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Fans crowded Courtyard C at last year's FreshGrass Festival at Mass MoCA.
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Alison Brown returns to the festival this year.

Mass MoCA Eyeing West Main Street Entrance

By John DurkaniBerkshires Staff
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The former water tank building at Mass MoCA will host the Anselm Kiefer exhibit. Eventually, the west end of the campus will connect to West Main Street.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art Director Joseph Thompson feels excited for the upcoming season, highlighted by the opening of the Anselm Kiefer exhibit and the third annual FreshGrass music festival.
 
The Anselm Kiefer exhibit will extend the museum to the west end, and eventually to West Main Street, Thompson said at the museum's fall preview event on Thursday morning.
 
"That's part of our very long-term thinking about eventually opening up that backside of the complex to pedestrians and bicycles," Thompson said. "We're not quite ready to do that yet but we're putting in the infrastructure to allow us to do that when we are ready to do it."
 
Thompson also said the plan includes a more attractive connection to the road and new gates. The expansion and new entrance will open up the campus, making security more complicated, but more inviting for attendees to explore the outdoor exhibits already on display.
 
"Essentially we're throwing open the back door to the place," Thompson said.
 
City officials have been looking to leverage the museum's access into the redevelopment of Western Gateway Heritage State Park, which has a footpath directly across the street from MoCA's south gate. The hope is to stimulate pedestrian traffic between the park, the museum and the downtown.
 
The gallery will be hosted in an old 10,000 square-foot Arnold Printworks water tank building near the Route 2 overpass. all that was left was a foundation that has been covered with a shell.
 
Kiefer is known for his large works that incorporate historical themes, including Germany's Nazi past, and most recently construction materials like concrete. The exhibit will feature his 82-foot-long sculpture made of cast concrete, rebar and lead.
 
The exhibit will open on Sept. 27, and run officially until Nov. 15, but Thompson said they'll play it by ear. The gallery then will be open for at least 15 years during the "fair-weather season," from around mid-April to late-November.
 
Director Joseph Thompson talks about the upcoming season.
A week prior, Mass MoCA will host FreshGrass, a bluegrass-orientated 3-day festival, featuring Infamous Stringdusters, DelMcCoury Band, Wood Brothers and many other acts.
 
Thompson feels that the welcoming experience draws back returning visitors to the festivals (the other being Solid Sound) and then some.
 
"Our attendance keeps going nicely up... I am convinced that one of the reasons that's is happening is the gradual spreading by word-of-mouth is coming from these big festivals."

Jodi Joseph, director of communications, said last year's festival attracted 1,800 concertgoers. "We're expecting a nice boost this year in sales," she said, adding it was already past 1,800. "This festival is growing."
 
In addition to nationally known headliners, the Williamstown band The Wandering Rocks will kick off the festival at Courtyard D, the stage closest to the bridge leading to Joe's Field.
 
"I think it's fantastic they're on our lineup and hopefully they'll bring some locals out to support them," said Sue Killam, managing director of performing arts.
 
Killam also said many local vendors, including Desperados, How We Roll, Spice Root and Village Pizza will be at the festival.
 
Tickets are still available for FreshGrass and could be found here. For a list of all performances and gallery openings, visit MassMoCA.org.  

Tags: construction,   mass moca,   

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Pryor & Peacock's Whimsical Furniture Environmentally Friendly

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
 

The company uses digital printing to create the upholstery fabric, saving water and saving vintage furniture from ending up in landfills.

STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — A unique furniture store has popped up on Elm Street this month.

Mom-and-daughter store Pryor & Peacock is hosting the pop-up storefront from Aug. 13 to Aug. 25 at 6 Elm. The New Marlborough business is co-founded by Rosalina Wright and Luca Shapiro, who is also the creative director. 

Their online shop was created in 2024 but they wanted people to see the pieces in person, so they're renting the space for a limited time before a long-term tenant moves in.

The store sources prints to create unique fabrics and reimagines vintage and antique furniture acquired at auctions, local shops, and online.

"We source prints from all over the world that date from the late 1600s up through mid-20th century, and Luca turns those prints into fabric by manipulating them, scanning them, oftentimes has to add or subtract things, and then we manufacture the fabric using only digital printing, which is very environmentally friendly, unlike traditional textile printing," Wright said.

Upholstering the furniture can take weeks of work. Shapiro looks for the perfect design for each piece and, if need be, uses Adobe Photoshop to extend the art work to fit or enhance the print.

"One of the most difficult parts comes in marrying the fabric to a piece of furniture because we only use antique and vintage frames also to be earth friendly, and they're also more beautiful and durable than new furniture," Wright said. "So the image has to go with the furniture, so that takes a lot of work."

One of Pryor & Peacock's missions is to be environmentally friendly. Digital printing doesn't use the same amount of water as traditional textile productions do nor does it contaminate water with ink according to their website.

Not only are they saving water, but they are saving furniture from going into the landfill while also using more durable furniture that doesn't break as easily as current pieces. They started their business to create something unique and to help the environment together.

"It's creating something nobody else is doing. People can't continue to buy throwaway furniture. Six percent of American landfills is furniture, and digital printing not only opens up the possibility of being able to put unique images on a piece of furniture, but it also is, as I said, environmentally friendly. So, for us, the excitement is to take an old East Lake settee that somebody's going to store in their barn and forget about, and make it something completely new and surprising," Wright said.

They hope their furniture helps bring a pop of fun to someone's home.

"We think our furniture is very whimsical and surprising, and most furniture today is oatmeal colored couches and gray neutral chairs, and it's boring," she said.

The two named their business after their mothers' maiden names to honor them and believe the name reflects their pieces.

Shapiro works in interior design outside of the business and the two liked working together and thought it would be great to start a business together. Shapiro says they can work well together and that her and her mother, Wright, has flipped houses before and have the same eye for design.

"So it's very easy for us to work together. When we see something, generally we agree on whether it works or doesn't work on a piece. We agree on the color schemes and that sort of thing. So it's very fun and fulfilling to work together," Shapiro said. 

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