Williams Professor, Sculptor Receives Chesterwood Award

Amy Podmore is artist-in-residence at Chesterwood through June 30.

STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — Chesterwood, a site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, has named Amy Podmore as the recipient of its annual Lillian Heller Curator's Award.

Podmore, asculptor and Williams College professor of art, is artist-in-residence at Chesterwood through June 30; open studio hours with the artist will be held on June 27, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. A reception with Podmore will be held at Chesterwood's Morris Center on Sunday, June 29, from 4 to 6 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public.

"Working at Chesterwood has been a real gift. Daniel Chester French made an exquisite studio in this beautiful setting, very conducive to creative work," said Podmore. "It has been wonderful to be able to immerse myself in the studio with fewer of the normal daily interruptions. I have been using the month to make new pieces and to experiment. I’m working on several sculptures and have begun a relief painting, which was triggered by the find of an oddly small and colorful vest."

While at Chesterwood, Podmore is also filming a sculptural/dance/video project with director Dave Simmons (who directed the documentary film "Cherry Cottage" about a historic house in Stockbridge), three dancers: Berkshire Pulse’s Ruth Bruno and Susan Quinn, as well as Charlie Reetz, and Nick Zammuto, of Zammuto Sound, who is creating the soundtrack music.

The award was created through an endowment by the family of Lillian Heller to memorialize her love and commitment to the arts.

Podmore's work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally, including Contemporary Sculpture at Chesterwood. Her work has been exhibited at the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Bell Gallery (Brown University), Mass MoCA, Williams College Museum of Art, The Islip Art Museum, Allston Skirt Gallery, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Art Space, San Antonio Art Institute, Albany Airport Gallery, the Wassaic Project, Sculpture by the Sea (Australia), Massachusetts College of Art, Institute for Contemporary Art, Rose Art Museum (Brandeis University), and the Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center among others. She is the recipient of many awards and honors, including the Massachusetts Cultural Council Artists Grant Program.

Chesterwood, a site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is the summer home, studio and gardens of Daniel Chester French (1850-1931). French is best known for his sculptures of the Minute Man (1871-75) and the seated figure of Abraham Lincoln (1911-12) for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

State Economic Development Secretary Visits Pittsfield

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
12:28PM / Tuesday, March 17, 2026

Eric Paley was appointed secretary last year. This was his first time visiting in the Berkshires in that role. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The state secretary of economic development visited Pittsfield on Monday to hear about the condition of its economy and downtown. 

Executive Office of Economic Development Secretary Eric Paley joined local small-business owners, state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, state Sen Paul Mark, and Mayor Peter Marchetti for a roundtable discussion at the Berkshire Black Economic Council at the beginning of the day. 

"I think supporting downtowns and keeping them vibrant and energetic is a challenge in many parts of the state, and certainly many gateway cities, but I think people want to live where there's lively, strong downtowns," Paley said. 

"And they want to spend their money where they feel there's an energetic, long downtown, and that's a critical factor for Pittsfield that we do see in other gateway cities." 

He said Berkshire County has "extraordinary" strengths as a tourism and cultural leader, but like many other places, its small businesses are struggling with operating costs and affordability, as "Housing is a challenge, childcare, healthcare, these are challenges we see all across the state, but they kind of hit differently in different locations." 

The secretary feels Berkshire County competes "very" well with the nearby Catskills, Hudson Valley, and Adirondacks in New York State because of how strong the cultural community is, but sustaining those communities is a challenge. 

"Making the community fun year-round when so many people come in the summer, but also making sure that resources keep building and growing here is key, and there's been some flattening of some of the key economic indicators, and extending that strength is really important," Paley said. 

"…There were a lot of just a lot of heartfelt, thoughtful comments and things that we need to be talking about every day as we think of different regions of the state and how we support them."