Berkshire Museum Honors Three for Local Preservation Efforts
.jpg) Artist Mary Rentz is presented a Berkshire Award on Friday night. Rentz was one of three honorees recognized for their efforts to sustain the region's history, culture and natural resources. See more photos here. |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Museum presented the third annual Berkshire Awards to three honorees who have made significant contributions to creating, keeping, and promoting artistic, historical, and natural heritage in the Berkshires.
They were honored at an awards ceremony on Friday, March 13, at the museum. The honorees were Lila Berle, Churchill Cotton, and Mary Rentz.
"For the third year, we at the Berkshire Museum are proud to recognize three individuals who have contributed significantly to the preservation of our culture and heritage," William M. Hines Jr., president of the board of trustees, said. "The presentation of the Berkshire Awards exemplifies our mission of exploring and sharing the worlds of art, history, and science with the larger community."
The Berkshire Awards event included video presentations on all three honorees, followed by cocktails and hors d'oeuvres by Brian Alberg of the Red Lion Inn with special guest chefs Daire Rooney of Allium and Dan Smith of John Andrews.
"Our community is an extraordinarily creative one, with a rich tradition of innovation," Executive Director Van Shields said. "It is an honor to celebrate those people who, through their service, have made an indelible impact on this place and have inspired others through their example."
Lila Berle
Berle has been a lifelong leader in farming, preservation, and land conservation in the Berkshires. Her Sky Farm includes pasture land in Great Barrington, Stockbridge, Egremont, and Alford and provides grass-fed, hormone-free food to many area restaurants. In the 1970s, Berle was instrumental in preserving The Mount, Edith Wharton's historic estate, and organized the first board of trustees of Edith Wharton Restoration Inc. She served as the organization's first chairman, a position to which she was re-elected in 2012. She was a member and president of the board of trustees of the Norman Rockwell Museum for many years and, in 1993, helped the museum make its transition from downtown Stockbridge to its current 36-acre site overlooking the Housatonic River Valley.
Berle has been active in more than 13 nonprofit organizations, ranging from the Berkshire South Regional Community Center, the Trustees of Reservations, Chesterwood, Simon's Rock, Sculpture Now, and the Laurel Hill Association to the Foxhollow School, Lenox Library, Children's Health Program, and Berkshire Hills School Committee. She has been an active member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Stockbridge since 1960.
Churchill Cotton
Cotton, a preservationist and community leader, has served the Berkshires in numerous ways. He has been a trustee of the Samuel Harrison Society since 2004, and is currently its president. The mission of the society is to restore and preserve the Rev. Harrison's homestead and use it as a platform from which to advance knowledge and understanding of African-American heritage and history in the Berkshires. Cotton is currently a Pittsfield city councilor at large, and was a member of the Pittsfield School Committee from 2007-2010. He is a member of the Second Congregational Church and is the former chairman of the Westside Neighborhood Initiative.
Cotton is a graduate of the Berkshire Leadership Program and has also served as a member of the Berkshire United Way board of directors and the Pittsfield Master Plan Committee, and is chairman of the Pittsfield Bike Path Committee.
Mary Rentz
Rentz, an artist, has been an active community organizer and promoter of public arts in the Berkshires for decades. She has been involved with many of Pittsfield's citywide cultural initiatives over the last decade, including Sheeptacular, Art of the Game, the annual juried Pittsfield Art Show, and Pittsfield 250. In the late 1980s, she was part of a community effort to preserve land around the Richmond Pond Girl Scout camp by working directly with city leaders and developers. She has been honored for her work in the Berkshires by many organizations including Pittsfield Rotary Club, Western Mass Girl Scouts Council, Downtown Pittsfield Inc., the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women and more. She is currently the president of the Berkshire Art Association.
A longtime volunteer for Hancock Shaker Village, Rentz has served on its board since 1992, chairing it twice, as well as with its successful Simple Gifts Campaign in 2000. In 2013, she was honored with the Hancock Shaker Village Leadership Award. She is an active member of South Congregational Church in Pittsfield, helping lead its recent steeple restoration efforts and volunteering with its food ministry.
Tags: Berkshire Museum, cultural development, historic preservation, land conservation, recognition event,
