Berkshire Museum Now Accepting BerkShares
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Museum is now accepting Berkshares, the region’s newest currency.
The Berkshire Museum will accept BerkShares as payment for Museum admission, tickets for movies at the Little Cinema, and purchases in the museum gift shop.
Executive Director Van Shields said the museum is committed to recirculating BerkShares that visitors spend there.
“We know that several of our existing vendors and suppliers accept Berkshares and joining the program gives us the impetus to build relationships with other local businesses that we currently are not engaged with,” he said.
Located in downtown Pittsfield, Berkshire Museum offers experiences for visitors of all ages by making inspiring educational connections among art, history, and natural science. BerkShares are a natural complement to the inter-disciplinary focus of the Berkshire Museum, Shields said.
“When I first saw the actual Berkshares currency, I was impressed with the design that promotes our regional artistic, historical and natural heritage, which resonates with our mission and values,” he said.
A Stockbridge Mohican, W.E.B. DuBois, Robyn Van En, Herman Melville and Norman Rockwell are the local figures of national historical significance celebrated on the front of the local currency notes. The work of Berkshire-based artists Michael McCurdy, Bart Elsbach, Morgan Bulkeley Jr., Janet Rickus, Warner Friedman, and Joan Griswold also graces the five different denominations of the currency.
BerkShares program coordinator Alice Maggio said the currency serves as both an educational and an economic tool.
“BerkShares are only accepted by locally owned businesses in our region, and locally owned businesses make a significant contribution to sustaining local economies through jobs, taxes, and charitable giving, as well as recirculating profits regionally," she said. "So when you see a business that declares ‘BerkShares Accepted Here’ you know that you are supporting an enterprise that cares about and contributes to our local community.”
The use of BerkShares has largely been concentrated in South County due to the location of the bank branches where citizens may exchange dollars for BerkShares. Participating branches of Lee Bank, Lenox National Bank, Pittsfield Coop Bank and Salisbury Bank and Trust Company are listed online and can be found from Lenox to Sheffield.
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