Berkshire Agricultural Ventures Awards Grant to Gould Farm

12:29PM / Monday, January 02, 2023Print Story | Email Story

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.— Berkshire Agricultural Ventures (BAV) awarded Gould Farm a Resilience grant of $5,000 to complete construction of a new hoop house that will enable the farm to extend their growing season.

This grant was awarded in conjunction with funding from the United States Department of Agriculture - Natural Resource Conservation Services (USDA-NRCS).

"BAV recognizes the importance of helping farms implement adaptive growing strategies, like hoop houses, to address the increasing challenges Berkshire farmers face due to climate change. Recent growing seasons provide multiple examples of increased extreme weather patterns that increase risks to Berkshire farmers," said Ben Crockett, BAV's program manager who focuses on Climate Smart Agriculture.

Gould Farm will use this hoop house (also known as a "high tunnel system") to cover and protect crops from sun, wind, excessive rainfall, frost, and increase Spring and Fall crop production in an environmentally safe manner.

"Farmers in our region will continue to see dramatic fluctuations in weather patterns for the foreseeable future" said Crockett, "and supporting Gould Farm in completing this hoop house is part of BAV's effort to improve local farm resilience to extreme weather events and ensure farms keep farming."

Gould Farm produces crops as part of their mental health programming, where clients grow, cook and consume vegetables from the farm. During the growing season Gould Farm also supplies the Multicultural BRIDGE Food Pantry.

With the hoop house addition, Gould Farm will be able to increase the amount and availability of fresh produce for the farm and pantry.

"Our program participants are hard at work building the hoop house," said Executive Director, Lisanne Finston. "And look forward to being able to spend more time doing what they love...growing and sharing fresh food for the community."

Gould Farm is a a 700-acre working farm whose mission is to promote recovery for people living with mental health and related challenges through meaningful work, community living, and clinical care.

Berkshire Agricultural Ventures (BAV) is a nonprofit organization working to support the development and viability of local farms and food businesses throughout the Berkshire-Taconic Region (Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut), to build a thriving local food economy and improve access to food.

Tags: farming,

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Great Barrington Public Theater Appoints Artistic Director

09:57AM / Monday, December 29, 2025

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Great Barrington Public Theater announced that Associate Artistic Director Judy Braha will now join Jim Frangione at the helm as Artistic Director of Great Barrington Public Theater.

"We at Great Barrington Public Theater are thrilled that Judy Braha will assume the role of Artistic Director alongside myself. I couldn't have asked for a better partner to help advance the interests of the theater as we move into the next phase of growth as the region's premiere developmental theater," Founder & Artistic Director Jim Frangione said. "Judy brings a tremendous amount of experience and value to our company and has, in just a few short years, grown and greatly enhanced GB Public Theater's signature program, Berkshires Voices, where playwrights develop their work, leading to public readings and in some cases workshops and full productions. I look forward to working more closely with Judy to select the next generation of plays to be presented under the GB Public banner. It's a "Bear" of a job! But we feel great about the direction of our theater."

Judy Braha joined the GB Public artistic leadership team in 2023 as the Associate Artistic Director after 2 years directing for the company. She has since then been collaborating with Founder and Artistic Director Jim Frangione on the selection of new work for readings and full productions in the summer season. Her impressive portfolio of credits and accomplishments strengthened Great Barrington Public's creative programming and offered new perspectives to the body of works and events produced each year.

Judy Braha has been a career director, actor, teacher and artist for social justice for over four decades with directorial credits in theaters and universities throughout New England. She led the M.F.A. Directing Program at Boston University's School of Theater, retiring in 2022 after 29 years of service at BU.

"Judy has the strength of commitment, leadership and passion for theater and how it affects communities that fit hand-in-glove with our founding mission and core beliefs," Founder and Producing Director Deann Halper Simmons explains. "Her artistic integrity, sense of stage esthetic and ability to make important choices that craft life from the script continues to be a great asset to our company and growth."

"Judy's distinguished artistic voice has significantly contributed to the exceptional growth of GB Public in recent years," Managing Director Serena Johnson added. "We are truly excited to have her stepping into this leadership role in the 2026 season."

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