Mayor John Barrett III, left, MoCA director Joseph Thompson and MoCA Foundation Chairman Duncan Brown share a laugh.
NORTH ADAMS - Williams College is strengthening its collaboration with Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art by using $1.8 million to seed a regional fund drive for the modern art museum.
Backed by the rat-a-tat-tat of jackhammers and clouds of dust in Building 7, the announcement was yet another building block in the museum's emerging role as a focal point in Northern Berkshire's cultural and financial economy.
The museum, which has spent years surviving on the knife's edge, has raised nearly two-thirds of the $36 million goal it set for an endowment and program support. Standing in the framework of what will become the Sol LeWitt gallery, museum officials on Monday kicked off the regional campaign to raise $5.8 million. The donation from Williams covers nearly a third of that goal.
Museum Executive Director Joseph C. Thompson described Williams as providing stem cells toward the museum's growth. "If that's where the stem cells came from, then the entire history of Mass MoCA is one of constant, generous infusions by the college - not just of money but of intellectual capital and artistic capital."
The college has been heavily involved in the development of Mass MoCA, the largest contemporary museum of art in the United States. It funds and coordinates the popular Kidspace, which provides schoolchildren throughout Northern Berkshire an introduction to modern art. Williams students will be involved in the construction of the 93 wall drawings by the late LeWitt that will fill three floors of the museum for at least the next 25 years. The museum's board is populated with Williams graduates.
Mass MoCA is on its way to solvency after a long, rocky road, said college President Morton O. Schapiro. "This is a great institution. It's an institution that absolutely has financial backing now, that has the financial requirements to be here forever."
"Williams is the single most important institution or group that made this all happen," said Mayor John Barrett III. He thanked Schapiro, his predecessor and the Williams trustees for keeping faith during the museum's long incubation and "staying the course" over its first 10 years. While many residents may not realize the impact the college has had on the city, he said the "city is eternally grateful for it."
"I guarantee it may not be as big as some of the other gifts you have given, but I can tell you right now it will have a bigger bang for your buck," said the mayor, adding afterward that "this really solidifies what's going on."
Thompson said the regional drive will continue over the next 18 months or so. Millions might be pledged, but it takes years for the money to funnel in - and to be used to pay the heating bills.
The last significant local fund drive was 16 years ago, when the museum was still in the concept stage. Even though local funds will only be a sixth of the total, the campaign is an important factor in the museum's ultimate success.
"I don't think any entity can exist without local support," said Duncan Brown, chairman of the Mass MoCA Foundation and a Williams graduate. He described that support as central to any organization hoping for permanence.
While residing in Williamstown, he said his heart was in North Adams, having been raised in a similar New England mill town. "It's not just the art but preserving the building, and the hope of turning around the town of North Adams from a dismal spiral downward to a fast escalator upward."
The museum has become a economic driver, said Holly Taylor, vice president of TrueNorth Insurance Agency and chairman of the local campaign. "What has changed the face of North Berkshire more in the last 15 years than Mass MoCA?"
The museum is fast becoming a campus with multiple partners and venues, said Thompson. Its collaborations with Williams and the Williams College Museum of Art, the Clark Art Institute, Jacob's Pillow, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Yale University (through the LeWitt exhibit) and numerous artists and schools are offering a wide range of creative opportunities for residents, students and visitors alike.
"I don't know how you can find a place that joins Williams and Mass MoCA better than the location we're standing in right now," said Brown of the halfway constructed "Williams classroom."
The LeWitt installation, in collaboration with the Yale University Art Gallery, will open in November 2008. LeWitt died earlier this year. He is best known for his massive, abstract wall drawings, for which he left meticulous instructions that will be used by the students to create the pieces at Mass MoCA.
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Companion Corner Grey Boy at No Paws Left Behind
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — There's a cat No Paws Left Behind still waiting for his forever home.
iBerkshire's Companion Corner is a weekly series spotlighting an animal in our local shelters that is ready to find a home. He was previously highlighted but he now has new information.
Grey Boy is 10 years old and is a gray and white domestic shorthair and was previously highlighted on Companion Corner.
The shelter's Executive Director Noelle Howland introduced us to him and his long journey to be ready for adoption.
"He's been here a couple months. He was a transfer from a rescue in Bennington. They were out of space, so we had taken him in with a few other cats. So he's been here a couple months. He came in with what we believed was a respiratory infection," she said. "So it took us a little bit to get him ready, and then he also needed a dental. So he has nice, clean teeth. He had some teeth removed, and then he has to go back in and have one more dental. So he'll be all ready to go."
It was previously thought that he has feline herpes but he was recently diagnosed with a palette fracture because of how bad his dental disease was, which is what is causing his sneezing. He can now go home with cats, a cat-savvy dog and children.
"He has had two dentals since being with us. Due to the palate fracture he will be sneezy for the rest of his life, not contagious sneezing, but that doesn’t stop him from living a perfectly happy life. He should be on wet food with chunks due to this and since he has had many teeth removed," Howland said.
Grey Boy loves to play with toys and enjoy treats. He would also love to have a window to lounge or bird-watch in.
"He is not afraid of anything. He's very curious, so I'm sure he'd love if you have windows for him to look out of. He still plays, even though he's 10 it does not stop him. So any home would be a good fit for him."
Now that he is ready to be adopted, he is excited. When you walk into the room with him he will rub up against your leg introducing himself and asking to be pet.
"Usually, I would say, when you're walking, he'll bonk into you so he might catch you off guard a little bit. He constantly is rubbing against you," Howland said. "He really, I would say he's lazy when you want him to be, and he's active when you want him to be. He'll play with toys. He's usually lounging away. And then when he comes out he'll play. He loves it. So, very friendly, easy going cat."
He is now perfectly healthy with his dentals all done and veterinary care up to date and is ready to find his forever family.
"I would say the friendliest, easiest cat you could have. He's just, he's just gonna be a little sneezy sometimes, but that doesn't stop him from doing anything," she said.
Grey Boy's adoption fee is sponsored by Rooted in Balance Counseling LLC.
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