Planning on staying this summer?

Join the DSA crew!

MCLA’s DownStreet Art is now accepting applications for the Associate Gallery Manager Program

You could earn up to 6 class credits and earn some cash managing an art gallery!

This position requires a week long intensive gallery management course that provides the opportunity for the exploration of all aspects of gallery management and exhibition implementation.

Workshop topics will include:

Exhibition Implementation: How to Install & handle art

Approaching the public: How to talk about art

Involving buyers: How to sell art & perform sales functions

Social Networking: How to use technology in the arts

Time Management: How to plan, program, and schedule for events and exhibitions

Public Relations: How to write a good press release

Marketing your gallery: How to use Adobe Illustrator to create posters/ designing promotional materials

If interested please contact Karolyne Symonds at: KS2356@mcla.edu

or call 413-663-5253 for more information.

OPEN CALL FOR ARTISTS AND CURATORS ::: CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD GUIDELINES AND APPLICATION

DEADLINE APRIL 15, 2013

DownStreet Art’s call for artists and curators returns! Exhibition projects should reflect the theme of “BEYOND INDUSTRY”. DownStreet Art 2013 invites all artists of all mediums and disciplines to submit work that explores the realms beyond industry; the art industry, the industry of the factory town in which DownStreet Art lives, as well as the industrial structures that have formed our time and place. All interpretations of this theme are welcomed and encouraged.

DownStreet Art is a great opportunity to have your work/project showcased in an art-friendly community, to be in touch with artists, curators, and professionals in the art world, and to be part of a larger discourse about contemporary art. Opportunities are many, so please read details carefully and fill the application accordingly to your needs. DownStreet Art welcomes any form of art and any art work collectives. If you are a duo/trio or a group of artists wanting to exhibit together please apply!

DownStreet Art 2013 will run from June 20TH till October 31ST. It will begin with a kick-off celebration on June 20TH – the weekend of WILCO’s Solid Sound Festival at MASS MoCA- and will hold five “DownStreet Art Thursdays” (with all galleries hosting opening receptions and downtown performances each last Thursday of the month from June through October [except in June – i.e. third Thursday]: June 20, July 25, August 29, September 26, October 31).

Please note that as a public art project, DownStreet Art is dependent on available/empty spaces, sufficient funding and adequate staffing. While we are planning for 2013, the number of available/empty spaces (and thus opportunities) is uncertain at this time. What we do know is that, due to the success of DownStreet Art in attracting permanent tenants for empty storefronts, for 2013 we will be working with fewer stores downtown.

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TWO:  DownStreet Art – THE MURAL PROJECT – Description

OPEN CALL FOR THE MURAL PROJECT ::: CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD GUIDELINES AND APPLICATION

DEADLINE APRIL 15, 2013

DownStreet Art is pleased to announce a call for artists for a mural project as part of the 2013 season. This is a great opportunity to make a mark in the history of North Adams. MCLA’s Berkshire Cultural Resource Center will partner with the City of North Adams, MASS MoCA, local real estate and artists to realize a series of murals throughout the City. Please read details carefully and fill the application accordingly. DownStreet Art welcomes individuals or groups. If you are a duo/trio or a group of artists willing to realize a mural together please apply!

DownStreet Art 2013 will run from June 20TH till October 31ST. It will begin with a kick-off celebration on June 20TH and will hold five “DownStreet Art Thursdays” on June 20, July 25, August 29, September 26, and October 31 (with galleries hosting opening receptions, mural unveilings and downtown performances).

Please note that as a public art project, DownStreet Art – The Mural Project is dependent on available spaces, sufficient funding and adequate staffing. While we are planning for 2013, the number of available walls (and thus opportunities) is uncertain at this time. What we do know is that the City of North Adams is an art-friendly environment where locals and institutions support art and artists.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU!

Thank you our SPONSORS, to our supporters, aficionados, friends, volunteers, to the artists, the students and to everyone that makes DSA possible!

Performances will include two of upstate New York’s dynamic performers and visual artists, C. Ryder Cooley and Patrick Porter, local hero musician and MCLA alumni Mike Martin, a play by Nicholas Corbello and many of MCLA’s clubs and musical groups including the Allegrettos, Dance Company and Harlequin.  Galleries hosting exhibitions of new work include MCLA’s Gallery 51, NAACO, North Adams Transcript, and PRESS Gallery.

At the event, there will be a free “haunted” trolley ride from/to MCLA campus. Everyone that wish to attend the event can be picked up from the trolley at the Berkshire Towers, Hoosac Hall, and Flagg Townhouses every 15 minutes and will be dropped off in front of the Jarvis Rockwell Gallery, located on 49 Main Street. The trolley will feature zombies and scary music throughout the entire night in celebration of Halloween. Also, the Downstreet Art Passports are still effective until Halloween Day. Individuals that get their cards stamped six times at any art gallery will receive a free or a discount off of a purchase from any of the participating Downstreet Art Sponsors that are listed inside the passport.

Exhibition openings will include:

MCLA’s Gallery 51: “This Blue Marble: The Universe of Josh Simpson”, a solo exhibition that features a series of new and old celestial inspired glass pieces and the Infinity Project from glass artist, Josh Simpson who will be present during the opening reception, along with the Allegrettos who will perform from 6:30-6:45 p.m. This exhibition will be on display until Nov. 23. MCLA President, Mary Grant, will make a special appearance at 6:00pm to give her closing remarks for Simpson and Downstreet Art.

NAACO Gallery: An opening reception in recognition of the Berkshire-based painter, Bruce Mac Donald. Mc Donald will be in attendance at the reception.

North Adams Transcript: “Transcope: North Berkshire through the Eyes of Randy Trabold. Selecting the photos himself, Trabold picked the photos from the Transcope files, the name of the photo page that Trabold put into the Transcript.

PRESS Gallery: “Fly By: The Bird at PRESS”. Viewers that enter the gallery always ask about the significance of the bird. “Fly By” will answer those questions with a display of prints that were created at PRESS by student interns and visiting artists, all showcasing bird imagery.

Visitors shouldn’t miss the opportunity to visit the following galleries and events:

Adams Community Bank Gallery: “Figuratively Speaking, Abstractly”, curated by MCLA Alumni Kristen Parker, featuring the work from abstract artists, Bob Anderson from New York and Berkshire based printmaker, William Clements. Both of these artists express their emotions through non-representational work.

Gallery X at the Jarvis Rockwell Gallery: “The Afterlife: An Interpretation of the Hereafter”, curated by MCLA student, Christina Stott, the exhibition further explores each of the artist’s views of the afterlife while continuing the conversation with Jarvis Rockwell and the artists. These local and regional artists featured in the show include Marcus Anderson, Pam Buchanan, Amy Modesti, Kristen Parker, Jason Peabody, Patrick Porter, Christina Stott, and Jennifer Wojtowicz. Visitors will have an opportunity to meet Jarvis Rockwell while enjoying a special performance from the Allegrettos from 6-6:15 p.m.

The Artery Gallery: “Transforming Decadence” , a mural exhibition by Pam Buchanan, Kristen Parker, and Christina Stott that reflects on the mundane and the challenges of confronting the ideas of death and decay in order to achieve revitalization. Buchanan will be in attendance to speak to guests who will be able to listen to a musical performance from Patrick Porter from 6-6:45 p.m. and closing up the night with a musical and projection inspired performance from C. Ryder Cooley from 7-8:00p.m.

Gallery 107: Connecticut- based artist, Gil Scullion, uses repetition and reproduction through the use of stencils and templates to create his pieces within the theme of insomnia and dreams that’s portrayed within the largest gallery space designed to look like a bedroom. Trick or treaters that want to collect their candy throughout the night can come to the gallery to collect their candy and bags. The Allegrettos will perform at the gallery from 7-7:15 p.m.

Branch Gallery: “Occupy Wall Street” featuring the works from Emily Breuning and other local and regional artists. The gallery will host the performance “A Play” by Nicholas Corbello. The piece examines a tense ambivalence to exist according to terms that another may comprehend, with characters that submit to the scrutiny of a video camera, but refuse to speak. In this piece, live performance, projected video, and explanatory text interface, but refuse to fully coincide.

There is more for the public to enjoy. The three murals realized throughout the summer are now part of North Adams urban fabric and they will remain on view throughout the gray winter! Visitors should check out muralismo publico’s mural on the back of the Mohawk theatre as well Maya Hayuk’s colorful graffiti like mural on Center Street and “Gneiss”, created by North Adams artist, Melissa Matsuki-Lillie on Holden Street.

Visitors will be also given the opportunity to create their own mural puzzle on a temporary DownStreet Art wall on Main Street. We accept comments, suggestions, drawings, and all creative ways to express your appreciation for DownStreet Art.

A prominent part in the closing DownStreet Art Thursday celebration will be performances throughout the downtown area from 5pm-8pm. Ukele player and singer songwriter Mike Martin will be performing at Gallery 107, 107 Main Street from 5:30pm-7:30pm. At the Artery Gallery there will be performances by two of upstate New York’s dynamic performers. At 6pm Patrick Porter will do a solo set of his own songs, and at 7pm C. Ryder Cooley will be performing a duet with her taxidermied sheep, Hazel.

In front of the Berkshire Bank MCLA’s a capella group the Allegrettos will be performing from 5:30-6p. At 6:30p MCLA’s musical theater club will be performing, and then at 7p there will be a fire dancer performing.

Updates on the various happenings, exhibitions and more are available through Facebook, Twitter and DownStreetArt.org.

DownStreet Art is a project of MCLA’s Berkshire Culture Resource Center, partnering with the City of North Adams, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and Orbit Visual Graphic Design. The program is made possible through lead sponsorship support provided by Greylock Federal Credit Union, Excelsior, Scarafoni Associates, Waterman Excavation, Berkshire Bank, Transcript, Orbit Visual, The North Adams Transcript, Porches an Inn at MASS MoCA, The Franzoni Family, Public Eat& Drink, Adams Community Bank, The Sushi House, O’Connell Oil Associates, Edward Jones Investments, Berkshire Emporium & Antiques, Hoosac Bank, Persnickety Toys, Jack’s Hot Dogs, Desperado’s, Lickety Split at MASS MoCA, Luma’s Muffin & Mug, Freight Yard Pub & Restaurant, I’ve Got Goodies, Verizon Wireless Zone, Shima’s, and The Local.

The initiative was designed to revitalize downtown North Adams by identifying the City as a cultural haven. The program serves not only to increase MCLA’s visibility, but to showcase what other local arts organizations have to offer. For more information about DownStreet Art and the Berkshire Cultural Resource Center, go to www.downstreetart.org and www.mcla.edu/bcrc .

Thursday, October 4, 2012 – 8:00pm
MCLA Church Street Center
375 Church Street
North Adams, MA

The Gare St. Lazare Players of Ireland return to MCLA Presents! with internationally renowned actor, Conor Lovett, in a one-man performance of the great American novel, Moby Dick. This solo performance encompasses the immense detail and emotion that arise in Herman Melville’s well known novel.

Moby Dick will be also performed on Friday, October 5, 2012 – 8:00pm at the Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield.

For more info on MCLA Presents! click [here] / For more info on Conor Lovett and Gare St Lazare click [here]

TICKETS INFO TO THE PERFORMANCE IN NORTH ADAMS:

To buy tickets, call 413.662.5204

General Admission: $10
MCLA Alumni: $8
MCLA faculty and staff: $5
Members and MCLA students: FREE

All events are family friendly, free and open to the public.

So far this season, DownStreet Art has brought more than 9,500 people to downtown North Adams, making attendance the highest ever for the months of June and August since the initiative’s inception.

On Sept. 27, DownStreet Art will start the Thursday celebration at Adams Community Bank Gallery with the 5 p.m. opening of “Figuratively Speaking, Abstractly,” a two-person exhibition featuring New York-based artist Bob Anderson and Berkshire-based artist William Clements.  Curated by MCLA alumna and artist Kristen Parker, “Figuratively Speaking, Abstractly” displays visual concepts associated with expression and emotion through the use of non-representational styles. “I started to look at abstract art and artists in a new light. I felt a personal need to re-explore ideas connected with abstract art,” Parker said.

Returning to this summer’s celebrations will be the unveiling of the newest outdoor, public mural. Entitled “Gneiss” and inspired by microscopic and macroscopic formations found in metamorphic rocks that make up the buildings of North Adams, this 75-foot-long mural will be completed and officially unveiled on Holden Street between Main and Marshall streets. The work is created by North Adams-based artist Melissa Matsuki Lillie, and will be the final installment of the Mural Project. The new mural will be unveiled at 6 p.m.

At 6:30 p.m., “Art about Town,” which initiated a community collaborative between North Adams schools, a local artist and MCLA students, and lead to the realization of doll paintings on the columns of the underpass of Route 2, will give out a recognition certificates to each of the students that participated in the project.

Exhibition openings include:

NAACO Gallery: “Dualities: The Painting of Ed Carson and Ceramics of Joshua Primmer.” North Adams painter Ed Carson and Bennington, Vt., ceramist Joshua Primmer explore the meaning of “rhythm and flow,” and how the trajectory of that motion visually affects their work, resulting in purely contemporary forms.

GALLERY X @ Jarvis Rockwell Gallery presents “The Afterlife: Interpretations of the Hereafter,” a facilitation of further conversation between artist Jarvis Rockwell and the creative minds of both local and regional artists. This unique look into an individual’s ideal afterlife was curated by the co-assistant gallery manager of MCLA Gallery 51, Christina Stott.

MCLA Gallery 51: ” DIE FORMMEISTER: The Masters of the Form,” a group show featuring experimental animation, three dimensional work, glass, textile, prints, paintings, ceramics, jewelry and a site specific installation. It offers a panoramic over different mediums and artistic practices celebrating the form through which idea becomes object. Featured artists include Yura Adams, Karen Arp-Sandel, Michael Vincent Bushy, Janet Cooper, Helen Febbo, Linda Kaye-Moses, Fay O’Meara, Dina Noto, Glenn Shalan and Paula Shalan.
Wendy James Studio on Holden Street: Visitors can explore “Mostly Photographs,” an exhibition of photographs by Howard Itzkowitz and video stills by Wendy James.

The Artery Gallery: A joined effort by Signe Kutzer, Pam Buchanan, Kristen Parker and Christina Stott will create a mural on the inside of the Artery Gallery. The mural will reflect upon the mundane, and illustrates the challenge of confronting death and decay in order to achieve revitalization.

PRESS Gallery: “Getting there is easy,” an exhibit that celebrates the hard work and creations created at PRESS over the duration of the summer. Sandragraphs, pressure prints, linoleum prints, prints with moveable type, as well as book art and paste papers will be on display. The show will highlight work from Melanie Mowinski’s “Experimental Letterpress” class, taught at PRESS through MCLA, as well as other works from workshops and individual projects.

Gallery 107 at the end of Main Street: Work by Connecticut-based artist Gil Scullion will seal off the summer schedule of the largest pop-up gallery downtown North Adams. Scullion’s theme draws from the nature of the process made of reproduction and repetition. Largely interested with stencils and templates as manifestation of manual labor, Scullion always includes a handcrafted component in each piece of his installation, which he conceived around the theme of “insomnia,” and features an oversized bedroom, as well as paradox elements of dream.

Don’t miss out on other destinations such as The Transcript Gallery, studio21south, Martha Flood Studio and Branch Gallery!!

From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. visitors will be entertained by the music of One Way Out, to perform under the Mohawk marquee. Local stores will stay open late with specials. At 7 p.m., the MCLA fine and performing art department will perform selections from “Cabaret” at the Berkshire Bank Stage.

Updates on the various happenings, exhibitions and more are available through Facebook, Twitter and DownStreetArt.org.

DownStreet Art is a project of MCLA’s Berkshire Culture Resource Center, partnering with the City of North Adams, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and Orbit Visual Graphic Design.~The program is made possible through lead sponsorship support provided by Greylock Federal Credit Union, Excelsior, Scarafoni Associates, Waterman Excavation, Berkshire Bank, Transcript, Orbit Visual, The North Adams Transcript, Porches an Inn at MASS MoCA, The Franzoni Family, Public Eat and Drink, Adams Community Bank, The Sushi House, O’Connell Oil Associates, Edward Jones Investments, Berkshire Emporium and Antiques, Hoosac Bank, Persnickety Toys, Jack’s Hot Dogs, Desperado’s, Lickety Split at MASS MoCA, Luma’s Muffin and Mug, Freightyard Pub & Restaurant, I’ve Got Goodies, Verizon Wireless Zone, Shima’s, and The Local.

The completion of the mural will be celebrated on Thursday, September 27, 2012 at 6pm in conjunction with DownStreet Art Thursday, a celebration of the art in North Adams that happens every last Thursday of the month from June through October.

We are extremely excited for the completion of the mural which will mark the completion of the first run of the successfull DownStreet Art Mural Project started this summer with the mural realized by muralismo publico on the back of the Mohawk Theatre.

Then, in July we celebrated Maya Hayuk’s mural on Center Street. From now on, we will be following the making of the mural on Holden Street daily. STAY TUNED and join us on the celebration on Thurs, Sept 27 at 6pm.
When downtown North Adams do not forget to visit the multiple art destinations throughout the city. 

NORTH ADAMS, MA—DownStreet Art 2012 season continues with an arts and culture celebration on Thursday, August 30, from 6 to 9 p.m. The downtown will fill with pop-up and permanent gallery openings, live performances, viewings of the new murals, happenings, trolley rides and businesses open late with DownStreet Art specials.

All events are family friendly, free and open to the public.

So far this summer there have been two ‘DownStreet Art Thursday!’ events which have both been highly frequented and have received positive feedback from locals and tourists. Local business owner Keith Bona of Berkshire Emporium & Antiques stated that DownStreet Art builds a bridge between MASS MoCA and the downtown by offering complimentary galleries and art exhibits. “The ability to draw visitors of the museum to local retailers and restaurants is essential in making our local creative economy work.” He continued, “DownStreet Art is one of a few elements that clearly can do that by making empty store fronts and bland walls attractive and inviting. When there are more people walking the sidewalks looking at art, there are more people entering our stores, and more sales.”

For the upcoming ‘DownStreet Art Thursday!’ gallery opening receptions include:

Throwing Paint and Composing Pots at North Adams Artists Co-Op—33 Main St.—The North Adams Artists Co-Op, or NAACO, will be exhibiting the work of local artists Katherine Borkowski Byrne and Linda Siska. This show highlights their dynamic processes and emphasizes the physical engagement that art-making requires. On her work, Borkowski comments that she “wishes to prove contemporary paintings can be alive, timeless and universal and can add a changing vista and interest to any environment.” Siska views her pottery as a result of a “dialogue” between her and the clay, as she claims that her medium is “full of possibilities.”

Conversation with Jarvis Rockwell: an Experiment with Inspiration at the Jarvis Rockwell Gallery—49 Main St.—This gallery will continue to exhibit the world renowned toy installation art of Jarvis Rockwell as well as his work in progress collages on the walls of the gallery. In a third gallery space, entitled Gallery X, Associate Gallery Manager and MCLA student Christina Stott has had the unique ability to curate and organize exhibitions. Artists for the upcoming show were encouraged to have a conversation with Jarvis Rockwell and then create work that draws inspirations from the aforementioned conversation. Resulting work will be the product of Jarvis Rockwell’s creatively wild demeanor combined with artists’ own inspirations and interests in varied mediums.

Compendium by Richard Criddle at MCLA Gallery 51—51 Main St.—Richard Criddle is highly regarded for his ingenuity in his daytime role as MASS MoCA’s director of fabrication and installation. Criddle will be exhibiting his sculpture, which he states “demands a high degree of resourcefulness.” According to the artist, he finds “joy in discovering, extracting, blending, articulating, manufacturing, building, sharing, and showing his work.” His work reflects his quick-witted sense of humor. The characters and narratives in his sculpture are created from a wide range of materials including “scrap metal, industrial hardware, old furniture, and found objects.”

Transcend: art as activism in the Occupy Movement at Branch Gallery—18 Holden St.—MCLA student Emily Breunig is curating an exhibition of art and other forms of creativity which have been actively used as informative and inspiring outreach and activism. This exhibit will feature works of various mediums created by Occupy Wall Street (OWS) art working groups as well as individual artists. The title of the show is in reference to a Howard Zinn essay titled ‘Artists in Times of War’ who made the point that people should utilize their skill and resources to contribute to society and involve oneself in politics.

Art into Life, Life into Art: by Matei Bejenaru and curated by Izabel Galliera at The Artery—26 Holden St.—This exhibition will feature several works by the Romanian artist Matei Bejenaru within a post-communist European context. The individual works aim to act as collective critical inquiries into our contemporary everyday precarious conditions by opening discussion, for example, on the social, political and economic marginalization of the worker under the local and global impact of neoliberal capitalism. While the artist’s works presented in the exhibition most often emerged from within the Romanian transitional and post-1989 European contexts, issues raised by Bejenaru’s projects connect in intriguing and provocative ways to the location of the exhibition in North Adams, where economically and politically marginalized populations struggle to survive in a city abandoned by once booming industries and factories. Bejenaru will be in residence during the month of August and as part of the exhibition, he will develop a site project involving the direct participation and collaboration of several residents from North Adams.

Mostly Watercolors at Wendy James Studio—22 Holden St.— This exhibition will show work by North Adams artists Wendy James, Sarah Sutro,and Wilma Rifkin. The works on canvas will demonstrate the artists’ shared interest in exploring the expressive and narrative qualities of abstraction.

Meghan Foley at the Transcript Gallery—85 Main St.—One of the more interesting places for a “pop-up” gallery, The North Adams Transcript Office will be exhibiting the photography of Transcript reporter Meghan Foley. Foley’s photographs delve into the natural topography and personality of the northern Berkshires, examining both landscapes as well as close ups.

Postal Pinacotheca at PRESS Gallery—105 Main St.—In August of 2011, six artists came together to participate in a mail exchange project. These women are print makers, book artists, and, despite very busy lives, continue to make artwork. Artworks were due every two months finishing first in September, then November, January, March, May and July. Each round began with a theme chosen by one of the artists. The themes respectively were: Money, Inside/Outside, Travel, Habitat, Weather, and Animal-Mineral-Vegetable.
This show, Postal Pinacotheca, features the work that was exchanged throughout the course of the yearlong project.

Imagining North Adams at Gallery 107—107 Main St.—According to curator Jennifer Krouse, “this exhibition will be a festival of images, idea and initiatives with a place making mission. Through artwork and participatory events, the festival invites participants to imagine North Adams as a “canvas for our daily lives.”” Over the course of the month there will be three permanent components to the show, “A Model City” installation by James Rojas, “Picturing North Adams” art exhibition organized by guest curator Jaye Fox of studio21south, and the “Project Lodge” which will be a space dedicated to support local place making efforts.

Adams Community Bank—31 Eagle St.—An exhibition curated by MCLA graduate Kristen Parker.

Black and White (more or less) at studio21south—Eagle Street—Usually located within the historic Beaver Mill, studio21south has moved to downtown North Adams for the DownStreet Art season. They will continue to exhibit Black and White (more or less), a mostly-monochrome selection of prints, drawings and paintings by gallery artists. The show will feature a new installation of 150 abstract mixed-media drawings by Karen Walter, charcoal streetscapes by Bob Lafond, and a fantastic selection of prints by master printmaker, Columbia County’s own Frank Curran. Studio21south willalso be highlighting some great vernacular cityscapes by Thor Wickstrom, as well as some great work by gallery favorite Eric March.

Martha Flood Design—38 Eagle St.—Flood is an artist and veteran surface designer for the wall covering, fabric, and laminate industries. Based in North Adams, she provides creative services to individuals, businesses and the interior design trade.

DownStreet Art is excited to continue with its fifth season of various happenings, exhibitions and more in celebration of art as a part of what Secor said will be of the most exciting, and groundbreaking, seasons yet.

Updates on the various happenings, exhibitions and more are available through Facebook and Twitter.

DownStreet Art is a project of MCLA’s Berkshire Culture Resource Center, partnering with the City of North Adams, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and Orbit Visual Graphic Design. The program is made possible through lead sponsorship support provided by Greylock Federal Credit Union, Excelsior, Scarafoni Associates, Waterman Excavation, Berkshire Bank, Transcript, Orbit Visual, The North Adams Transcript, Porches an Inn at MASS MoCA, The Franzoni Family, Public Eat& Drink, Adams Community Bank, The Sushi House, O’Connell Oil Associates, Edward Jones Investments, Berkshire Emporium & Antiques, Hoosac Bank, Persnickety Toys, Jack’s Hot Dogs, Desperado’s, Lickety Split at MASS MoCA, Luma’s Muffin & Mug, Freightyard Pub & Restaurant, I’ve Got Goodies, Verizon Wireless Zone, Shima’s, and The Local.

The initiative was designed to revitalize downtown North Adams by identifying the City as a cultural haven. The program serves not only to increase MCLA’s visibility, but to showcase what other local arts organizations have to offer. For more information about DownStreet Art and the Berkshire Cultural Resource Center, go to www.downstreetart.org and www.mcla.edu/bcrc .

All events are family friendly, free and open to the public.

Director of MCLA’s Berkshire Cultural Resource Center, Jonathan Secor, praised DownStreet Art as it “continues to be the force that drives good art, good people, and good business into downtown North Adams.”

“This DownStreet Art Thursday Night celebration will continue to demonstrate how a small town can be transformed by art and how investing into your community through art is immensely rewarding…and fun!” adds Francesca DeBiaso, DownStreet Art Program Coordinator.

Veronica Bosley, Director of Tourism and Community Events at City of North Adams,  stated that “DownStreet Art has become one of the major attractions in North Adams. It showcases our downtown and gives local businesses a chance to shine. Visitors and residents alike have given me great feedback about these events.”

DownStreet Art Thursday gallery opening receptions include:

If Not This… by Mark Mulherrin at the Marshall St. Space—24 Marshall St.—Local artist Mark Mulherrin will be exhibiting “If Not This…” which is comprised of his most recent artworks.  The paintings are a result of his progression as an artist over the years. For this particular group of paintings, Mulherrin desired to make “simple pictures that are complete environments, places that are emotionally and visually complex while using the least amount of information to achieve that effect.”

Out of the Dust…Back to the Earth: A Dialogue in Ceramics and Oils by Lori St. Pierre and Judith Kniffin at NAACO—33 Main St.— The North Adams Artists’ Co-Operative Gallery, otherwise known as the NAACO Gallery, is an independently member-run organization of nearly 40 active and talented, primarily regional, artists exhibiting works in the fields of fine and applied arts. Kniffin describes her work as “understated, semi-representational compositions in oil and watercolor, recording familiar things” and St.Pierre describes her work as “dynamic, textural, patterned ceramic hand built vessel-forms.”

The TOY as ART custom toy art exhibit at The Jarvis Rockwell Gallery— 49 Main St.—The Jarvis Rockwell Gallery will open The TOY as ART a custom toy art exhibit.  This exhibit will bring together the work of both local and regional “custom” toy makers. This exhibit has been curated by Christina Stott, Associate Gallery Manager of The Jarvis Rockwell Gallery who said the pieces are “hand-crafted and infinitely interesting” and the artists “bring a new meaning to the function and aesthetics of toys”.

Meet Me in the Middle of the Air by Sean Riley at MCLA Gallery 51—51 Main St.—MCLA Gallery 51 will present Meet Me in the Middle of the Air, a solo exhibition of new work by local artist Sean Riley. The exhibition will feature paintings, drawings, and works constructed from fabric. Riley’s recent work derives from a project he embarked on in response to the 2008 loss of his father in which he created a quilt from his father’s clothes. Riley’s ultimate goal with the project is to eventually use his father’s entire wardrobe to create an extensive body of work.

The Phylogeny Projects at Branch Gallery—18 Holden St.—Derek Parker and Anne Roecklein will continue to curate The Phylogeny Projects using the lens of the “North Adams School” to examine the connections between artists. The evening will also include performative and interactive piece by Pittsburgh artist Justin Hopper at Branch Gallery. Hopper will be presenting and manipulating, based on viewer interaction, “Transmission”- an audio and text installation that delves into “dark nostalgia” by mashing cold-war childhood with that of the Black Death. As he describes, “modernist literature collides with Rod Serling and Ronald Reagan; Danse Macabre and Gogol; medieval joie de vivre and, of course, Joy Division.”

Local Color Revisited at Wendy James Studio—22 Holden St.—Local Color Revisited, curated by Wendy James, is a group show of some of the local artists that participated in Local Color in 2010 during DownStreet Art. “Local Color” will focus on supporting, growing and showcasing the community that has existed in the region for decades. Area artist Wendy James will work with untrained artists in North Adams to present this exhibition of their art. This year’s Participating artists are Lee Martinez, Barbara May, Patrice Bolgen, Jon Payne, Bonnie Spencer, Daniel Field, Eileen Gloster, Emily May.

Interludes: Inspiration from bucolic places and literary page by Jennifer Huberdeau at The Transcript Gallery—85 Main St.—One of the more interesting places for a “pop-up” gallery, The North Adams Transcript Office will be exhibiting the work of Senior Reporter/Digital News Specialist Jennifer Huberdeau in a show entitled Interludes: Inspiration from bucolic places and literary pages. Interludes is comprised of a variety of landscapes and fairy tale themed paintings created by Huberdeau over the last five years.

Type High at PRESS: Letterpress as Public Art Project—Type High, an exhibit that presents the work of Wells College Victor Hammer Fellow Katie Baldwin and her students. Katie Baldwin is a printmaker who has traveled to several countries as an artist in residence, including Japan, Mexico and Cuba. Type High is an exhibition of her own pieces, along with work done by students enrolled in her “Art on the Press” class at the Book Arts Center at Wells College in Aurora, NY.

I Don’t Want to Wake U Up but I Really Want to Show U Something by Kristen Parker at the Adams Community Bank—31 Eagle St.—The exhibition entitled I Don’t Want to Wake U Up but I Really Want to Show U Something by MCLA alumni Kristen Parker documents Parker’s  2010 semester abroad in Dundee, Scotland. Parker traveled to England, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin. “I grew up with a love for traveling and photographing. Experiencing other people’s cultures intrigues me and reveals elements within my own culture that in normal circumstances would never emerge” said Parker.

Ralph Brill and Louise LaFond—28 Eagle St.—Displaying the work of Ralph Brill’s gallery and Lousie LaFond. This space is an addition to Brill Gallery which is located in the Eclipse Mill (Studio 102, 234 Union St.). Louise LaFond is a world class print maker and is planning on teaching classes in Fall 2012.

Black and White (more or less) at studio21south—44 Eagle St.—This show features paintings, drawings and prints in a generally, if not exclusively, monotone mood. The show features woodblock prints and engravings by  Frank Curran, a series of striking charcoal streetscape drawings by Bob Lafond, and an installation of 150 drawings by Karen Walter. Urban nocturnes and other paintings by Thor Wickstrom will also be on view.

Martha Flood Design—38 Eagle St.—Flood an artist and veteran surface designer for the wallcovering, fabric, and laminate industries. She is based in North Adams, Massachusetts and provides creative services to individuals, businesses and the interior design trade.

DownStreet Art Thursday includes special events at The Artery and Gallery 107:

“A Taste of Italy” reception at The Artery— 26 Holden St.—The Artery will be hosting a “Taste of Italy” reception to accompany Beyond the Far Blue Mountains, a fifty-three minute film by Molly Davies. The tasting will showcase food and drink from the region of Italy where the piece was filmed. Associate Gallery Manager Shanti Sponder said, “The Artery has chosen to enhance the experience of the viewer through multiple senses by fathering the imagination of the audience and allowing them to lose themselves within the breathtaking scenery and alluring music that accompanies the fairy tale.”

Pop-up ceramic art walk at Gallery 107—107 Main St.—Gallery 107 will present a pop-up art walk which will feature work by ceramicist and Keene University professor Paul McMullan. McMillian’s work will be displayed on the sidewalk in front of the gallery as part of an ongoing exhibit Lynn Richardson: Arctic Garden. McMullan’s work plays off the role of traditional garden sculpture through his tongue in cheek guardians of the garden which will stand erect outside the gallery entrance.

Highlights of the DownStreet Art “Happenings” include:

North Adams Art Trolley—As in years past, DownStreet Art will be providing a free downtown arts destination trolley tour lead by local historian Paul Marino.

MASS MoCA’s Bang on a Can summer institute performance on Main St.—Bang on a Can, a summer program of innovative music-making hosted at MASS MoCA every summer, is celebrating 25 years of their “adventurous program” and will be performing during the DownStreet Art Thursday Night.

The official debut of Maya Hayuk’s mural on Center St.—As part of a DownStreet Art’s summer 2012 mural project, a second mural will be on view for the public on Center St. between Marshall and Holden St. Hayuk is an internationally renowned artist from Brooklyn, New York who has worked in fashion design, designed album covers, and has been commissioned to do advertisements for Bacardi. At the core of her practice are her murals, which she describes as “large, colorful, completely improvised, totally optimistic and abstract.”

“Art About Town” Pillars—A citizen-based collaborative sponsored by the City of North Adams, DownStreet Art, and Develop North Adams, Inc., along with DownStreet Art artist William Oberst and the after school art program CAMP at Greylock Schooltaught by Christina King, has created a public mural project on the pillars under the Veterans Memorial Bridge on Marshall Street. The “dolls” are reminiscent of the cloth dolls made at Arnold Print Works in the late 1800s. Arnold Print Works resided in the MASS MoCA building prior to Sprague Electric Company.

KIDSPACE @ MASS MoCA—In conjunction with Victoria Palermo’s Bus Stand on Main St., Kidspace will be hosting an event focusing on color and how it reacts with light when used on transparent material. Kidspace intern, Lo Sottile, commented, “In other words, comes downtown to experiment with painting on bubble wrap!”

COVET: MEET ME AT… DOWNSTREET ART
Join ArtBerkshires for a guided tour with Leslie Ferrin and Jonathan Secor, MCLA director of special programs of installations, exhibitions and the mural project.  Meet at 6:00 MCLA Gallery 51. The tour will be about one hour.

DownStreet Art is a project of MCLA’s Berkshire Culture Resource Center, partnering with the City of North Adams, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and Orbit Visual Graphic Design. The program is made possible through lead sponsorship support provided by Greylock Federal Credit Union, Excelsior, Scarafoni Associates, Waterman Excavation, Berkshire Bank, Transcript, Orbit Visual, The North Adams Transcript, Porches an Inn at MASS MoCA, The Franzoni Family, Public Eat& Drink, Adams Community Bank, The Sushi House, O’Connell Oil Associates, Edward Jones Investments, Berkshire Emporium & Antiques, Hoosac Bank, Persnickety Toys, Jack’s Hot Dogs, Desperado’s, Lickety Split at MASS MoCA, Luma’s Muffin & Mug, Freightyard Pub & Restaurant, I’ve Got Goodies, Verizon Wireless Zone, Shima’s, and The Local.

The initiative was designed to revitalize downtown North Adams by identifying the City as a cultural haven. The program serves not only to increase MCLA’s visibility, but to showcase what other local arts organizations have to offer.