Plum Gallery adds burst of creativity to Water Street in Williamstown

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Generations of Williamstown children knew the clapboarded building at 112 Water St. as Fanny Tash’s store. One of them was photographer Nicholas Whitman who, growing up on nearby Hoxsey Street, found the store a prime source of penny candy. Now Whitman, a noted photographer, and his wife, artist Mary E. Natalizia, have opened a gallery in the former store and part of the adjoining 18th-century house, where their opening exhibit showcases 13 artists. They kept the long, gleaming wooden counter from the old store as a centerpiece for the room where bright and bold paintings hang on white walls, and ceramics inspired by antique botanical prints cluster in the windows. Plum Gallery is the result of not only the pair’s creativity, but grueling physical labor as they transformed the space into a bright, airy venue for a range of art. “It’s a great old building, and it was for sale forever,” said Whitman. “Nick did all the restoration, everything except the electrical wiring, plumbing and sheetrocking,” said Natalizia. “It’s a real team effort.” “This place was a diamond in the rough,” said Whitman. “We filled up more than 15 dumpsters, and it did need some jacking, and it needed a lot of siding. “It’s solid, just not real square,” he said. “I tried to do a really sensitive restoration job,” he said. In the former store, the gallery’s main space, the bead-board ceiling had, fortunately, never been painted. Sheetrock panels were installed on the walls to screw paintings into. And in the second room, up a step, in the adjoining house, Whitman pulled down the ceiling and found chestnut beams — “extinct, beautiful and rot-resistant” — bearing the marks of the broad-ax that formed them. “All I did was vacuum, scrub and oil them,” said Whitman. Whitman said he enjoyed his work on the house, which was part of a mill complex on the Green River, and the 1922 store building. Whitman has a recently-released book on The Porches, the new inn in North Adams across from MASS MoCA. He has also done a book on MASS MoCA, documented the former, and now demolished opera house, and is in the middle of a project on the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield. “It was really interesting to put the camera down and take the place apart,” he said. Natalizia, a painter, is on leave from teaching in Pownal, Vt. She said the idea for the gallery grew naturally “out of our interests in art.” “Most of the people in this show are also friends,” she said. “This is heartfelt art,” she said. “It’s not just a pretty picture, it’s the artists’ response to the world. It speaks to your heart, and you feel you’re tapping into the moment.” “We do have strong opinions about art, and we thought ‘wouldn’t it be nice to give people a place to show?’ This winter, we just decided that we’d go for it.” In one of the front windows is a sculpture of welded copper, the work of Greg Smith of Pownal. His stainless-steel sculpture is on the front lawn. Ceramic floral-derived shapes by Nermin Kura, who is from Turkey and went to the Rhode Island School of Design, is ornamented with designs inspired by calligraphy. “It’s so strong,” said Natalizia. “It’s wild stuff.” Much of her own work, she said, is based on floral shapes, and often includes fragments of poetry or journal entries. “This is very particular artwork,” she said of the work in the show. “It doesn’t take anything for granted. It tells something about how you feel, or tells something about the particular time, or the day.” Also on view are drawings and a print by Timothy Hawksworth, who, she said, “works only from memory.” A collage by Martin Bromirski includes “canvas cut and rewoven,” she said. “He’s obsessed with materials.” Steel gray and black shapes, sculpture by Makoto Yabe, who has work at RISD, the DeCordova in Lincoln, and the Museum of Fine Art in Boston, seems to prefigure the mourning in the wake of the Sept. 11 loss of life, although they were made beforehand, she said. Whitman’s platinum prints in the gallery include woods in North Berkshire and sculptural rock faces, some shot in Labrador, some strongly cubist. They are pleased with the reception so far, and enthusiastic about the endeavor. “I love to arrange things,” said Natalizia. “I saw this work and really loved it. It felt like it was a risk at first, but when we made the decision, it’s great. And we had good sales the first week.” The opening reception was May 23. Gallery hours are Wednesdays through Sundays 11-5 and by appointment. Telephone is 458-3389; web site www.plumbgallery.com.
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North Adams Housing Authority Director Steps Down

Staff Reports

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Jennifer Hohn, the longtime executive director of the North Adams Housing Authority (NAHA), has stepped down after 24 years with the agency.

The Berkshire Eagle reported that Hohn resigned from her position on Thursday. The NAHA Board of Commissioners is currently developing a transition plan.

Her resignation follows rising tension between Hohn and the tenants association. Residents—particularly at the Spring and Ashland Park apartments—have raised specific concerns regarding building security, drug activity, and trespassers.

This summer, Tenants Association President Corey Fortin posted a video on social media demonstrating that door alarms in some of the buildings were not functioning.

Shortly after the video was posted, the tenants association's office was locked. Members alleged Hohn locked the space in retaliation, while Hohn maintained it was a matter of tenant safety. Hohn also stated that NAHA does not officially recognize the association because it has yet to go through official channels for certification—a claim the tenants association disputes.

The dispute culminated in plans for a formal grievance hearing between Hohn and the association. Both sides agreed to hold a meeting on Oct. 3, but the hearing had not yet been scheduled at the time of her resignation.
During her tenure as director, Hohn oversaw significant changes at NAHA, including expansion and the dissolution of Housing Opportunities Incorporated, a program founded over 30 years ago to assist first-time homebuyers. Most recently, she led efforts to transition NAHA properties from traditional public housing models to the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program. She also directed the rebuilding of a Greylock Valley Apartments building after it was severely damaged by a fire.

The NAHA Board of Commissioners meets monthly, typically on Mondays.

 

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