MCLA Gallery 51 To Highlight Pittsfield Artists

11:05AM / Monday, May 21, 2007

"Weehawken" by Richard Deon

North Adams – MCLA Gallery 51 plans to showcase the artistic abilities of over a dozen artists from the Pittsfield Storefront Artists Project.

The exhibition, “Sister City Showing: Pittsfield’s Storefront Artist
Project – The First Five Years,” will open on Thursday, May 31, at a
reception from 6 p.m.- 8 p.m.. The event is free and open to the public.
The show is being curated by Peter Dudek and Maggie Mailer, current and past directors of the Storefront Artist Project. For the gallery exhibit, Dudek and Mailer selected group of artists who specialize in a wide assortment of mediums. All of the participating artists are active in the Berkshire area – a region that rapidly is becoming known as a "cultural corridor,' according to Sean Riley, MCLA Gallery 51 manager.

The artists will include Jon Anzalone, Victoria Burge, Rachel Champion, Richard Deon, Gail Downey, Eric Drury, Peter Dudek, Christine Heller, David Lachman, Maggie Mailer, Nicole Peskin, Carla Repice, Gabrielle Senza, Emily Silver, Monika Sosnowski and Doug Truth.

"Both MCLA Gallery 51 and the Storefront are excited about creating this exchange between our cultural sister cities," Riley said. "The artistic and cultural communities of both cities have been expanding side by side for several years. The goal of this exhibition is to bring Pittsfield artists to MCLA Gallery 51 to share the work they are creating and to open a dialog with the North Adams community. This dialog will be extended as the Storefront is planning to host an exhibition of North Adams artists in the near future."

For the past five years, the Storefront has sponsored studio spaces,
exhibitions, after-school programs and artist residency projects involving artists of local, national and international renown.
The exhibition will be on display through June 24.

MCLA Gallery 51 is at 51 Main St., North Adams. Hours of operation for the summer are Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For more information call 413-664-8718, or visit the www.mcla.edu/Gallery51 and www.storefrontartist.org
Internet web sites.