pittsfield is making it happen for several reasons:
>>>
>>> --Megan and her work with the mayor and city
>>> --artists there are working with/reaching out to the city and are
>>> putting their ideas/words into action through organization and elbow
>>> grease (not to say some of the artists in this community haven't  
>>> been
>>> doing that here).
>>> --June-Oct., the city of Pittsfield will be transformed by art every
>>> third Thursday.  Storefronts will be displaying artwork,
>>> events/performers will begin filling the streets, and artists,
>>> businesses, city leaders, and museums will all be working hand-in- 
>>> hand
>>> to accomplish this.
>>> --A MAJOR South County gallery will be opening a new, large space  
>>> in a
>>> couple of months.
>>> --Pittsfield is already talking about placing ads in major art  
>>> mags (Art
>>> in America and ArtForum) touting Pittsfield/Berkshires as a hub for
>>> contemporary art--there is no reason North Adams cannot tie into
>>> something like that.
>>>
>>> Part of the problem we've had in North Adams, in my opinion, is that
>>> there are some great ideas in the community but we continue to  
>>> try to
>>> make them happen individually without organization or planning.   
>>> If we
>>> continue working in this way our audience reach will remain limited,
>>> individuals will continue spending MORE money on advertising &  
>>> promotion
>>> while getting limited results, collaboration/cooperation with  
>>> Mass MoCA
>>> and other arts organizations will not expand, and the North Adams  
>>> arts
>>> community will look the same in two years as it does today.
>>>
>>> I agree with Diane's statement that "Artists need to spend their  
>>> energy
>>> and time making the art that interests them".  However, as it has  
>>> been
>>> throughout history, artists need to make a living like everyone  
>>> else in
>>> order to do just that.  That is the main reason I've chosen to sell
>>> art.  Many artists in this area have the means to spend their time
>>> making the art they want to make, while many others do not have that
>>> option.  If we are all to plug into the creative economy in the  
>>> way that
>>> would benefit us all the most, we must become more organized not  
>>> less.
>>>
>>> North Adams needs an "art czar"--someone working with/for the  
>>> city who
>>> has the same passion for art as Megan Whilden does in  
>>> Pittsfield.  Rod's
>>> focus is "tourism" not specifically art.  We need someone who  
>>> will work
>>> with his office and the mayor's office to draw focus to the arts  
>>> which
>>> are at the center of this creative economy we've been hearing so  
>>> much
>> about.
>>>
>>> This discussion thread is exactly what we need more of on this  
>>> forum,
>>> with even more voices involved.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Diane Sullivan wrote:
>>>> I qgree with Greg. Artists need to spend their energy and time  
>>>> making
>>>> the art that interests them. We don't need to copy Pittsfield but
>>>> rather celebrate all the diverse artists here. I think the  
>>>> galleries
>>>> and open studios have started doing just that. I would love to see
>>>> some individual artists design their own public art projects that
>>>> would show the comminity what we do. However, that has to be the
>>>> mayor's idea and maybe Ron Bunt would help with that??? I would be
>>>> willing to talk to him. Ron was helpful with the North Adams Open
>>>> Studio event last fall and seems to be supportive in general. It's
>>>> interesting to hear what people think about these topics. Keep
>>>> talking. Thanks Josh!
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> From: Joshua Field <joshua at joshuafield.com>
>>>>> Reply-To: joshua at joshuafield.com
>>>>> To: Kurt Kolok <kurt at kolokgallery.com>
>>>>> CC: FORUM <forum at berkshirevisualarts.org>
>>>>> Subject: Re: [Forum] Meeting Notes & List Discussions
>>>>> Date: Mon, 05 Mar 2007 19:40:29 -0500
>>>>>
>>>>> i have a topic that i would love to hear thoughts on. lately, it
>>>>> feels like pittsfield is kicking north county's (depending on  
>>>>> where
>>>>> you draw that line) butt in the promotion of all things cultural.
>>>>> some think this to be largely attributable to the the great job  
>>>>> that
>>>>> Megan Whilden is doing running the "cultural pittsfield"  
>>>>> initiative
>>>>> and the buy-in of their city government (the cultural council  
>>>>> grant
>>>>> of $65 two years ago, the $40k last year and $50k year toward that
>>>>> initiative can't hurt either!). my question/topics for the group:
>>>>>
>>>>> 1) is it okay that pittsfield take the lead in promoting the
>>>>> berkshires as a cultural destination? should there be a similar
>>>>> effort in north county? should the effort be berkshire-wide? whose
>>>>> job is it anyway??
>>>>>
>>>>> 2) north adams may be home to mass moca, the eclipse mill, gallery
>>>>> 51, a burgeoning arts community and soon an arts focused  
>>>>> program at
>>>>> mcla - but how does this fit under a broader umbrella that is
>>>>> something people outside of this community will
>>>>> understand/appreciate/be drawn to?
>>>>>
>>>>> my feeling is that ,while north county has the advantage of  
>>>>> number of
>>>>> large arts organizations (moca, the clark, wcma/williams, mcla)  
>>>>> who
>>>>> often cooperate, the arts community and smaller organizations  
>>>>> seems
>>>>> to have a hard time breaking into that group (due to lack of
>>>>> coordination, funds, etc?) in order to take advantage of big  
>>>>> summer
>>>>> marketing initiatives, group grants, etc. i personally feel  
>>>>> that we
>>>>> would really benefit from someone in a role like megan's with  
>>>>> buy-in
>>>>> from local gov't.
>>>>>
>>>>> if you aren't comfortable sending responses to the group, feel  
>>>>> free
>>>>> to send them directly to me and i'll try to synthesize.
>>>>>
>>>>> thanks!!
>>>>>
>>>>> -- 
>>>>>
>>>>> // www.joshuafield.com
>>>>> // joshua at joshuafield.com
>>>>> // +1 [413] 329-4789
>>>>> // 121 Union Street, Studio 1E
>>>>> // North Adams, MA 01247 USA
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Kurt Kolok wrote:
>>>>>> I think we could accomplish a great deal more if we have some of
>>>>>> these discussions online (on this list-serve).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I sent out a message a couple of weeks ago with a suggestion  
>>>>>> on how
>>>>>> we might actually begin to make some progress on achieving  
>>>>>> some of
>>>>>> our goals (first by identifying what they might be) and only  
>>>>>> noticed
>>>>>> one response.  It may be that many of you have never used  
>>>>>> something
>>>>>> like this for a discussion tool.  I think it's critical that we
>>>>>> literally record that type of information to begin putting words
>>>>>> into action and I think it's much easier to do that via email  
>>>>>> than
>>>>>> in person.  It is my opinion that if we're to accomplish any long
>>>>>> term/community-wide goals we need to be communicating between
>>>>>> meetings and social gatherings.  With this forum, we can do that
>>>>>> whenever each of us has the time.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> To take full advantage of this great opportunity driven by Joshua
>>>>>> Field's generosity...we should remind ourselves what the  
>>>>>> definition
>>>>>> of a forum is...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --the center of judicial and business affairs and a place of
>>>>>> assembly for the people.
>>>>>> --an assembly, meeting place, television program, etc., for the
>>>>>> discussion of questions of public interest.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Food for thought,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Kurt
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
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>>>
>>
>> ----------------
>> Al Bashevkin
>> Northern Berkshire Community Coalition
>> 85 Main Street    Suite 624
>> North Adams, MA 01247
>> abashevkin at nbccoalition.org
>>
>> Ph:(413) 663-7588
>> Fax: (413) 663-9877
>>
>> www.nbccoalition.org
>>
>>
>>
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