MCLA Gallery 51 Introduces Senior Art Project

09:22AM / Saturday, April 27, 2024Print Story | Email Story

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) presents its 2024 senior art project showcasing the work of students Skylah Zayas, Hailey Rolon, and Matt Flanagan.

"Synthesis: Sluts, Beasts, and Synths" is an inquiry into themes of love, imaginative beasts, and post-punk/industrial music, according to a press release.

The exhibition is open for viewing until May 11 at Gallery 51, located at 51 Main St. in North Adams.

Zayas' project explores themes of love and sexuality using reclaimed wooden pallets fashioned into a bed. The fabric upholstery and bedding incorporate quotes gathered from participants' relationship experiences.

"This sculpture/installation reflects emotion and experiences of modern hook-up culture from not only myself, but my peers," Zayas said. "My artwork strongly utilizes the opinions and voices in my surrounding community."

Rolon creates life-sized dream-like beasts using paper mâché, clay, and drawings. She sees her work as an extension of herself, expressing the physicality of her lived experiences.

Flanagan combines his interpretations of post-punk and industrial music with art historical inquiry. His work merges music and art through experimental compositions using metal scraps and found materials.

"We are all combining our external influences with our own ideas, in uncomfortable or shocking ways," he said. "The shock factor in my project is through my materials - rusty, sharp, and bizarre metal scraps."

Under the guidance of MCLA art professors and Gallery 51 staff, alongside guest artists, the students create professional statements, resumes, and other documents necessary for entering the art world. In addition to the exhibit, students will deliver artist talks at MCLA's Undergraduate Research Conference.

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North Adams Becomes a Purple Heart Community

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
05:16AM / Tuesday, August 11, 2026

Veterans Service Officer Kurtis Durocher, a Purple Heart recipient, tells his own story of how he was wounded in Iraq.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — City leaders last week held a ceremony marking the city as a Purple Heart Community to honor local military service members wounded or killed in combat.

"This designation is much more than a sign that will stand at the entrances to our city," said Kurtis Durocher, Northern Berkshire veterans service officer at City Hall on Friday. "It is a lasting commitment and a promise to this community. We'll never forget the sacrifices made by those who are wounded or killed while serving our nation. It is a public declaration of the courage and sacrifices of combat wounded. Veterans will always have a place of honor here in North Adams."

As a Purple Heart Community, North Adams will place signs throughout the city acknowledging the designation. The city will also hold a ceremony every Aug. 7 on National Purple Heart Day.

During the inaugural ceremony, Durocher said he was asked by the Military Order of the Purple Heart to find a keynote speaker for the event, preferably a Purple Heart recipient. But he was unable to find someone willing to speak. With the date approaching, he decided to tell his own story.

"I don't like standing up and telling my own personal story ... But I realized, in my position as a VSO, I get so many ... children of veterans who will say, 'I didn't know anything about my father until after he passed because he just didn't talk about it,'" Durocher said. "... I have been that way until I've gotten into this position, and so, now, I try to tell my story as much as I can when it is brought to me."

Durocher served in the Army for 20 years and retired as a master sergeant. On Friday, he recalled a time early in his career while serving in the 82nd Airborne Division deploying to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. On Sept. 12, 2003, his squad was conducting a patrol on Route Irish in Baghdad. He was serving as a gunner on an LMTV when it was struck by a 155-millimeter artillery shell. He said the explosive had been hidden behind a guardrail and detonated using nothing more than a washing machine timer.

"In an instant, everything changed. The blast knocked me unconscious. When I regained consciousness, I instinctively was removing my helmet," he said. "Almost immediately my training took over. We had been taught repeatedly that attacks like this were often followed by a secondary attack or an ambush. I quickly put my helmet back on and began searching for my machine gun."

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