'Swept: This Work I Will Do' Opens At Hancock Shaker Village

05:28PM / Monday, June 13, 2022Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — In "Swept: This Work I Will Do," artist and broom squire Cate Richards presents a series of broom-inspired sculptures alongside Shaker brooms, connecting Shakers to contemporary craft practices and exploring the Shakers' influence on American craft and art today.

"In Swept: This Work I Will Do" (the subtitle is from a Shaker hymn), Richards makes sculptural objects using established broom making techniques in a discursive manner to explore issues of craft, social inequity, environment, and other topics. Richards' works are made of materials both expected (broomcorn, twine, and wood) and unconventional (plastic and metal).

According to a press release, these anachronistic sculptures, juxtaposed against original Shaker brooms, offer revealing insight on the history of American broom making, highlight contemporary broom making practices, and explore the broom as a spiritual object.

"Swept: This Work I Will Do" opens in the Chace Gallery on June 17 with a reception and talk for Hancock Shaker Village members; the exhibition opens to the public with regular admission on June 18.

Cate Richards is a queer artist, jeweler, broomsquire, and educator currently living on occupied Ho-Chunk, Sac & Fox, and Kickapoo lands, now also called Madison, Wis. In the summer of 2021, they were a resident at MASS MoCA, where they researched the history of New England broom production. Richards has been awarded several travel grants for craft research, including funding for fieldwork in Michigan's Upper Peninsula to study the copper mining culture of the area, and to travel to the Foxfire Museum and Appalachian Heritage Center in Georgia to learn broom making. Richards has exhibited at Abel Contemporary in Stoughton, Wis., EatMetal Inc. in Hoboken, NJ, the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Wash., Lillstreet Arts Center in Chicago, and the Gallery im Körnerpark, Berlin.

Tags: Hancock Shaker Village,

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Pittsfield Wants People to Know Where Free Public Wifi Is

By Brittany PolitoiBerkhshires Staff
04:46AM / Friday, September 18, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city wants it to be clear where people can connect to free public wifi— which expands beyond downtown.

On Tuesday, the Parks Commission approved "Free Wifi" signage at The Common, Riverway Park, and Durant Park. Community members can access the internet without charge in these locations, as well as in downtown areas.

Two years ago, Pittsfield received a $99,972 Digital Equity Implementation Grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. This allowed the city to take a comprehensive look at digital equity and determine where to focus attention.

"That was a lengthy process that we worked on, and there was a lot of public input. We did some surveying. We met with a lot of focus groups; [Berkshire Regional Planning Commission] was the group that spearheaded that for us, and one of the things that came up was the lack of accessible wifi," Director of Community Development Justine Dodds reported. "Particularly in the westside."

Throughout this process, residents also wanted to see connectivity at the nearby Westside Riverway Park.

In 2023, Pittsfield was selected to participate in the Municipal Digital Equity Planning Program launched by the state and MBI, focused on ensuring residents can use the internet to conduct day-to-day activities. A digital equity plan also qualifies Pittsfield for additional grant funding.

Around 16,000 city households qualified for the Federal Communications Commission's affordable internet program that ended in 2024.

Dodds said adding Wi-FI and signage to Durant and Riverway Parks is a small piece of the larger digital equity project. Signage is already downtown, and the city plans to hire the same designer for the expanded wayfinding so it is cohesive.

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