[Forum] Meeting Notes & List Discussions

Tue Mar 6 15:13:41 EST 2007

My strong guess is that Dave Carver would also donate space for the open
studios and for that matter for public art, as long as it in no way
interfered with his attempts to rent for comercial purposes.

jds

"Carson" <carson.carson at verizon.net> writes:
>I want to remind everyone that all area artists are welcome to participate
>in the upcoming North Adams Open Studios weekend on Oct. 13th and 14th.
>
>It's open to all artists and artisans - not just North Adams residents -
>and
>we have plenty of space to add many more artists to this year's event. 
>Last
>year more than 500 people visited studios, galleries and the downtown
>group
>exhibition during the first city-wide Open Studios event.
>
>I spoke with Rod Bunt yesterday and the city has 2 large spaces that we
>can
>use for exhibitions and will also provide a trolley and 2 vans to
>transport
>people between our venues.  In addition, I'm hoping to get to use more of
>the empty stores on Main Street to showcase art that weekend.  The city of
>North Adams is definitely very supportive of Open Studios.
>
>As chairperson of Open Studios 2007, I'm hoping to expand the event, not
>only in numbers of artists participating, but also in welcoming all types
>of
>artists - writers, dancers, musicians, etc.  The organizing process is
>just
>beginning and artist registration will begin soon.  Please be thinking
>about
>how you can participate.
>
>So we have plenty of opportunity to showcase area artists that weekend -
>all
>we need is artist participation and a willingness to help pull it
>together.
>
>-Sharon Carson
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "Joshua Field" <joshua at joshuafield.com>
>To: "Edward Cating" <edwardcating at gmail.com>
>Cc: <forum at berkshirevisualarts.org>
>Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2007 1:10 PM
>Subject: Re: [Forum] Meeting Notes & List Discussions
>
>
>> 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?
>> >
>>
>>
>> -- 
>>
>> // www.joshuafield.com
>> // joshua at joshuafield.com
>> // +1 [413] 329-4789
>> // 121 Union Street, Studio 1E
>> // North Adams, MA 01247 USA
>>
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Jonathan D. Secor
Director of Special Programs at MCLA
MCLA's Gallery 51
51 Main Street, North Adams, MA 01247
413-664-8718
jonathan.secor at mcla.edu     www.mcla.edu