MASS MoCA Installation Comprises more than 800 Million Grains of Rice

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While the census is not often the inspiration for major works of art, this February 10 – 25 MASS MoCA’s Hunter Center will be home to an arresting installation titled Of All the People in All the World which brings to unique life population densities, growth patterns and the changing demographics of our world. MASS MoCA is one of just three U.S. venues for the installation, the only one on the East Coast and the only one representing all the people in the Americas. Previous U.S. installations have included only the U.S. population. A landscape of rice – many, many tons of rice, more than 875,000,000 grains in all – will be used to dramatize the enormity of the population of the Americas and the miniscule place of one person in it. (All the rice will be recycled, and will re-enter the food chain upon completion of the performance.) Far from a static display, this landscape will constantly change as performers from the UK artists collective pile, measure, sort, and re-pile the rice to represent different comparative statistics, population changes, and demographic anomalies. Visitors are invited to submit their own population-based queries, and some of these questions will be incorporated into the exhibition/performance. The event will take place Saturday, February 10 through Sunday, February 25, from 11 - 5 and special evening hours (7-10 PM) on February 16 & 17 and February 23 & 24. “Our aim in producing this work is to capture a picture of the world in all of its vastness and mystery as well as its everyday ordinariness,” explains Stan’s Cafe artistic director, James Yarker. “It links today with yesterday, big moments in history with personal memories, great successes of the human race alongside its terrible failures and the challenges it continues to face.” Upon entry, visitors are presented with a single grain of rice; the significance of the one grain becomes clear as one takes in the mounds of rice representing all the people in the Americas. Breathtaking in scope yet beautifully elegant in its simplicity, the exhibit is ever-evolving as the performers carefully measure out quantities of rice to represent thousands of different statistics. Ranging from serious and sobering facts – the number of people living in gated communities next to the number living in prison, the number of people who die each day next to the number of people born – to lighthearted pop culture trivia – the number of viewers of the American Idol finale next to the number of viewers of Cheers’ last episode – these statistics are reconfigured into the rice piles that bring these groups into dramatic relief. “This work is best understood as a two-week long performance, which our visitors can enjoy in quick hits, or over prolonged or repeated visits. It is powerful to discover subtle links between the individual, single grain, and the larger community and the world that are represented in the piles before you.” said Sue Killam, Managing Director of Performing Arts at MASS MoCA. “At any one time the Hunter Center will resemble a vast sculptural landscape -- and you can enjoy the work as a piece of visual art -- but over time, the performers alter the topography as they manipulate piles of rice in response to statistical queries. Visitors can engage the performers in conversation about the work itself, their own histories, even their own ideas for statistics...and in this way the work is part theater, and part social science. At previous venues, patrons have come for short visits, but ended up staying for hours, getting caught up in the act of visualizing an amazing array of strange and beautiful comparisons.” The juxtapositions can be moving, shocking, celebratory, witty, and thought-provoking. “What we’re trying to do is raise people’s awareness of different subjects and to make those numbers that we see in the news, hear on the news everyday, make those more understandable and give them a visual sense,” says Craig Stephens, Associate Director for Of All the People in All the World. Since its premiere at the Warwick Arts Centre in the United Kingdom, Stan’s Café has toured its landmark exhibit in a variety of venues spanning the globe – Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, Ireland, and Australia. The collective was started in 1991 and functions as a group of artists from a variety of disciplines working under the artistic direction of James Yarker; together they create leading-edge art that consistently taps the popular imagination. The exhibit is supported in part by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and The British Council. Tickets for Of All the People in All the World are $5, with the option for a multi-day pass at $20, children under five are free, and $12.50 includes gallery admission. MASS MoCA members receive a 10% discount. Doors open at 7 PM with snacks from Lickety Split and full bar available. Tickets are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office located off Marshall Street in North Adams, open from 11 A.M. to 5 P.M. Wednesday through Monday (July 1 through August 31, from 10 A.M. until 6 P.M. daily). Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413-662-2111 during Box Office hours or purchased on line at www.massmoca.org .
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BFAIR Purchases Mass Ave. Property to Support Growth of Redemption Center

Staff Reports
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — BFAIR announced the purchase of the building located at 1000 Massachusetts Avenue home to the BFAIR Bottle and Can Redemption Center, effective Jan. 9, 2026. 
 
After several years of managing the Bottle and Can Redemption Center, BFAIR officially acquired the business in July 2019. The recent purchase of the building allows BFAIR to plan for long-term growth and expansion in response to a significant increase in the volume of redeemable bottles and cans being processed, stated a press release. 
 
"This purchase gives us the opportunity to expand the space to better meet growing demand," said Laura Baran, senior director of CBDS and Employment Services. "The increase is driven by more customers, additional pop-up and pick-up locations through our service van—sponsored by Adams Community Bank—and a rise in community bottle drives." 
 
With the ability to expand the building, BFAIR will be able to add workspace and purchase a second bottle and can counting machine, made possible through support from the Berkshire Bank Foundation. These improvements will increase efficiency, enhance workflow, and support continued job creation. 
 
Future renovations may also include reconfiguring the lobby area to improve productivity and customer flow as operations continue to grow. 
 
For more information about BFAIR and the Bottle & Can Redemption Center, visit https://www.bfair.org/BFAIR-Bottle-and-Can-Redemption-Center  
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