North Adams And Great Barrington Named To "Top 100" Arts Communities List

By Susan Bush12:00AM / Friday, April 08, 2005Print Story | Email Story

North Adams and Great Barrington are among "The 100 Best Art Towns in America," according to author John Villani.

A nationally published arts and travel writer has deemed the Northern Berkshires city of North Adams and the Southern Berkshires town of Great Barrington as two of the Top 100 Best Art Towns in America in a book titled "The 100 Best Art Towns in America: A Guide to Galleries, Museums, Festivals, Lodging and Dining." The fourth edition guide book was written by John Villani, who is the director of communications for the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Inclusion on a "best list" is a good thing, said Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts Director of Marketing and Publicity Katherine Myers. "It's delightful to be included on the list," she said on Friday. Williamstown earns a mention in the four-page section devoted to the city and the Williamstown Theater Festival and Williamstown Jazz Festival are among the featured entities. Myers and North Adams-based Contemporary Arts Center Director Karyn Behnke are quoted in "Art Talk" sections. Behnke identified area interest in expanding the arts community. "MASS MoCA put the idea into artists heads that you could come here, live in a small community, yet somehow stay connected to the creative ideas of international-style work," she states in the book. Villani quoted Myers as dubbing the city "a hip, happening place to live, with rising property values, gentrified homes, and new businesses." "There are lots of studio spaces being developed out of old warehouses and we've now got lots of venues interested in exhibiting the work of local and national artists," according to remarks attributed to Myers. As for Great Barrington, Villani wrote "Downtown Great Barrington is a compact, vibrant place whose 1920's architectural heritage was largely spared from the urban renewal efforts of the past few decades. It's a district filled with record shops, pubs, hardware stores, coffee bars, hair salons, cafes and art galleries, reflecting an authenticity that many other American towns would like to recapture." Villani included information about surrounding communities including Sheffield, Stockbridge, and Housatonic in the four-page Great Barrington section. Robin Schmitt, owner of the Tokonoma Gallery, and Ronnie Boriskin, identified as the director of the Aston Magna Festival, provided "Art Talk" commentary for the book. "Things go up and down in Housatonic," according to Schmitt's published comments. "There are several galleries in these old textile mill buildings and an association of local artists with about 30 members." According to Boriskin's published remarks, "We're the only organization doing a summer festival of chamber music on early instruments, and while we add a lot to the cultural diversity of the berkshires, we're one of those hidden treasures that's not as well-known as we could be." Villani listed the top 100 communities in alphabetical order rather than rank; North Adams and Great Barrington share the book's top 100 spotlight with communities including Woodstock, N.Y., Burlington, Vt., Newport, R.I., Carmel, Calif., and Telluride, Colorado. Two "Top 10" lists are ranked. Included in the "Top 10 Art Towns" with populations under 30,000 are the number three rated Provincetown, Mass., fifth-ranked Northampton, Mass., and 10th-ranked Brattleboro, Vt.. Naples, Fl. topped the list of art towns with populations under 30,000. The "Top 10 Art Towns" with populations between 30,000 and 100,000 include the seventh-ranked Portland, Maine. Santa Fe, N.M. topped that list, followed by the second-ranked Colorado community of Loveland and the third-ranked Sarasota, Fl.. The book was published by the Woodstock, Vt.-based Countryman Press and Backcountry Guides. The company publishes about 50 books yearly with a focus on travel, food, gardening, country living, nature, New England history, and crafts. The company has published books with a Berkshires focus, including "A Guide to Natural Places in the Berkshires" by Rene Laubach and "The Berkshire Reader," by Richard Nunley. Company publicist David Corey described Villani's book. "The 100 best art towns in America singles out communities with the best to offer in visual and the performing arts," according to a prepared statement provided by Corey. "[Villani] also addresses how revitalization through art-driven economic development has put these cities at the vanguard of an important national trend." Villani is an arts and travel writer whose articles have appeared in the Vanity Fair, Art In America, Art News, and U.S. News and World Report publications, as well as newspapers such as the Miami Herald, the Dallas Morning News, and the Christian Science Monitor. Villani spent almost four years as arts editor for the Arizona Republic.

Stockbridge Grange Community Dinner

03:12PM / Tuesday, February 03, 2026

STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — The Stockbridge Grange is holding a community dinner on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, featuring spaghetti and meatballs, salad, and bread with dessert choices of chocolate cream or lemon meringue pie.

Dinner is $17.00 per person, take out only with 12-1:30 pm pick up at the Stockbridge Grange Hall at 51 Church Street, Stockbridge. Orders may be made by calling 413-243-1298 or 413-443-4352.

Inclement weather postpones the meal for a week.