North Adams First Friday Focuses on 'Flower Power'

• The First Baptist Youth Group and NAMAZING Initiative will lead a cleanup and replanting of grass and flowers in the Eagle Street pocket park. Meet under the Mohawk Theater Marquee at 5:00 pm.
• North Adams' dysFUNKcrew dance group will help us celebrate Flower Power as well as their 10th anniversary with a variety of dances and beats Under the Mohawk Theater Marquee on Main Street at 8:00 pm.

• Savvy Hive: Tea Tasting hosted by Molly & Herbs and Babe Botanics. 5:00 pm-7:00 pm | 53 Main Street.
• Common Folk Artist Collective: Button Making station during craft night. 6-8 pm | 12 Holden Street
• Gallery 51 will host Catherine Monahon for an artist talk and mini-installation of their work from the Conversations with the Material World (CwtMW). CwtMW consists of four sculptures and four soundscapes. Visitors are allowed and encouraged to touch the art as they listen. Gallery 51/MAC: Arts Lab: 5:00 pm-7:00 pm | 49/51 Main Street
• Installation Space: ENMESHED Opening Reception 4:00 pm-8:00 pm | 49 Eagle Street
• Bear and Bee books: "Make your own flowers, create the world you want to live in!" All gardening and activism books will be 10 percent off at the Bear and Bee | 28 Holden Street
• The Plant Connector is offering free mini eucalyptus shower bouquets, paper flower arts, and free seed bomb kits. 5:00 pm-8:00 pm | 73 Main Street
• Hearts Pace mocktails and live music. Mocktails start at 6:00 pm and live music goes from 7:00 pm-9:00 pm | 15 Eagle Street
• Alison Pebworth will open her 40 Eagle Street Studio and Project Space with a new Spring window display and Alethea Morrison will return to Dispense more Kindness from her Listening Booth from 5:00 pm-8:00 pm | 40 Eagle Street
• Megan Karlen of ConscientiousCloth is offering $5 for 15 minutes of weaving. Loom will activate every 20 minutes starting at 2:00 pm. Start signing up on Thursday, May 4. | 77 Main Street
• WallaSauce is hosting a flower patch event. Bring a garment, pick a flower-themed patch for $5 each and they will sew it on. Some basic upcycled garments will be available for purchase if participants don't have anything on hand. | 77 Main Street.

MCLA Kicks Off Fall Term With New President, Full Dorms

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
05:41AM / Wednesday, September 09, 2026

President Diana Rogers-Atkinson says she's excited to be at MCLA and impressed by the work done by the college's faculty and staff. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts kicked off the school year last week with fully occupied dorms and its "lucky 13th" president. 

 

Diana Rogers-Atkinson welcomed the gathering of staff, faculty and student representatives in the Venable Hall gymnasium for the traditional convocation breakfast on Tuesday, along with several trustees and Mayor Jennifer Macksey. Theater arts professor Laura Stanley sang the alma mater, starting a new tradition. 

 

"This is a great time of the year. It's a time of new beginnings on many levels for us this year, and I'm really excited," said the college's new leader. "I hope everyone is prepared for an exciting school year ahead. I am constantly impressed by the work that the MCLA staff and faculty do every day. You work tirelessly to provide our students with a fantastic education and a home away from home. I want to thank you on behalf of our board for your dedication, determination, and hard work."

 

The hard work is paying off as the college's enrollment continues to climb out of the hole it dropped into during the pandemic. 

 

The college has 162 first-year students and 89 transfer students, Richard Glejzer, provost and vice president of academic affairs, said, up from 219 last year. 

 

"We also have an additional student pool that we've kept separate in our count because it's a one-time pool," he explained. "As we are serving as a teach-out partner for two [closed] institutions, Anna Maria College and Hampshire College, we have two students coming from Anna Maria, and we have 20 students coming from Hampshire College. That brings us up to 272 new students, up 24 percent when you add all this together from this from last year and 29 percent from the year before."

 

He held up his hand to halt the applause to "add one more thing": looking at a "slice" of graduate student numbers, the college is expecting 105 to be enrolled, up from 92 last year.