MCLA's Berkshire Cultural Resource Center Names New Director
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts' Berkshire Cultural Resource Center has appointed Erica Wall as its new director.
As director, she will assume oversight of MCLA's public art spaces and programs, including MCLA's Gallery 51, its performing arts program, MCLA Presents!, and its four-month summer arts festival, DownStreet Art.
Wall is the founder of the Erica Broussard Gallery in Santa Ana, Calif. and has worked as director of school and community programs at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and as director of education at The Crocker Museum in Sacramento. Prior to that, she worked as an educator at The Getty Center in Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). Wall is a previous Smithsonian Fellow and holds a bachelor's degree from UCLA and a master's degree in museum education from California State University, Los Angeles.
Closer to home, Wall is the founder of 36 Chase Artist & Art Historians Residency in North Adams.
"While Erica is moving from California to join us in NAMA, she has very specific connections to the area," said Diane Scott, chair of MCLA's Department of Fine & Performing Arts. "She opened the 36 Chase Residency to support the work of underrepresented artists. Erica's expertise in this arena will strengthen the work of the BCRC, complement the work of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities, and benefit the entire MCLA and Northern Berkshire communities. We're very excited to have her join our team."
Wall chose North Adams as the location for her residency program in part because of its evolution in the past 15 to 20 years. It allows 36 Chase residents to network with other artists who are also making art and taking advantage of residencies in the area, while enabling them to meet curators and other arts professionals.
"There is so much wealth of talent in just a few miles," Wall said.
Wall said she is excited to settle into a city where she already knows people and can expand and build upon what she started with her residency.
"I already have ideas that would be great for programing, and I'm excited about partnering with all of the other institutions," she said. "I'm hoping to make a worthy contribution."
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