Mass MoCA's Kidspace Set to Move

By Lyndsay DeBordSpecial to iBerkshires
07:26PM / Saturday, October 04, 2008Print Story | Email Story

NORTH ADAMS — Kidspace will be moving to a new location that's a third larger than its current space inside the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts complex in anticipation of more visitors and exhibits.

Mass MoCA Director Joseph C. Thompson announced the move at the opening reception for Kidspace's latest exhibit, "Illuminations: Adam Chapman," on Thursday.

"This space is not long for this world," said Thompson.

The exhibit is the last to be held on the third floor, as Kidspace will be relocating to a larger space on the second floor in the spring. The gallery will upgrade from 2,300 to 3,100 square feet.

The director called Kidspace "a hidden gem." Compared to 15,000 people a year visiting the current space, Thompson said he expects the new location will see 100,000. Stairs from the ground level lead directly to the second floor in what Thompson described as "a major circulation path."

Photos by Lyndsay DeBord

Adam Chapman's digital visual works are on display at Kidspace until February. The gallery will move into larger quarters and reopen a couple weeks later.

Kidspace, a joint collaboration between Mass MoCA, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute and Williams College Museum of Art, opened in February 2000. The space is not only a contemporary art gallery, but also an educational space where students and teachers can work.

Thompson remarked on the drastic change from the previous exhibit, "Thread," to Chapman's digital art, which he described as "from another world."

Gallery guests viewed Chapman's AdamChapmanArt.com artwork that utilizes contemporary tools: projectors, computers and videos. Originally from Hawaii, Chapman said "[being on] an island in the middle of nowhere influenced most of my work." Of his pieces that feature nature and birds, one uses video of starlings that was shot in Rome. Chapman treated the videos to make them look more like drawings.

Chapman described his art as "something that you can get lost in." His series, titled "Diagram of the Dynamics of the Physical Embodiment of Desire," is modeled on the behavior of water. Colorful rain drops fall and, about once per minute, create the form of a bird, a different image appearing in each of the separate pieces. Another work projects images of flying birds onto a space located in the ceiling. The birds come together periodically to form a letter, with the letters eventually spelling out poems from the 8th-century Japanese work Manyoshu.

"Rope: Unraveled, Rewoven" is a video piece that deconstructs Alfred Hitchcock's "Rope" to run in five minutes. Chapman also edited the dialogue to become his own artistic creation. His five exhibitions will be on display through Feb. 28, 2009.

The exhibition "Cribs to Cribbage" is set to open the new Kidspace gallery March 19, 2009. According to Katherine Myers, director of marketing, the move will not be particularly expensive as gallery space already exists on the second floor. The new location will be adjacent to the Hunter Theater Mezzanine Gallery and the Sol LeWitt Museum, which will open Nov. 16.

Mayor John Barrett III, whom Thompson referred to as "the intellectual godfather of this space," spoke at the event. Barrett said that when the gallery was being formed, he wanted it to be an educational base for children.

Barrett, a former teacher, said Kidspace allows children to become "ambassadors" and added that after visiting the space with a class, the children will then bring their families to see the galleries.

"That's how we really introduced Mass MoCA to our community," said Barrett.

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North Adams Airport Hires New Manager

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
10:30AM / Saturday, October 24, 2026

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Airport Commission unanimously voted this week to hire Skyler Friedman as the new airport manager.

The vote came after a brief interview Tuesday. Although two candidates were scheduled to be interviewed, only Friedman was in attendance.

In total, there were four resumes that a subcommittee knocked down to two finalists.

"All were qualified," Commissioner William Hooper said. "One was less qualified, two were equally qualified, and one was a step above. The two you have this evening were the two determined to be the most qualified."

The commission planned on interviewing both candidates, but only interviewed Friedman. Although the second candidate indicated she would be present remotely for the interview, she never called in.

Friedman was the manager from June until September through the city's contract with Hewison Aviation, a New York-based flight school operating in North Adams. The company provided management services to the city but decided to end this arrangement in the fall.

The commission faced losing Friedman as manager and urged him to apply when they advertised the position.

Friedman spoke about communication, noting he suspected it would be easier as an employee of the city. He also spoke about larger projects at the airport he would like to follow through on, including the creation of a flying club. He said he wants more people at the airport and interested in aviation.

He was asked if he planned to leave the position in the near future for other opportunities.

"I would not be here now if that were my goal," he answered.

He added that the area does not have a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI), a position he hopes to fill. He said he hopes to "merge his interests" as the manager and a CFI, eventually relocating permanently to North Adams instead of commuting from Albany.

Otherwise, he said there will be no disruptions, as he has already done the job. Instead of learning a new position, he said he is ready to tackle projects he had to step away from when the contract ran out.

"The past five months have been that process, and I will pick up where I left off," he said. "I stumbled upon things in the interim, and there will be no transition."

In other business, the Airport Commission saw another response to the proposed restaurant RFP. Only one organization responded: East Fork Bread.

Although there was some back-and-forth between the RFP subcommittee and the bread makers, the subcommittee ultimately could not recommend their proposal as it did not fit their requirements.

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