Before and after photos of the box at Union and North.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Last year, the seemingly ordinary utility boxes throughout the downtown were transformed into colorful and vibrant pieces of art.
Now, it is time to do some more.
The Artscape Committee announced the return of the paintbox program, which is an art competition with eight winners decorating the utility boxes on North Street. The project takes the boring, gray utility boxes and turns them into public art.
"We were so overwhelmed by the support of the community from last year's paintbox project. We were overwhelmed by the number of submissions we had and the quality of those submissions. We're really just beyond excited for the next round," Artscape Vice Chairman Sean McCusker said at a press conference Wednesday morning at Hotel on North.
Last year, some 60 artists submitted work for eight boxes spanning from the Berkshire Museum to Persip Park. Now, a new batch of utility boxes will be painted as eight more have been chosen spanning from Persip to Berkshire Medical Center.
Berkshire Money Management is sponsoring the program and is providing $250 for artists to buy materials for the work and then an additional $150 for being chosen. The submission deadline for this year's project is on April 10 with judging in May. In June the artists will be given the first stipend and the work is expected to be completed and unveiled at Third Thursday in July.
"I thought it would be a cool thing for people to experience," said Allen Harris of Berkshire Money Management. "I liked the idea to take something ordinary and make it pop."
The paintbox program is just one of many public art ventures the city has embraced over the years. Whether that be Sheeptacular or the placing sculptures downtown every year, the Artscape Committee heads many efforts to bring art and culture into everyday life. And it has the support of the mayor.
"We know that art is the thing that enriches lives. I think the city of Pittsfield has really launched itself in a lot of great ways around arts and culture and how important that is to community life," Mayor Linda Tyer said.
"Any time I have an opportunity to celebrate something special that involves art and culture, I'm always 'sign me up.' I'm looking forward to this next round of the paintboxes. This was a great first endeavor where we saw some really great artists who delivered some interesting and important messages around community life."
Tyer said she particularly loves the "community spirit" involved in the undertaking. That community spirit is something McCusker also promoted when he urged artists to go out to the boxes and be inspired by the area's surroundings and history.
"There is a lot of history and a lot of culture in Pittsfield to be inspired by," McCusker said.
Submissions can be sent in via mail or email. The application is below.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.
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Central Berkshire School Officials OK $35M Budget
By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — The Central Berkshire Regional School Committee approved a $35 million budget for fiscal 2025 during its meeting on Thursday.
Much of the proposed spending plan is similar to what was predicted in the initial and tentative budget presentations, however, the district did work with the Finance subcommittee to further offset the assessments to the towns, Superintendent Leslie Blake-Davis said.
"What you're going see in this budget is a lower average assessment to the towns than what you saw in the other in the tentative budget that was approved," she said.
The fiscal 2025 budget is $35,428,892, a 5.56 percent or $1,867,649, over this year's $33,561,243.
"This is using our operating funds, revolving revenue or grant revenue. So what made up the budget for the tentative budget is pretty much the same," Director of Finance and Operations Gregory Boino said.
"We're just moving around funds … so, we're using more of the FY25 rural aid funds instead of operating funds next year."
Increases the district has in the FY25 operating budget are from active employee health insurance, retiree health insurance, special education out-of-district tuition, temporary bond principal and interest payment, pupil transportation, Berkshire County Retirement contributions, and the federal payroll tax.
The students have also been able to build friendships and experience new things, such as dancing for community events, taking a trip to Ireland and participating in competitions.
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Because of this, traffic will be reduced to one lane of travel on First Street (U.S. Route 7) and North Street between Burbank Street and Abbott Street from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday through at least May 6.
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Independent Connections officially unveiled its Massachusetts branch on Thursdsay with a ribbon cutting. The IT solutions company's specializations include consulting, cloud computing, and cybersecurity.
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Taylor Garabedian scored a team-high 22 points and grabbed five rebounds, and Abby Scialabba scored 16 points for the ‘Canes, who got 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists from Ashlyn Lesure. click for more