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About 50 people involved in the arts community held a reception for retiring Mayor James Ruberto.

Outgoing Pittsfield Mayor Honored By Arts Community

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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President of Pittsfield Downtown Inc. Peter Lafayette credited Ruberto for putting creative plans into action.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Leslie Ferrin remembers when Mayor James Ruberto walked into her Lenox art gallery and asked what he needed to do to bring it to Pittsfield.

But she wasn't the only one. Dozens of local artists and businessmen can tell similar stories while Ruberto spent eight years establishing a creative economy for the city.

Now, Ruberto is leaving the corner office and those artists gathered on Wednesday to honor the mayor that led many of the creative businesses in efforts to revive the downtown.

"He saw the creativity. He saw the community involved and how it could help," Ferrin said on Wednesday. "The mayor was instrumental in bringing the Ferrin Gallery from Lenox to Pittsfield... It was an easy decision when there is so much support for culture and creativity."
 
Ferrin and others in the arts community planned an informal gathering at the Ferrin Gallery that featured a potluck food and drinks and a bag full of gag gifts to send Ruberto into retirement.
 
"This is just a dream come true," Ruberto said. "Everyone here has made the dream real for the city of Pittsfield."

Ruberto reflected on a time when the city had a vibrant downtown but no art gallery. Now, there is more than one and the creative economy has picked up steam. It was 10 years ago when Ruberto first envisioned a downtown based on arts and six years ago, he said he realized it came true.
 
The owners of BlueQ Seth and Mitch Nash, said Ruberto has turned the city around. They joked on Wednesday that when they first moved back to the city there were two places to rent furniture but not much else downtown.
 
"It's been great to work in a town where a mayor supports the arts," Mitch Nash said.
 
The Nashes presented Ruberto with a bag full of gag gifts from their company. Those included gum, posters and other small gifts with humorous quotations. But the Nashes were not the only business owners ready to hail Ruberto.

Director of the Norman Rockwell Museum was one of many arts leaders that spoke in retrospect of Ruberto's terms in the corner office.

Director of the Norman Rockwell Museum Laurie Norton Moffatt said she remembered being nervous to meet with the mayor when she first met him. She was pitched the creative economy and Ruberto responded with 'we're doing it.'
 
"I had no idea it would be so much fun to call on the mayor," Moffatt said.
 
President of Pittsfield Downtown Inc. Peter Lafayette said there were plans to revive the arts before Ruberto but they never got off the ground until he took office.
 
"We had a lot of dreams and a lot of plans but nothing to show for it," Lafayette said. "He was the cheerleader. He was the energy force."
 
Lafayette shared a story about a time when he went to meet with state Legislators to reel in money for the arts. Lafayette said he was awed by Ruberto's dedication toward making that dream real.
 
Former Executive Director of the Berkshire Museum Stuart Chase, who now heads 1Berkshire, said he convinced Ruberto to invest in the museum and Ruberto took it and ran. But now, with Ruberto leaving office, Chase called on the artists to continue what he started.
 
But for Ruberto, he says he was just "along for the ride" and that the artist revival falls entirely on those in the artist community.
 
"You all have changed the lives of so many people in Pittsfield... you opened the minds of many people," Ruberto told the crowd of about 50. "I think what we really have here is a light year away from what we had 60 years ago... Let's not stop. We've only just begun."
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Pittsfield CPA Committee Funds Half of FY24 Requests

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A few projects are not getting funded by the Community Preservation Committee because of a tight budget.

The projects not making the cut were in the historic preservation and open space and recreation categories and though they were seen as interesting and valuable projects, the urgency was not prevalent enough for this cycle.

"It's a tough year," Chair Danielle Steinmann said.

The panel made its recommendations on Monday after several meetings of presentations from applications. They will advance to the City Council for final approval.  

Two cemetery projects were scored low by the committee and not funded: A $9,500 request from the city for fencing at the West Part Cemetery as outlined in a preservation plan created in 2021 and a $39,500 request from the St. Joseph Cemetery Commission for tombstone restorations.

"I feel personally that they could be pushed back a year," Elizabeth Herland said. "And I think they're both good projects but they don't have the urgency."

It was also decided that George B. Crane Memorial Center's $73,465 application for the creation of a recreational space would not be funded. Herland said the main reason she scored the project low was because it didn't appear to benefit the larger community as much as other projects do.

There was conversation about not funding The Christian Center's $34,100 request for heating system repairs but the committee ended up voting to give it $21,341 when monies were left over.

The total funding request was more than $1.6 million for FY24 and with a budget of $808,547, only about half could be funded. The panel allocated all of the available monies, breaking down into $107,206 for open space and recreation, $276,341 for historic preservation, and $425,000 for community housing.

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