[Forum] Meeting Notes & List Discussions

[Joshua Field]

Great points Ed - and linked to an important bit of history because 
there is a precedent for showing work in store windows in downtown North 
Adams (long before the now thriving Storefront Artists Project). The 
artists were primarily local - I participated twice and it was great fun.

In the mid 90's, the CAC ran a yearly show called "Downtown 
Installations" (not a catchy name) which featured installations in the 
vacant window space. This was timed to coincide with the "downtown 
celebration". The only remnant of this tradition is the Eagle street 
beach (they dump sand on eagle street and let the kids play) which was 
Eric Rudd's idea and happened in conjunction with the Downtown 
Installations. A key (literally) to doing the project is forming a 
relationship with Scarafoni Realty (a.k.a. David Carver) who own most of 
the storefront space in North Adams. This might be easier because of the 
precedent but it would likely help to have a responsible central 
organization to help the landlords feel more at ease with granting access.

Another side note to this - Danny O, who now resides in North Adams and 
Michael Oatman, both of whom have shown work at MoCA, participated in a 
particularly interesting year where the CAC got a grant from MCC to do a 
themed version of the Downtown Installations with artists from the 
Boston area (in conjunction with lectures and some work shown at the 
CAC). This really raised the caliber of the work and made a nice focal 
point for the project.


Edward Cating wrote:
> It's said that contemporary artists frequently narrow their focus to 
> the point where they are speaking only to other contemporary artists - 
> preaching to the choir. It seems to me that the artists in Pittsfield 
> have been able to present themselves to the community as a presence 
> and that that presence has an inertia that keeps is moving forward, 
> always in the public eye. Most of us know that mindshare - that 
> cognitive real-estate that means people are either aware of you or not 
> - is critical for the success of any endevour. How mindshare is 
> generated is not so important. Generating it is.
>
> In North Adams, we are seeing an increase in vacancies in downtown 
> storefronts. It seems overly obvious to state that when Pittsfield was 
> presented with a similar circumstance, it generated the Storefront 
> Artists project. Storefront galleries - even when they attract artists 
> from outside the community on a temporary basis - add momentum to the 
> art scene as a whole. Passersby see art, indeed cannot escape it. 
> There is an ogoing reason for flyers in windows and cards on 
> countertops all over town. Landlords get nice mention in the papers. 
> The papers have more to write about, and so it goes. Momentum builds.
>
> We all understand that there are artists in North Berkshire for whom 
> connections to the local community are not critical. Some were 
> attracted by large, inexpensive studio space, but have a public 
> elsewhere to satisfy their commercial and social needs. I daresay that 
> not all of us fall into this category, though, as bourne out by this 
> forum's postings.
>
> For those who seek to become more engaged in North Berkshire, more 
> rooted, there is, as Kurt said a need to organize, to reach out to the 
> community, and to make our presense felt in an ongoing way. I think 
> that a lot of things could work but the most expedient is an "art 
> czar". How else can we focus our sometimes diffuse energies into 
> constantly pushing the stone up the hill?
>


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