Hancock Shaker Village Awarded NEH Challenge Grant

08:26AM / Monday, May 15, 2023Print Story | Email Story

HANCOCK, Mass. — The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded Hancock Shaker Village an Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge Grant for $750,000.

This is one of the five largest grants in the 2023 NEH funding cycle, which encompassed 258 recipients.

The funding, and matching monies, will support the renovation of the Visitor Center/Center for Shaker Studies, providing a year-round footprint for the Village and a research hub for scholars.

With a dual goal of improving the visitor experience and protecting the Village's world-class collection, the project will reconceive the existing building, introducing permanent collection galleries, a textile and works on paper gallery, open and vault storage, a library, new lobby, and multi-purpose spaces. It will include significant accessibility and visitor amenity improvements as well as the upgrade of all mechanical systems.

"We are thrilled to announce this important award and thank NEH for its generous support. This project will transform Hancock Shaker Village into a museum-first experience. It promises to elevate our world-class collection, foregrounding the iconic designs and exacting craftsmanship of a diverse community whose astonishing ingenuity was rivaled only by its profound faith," said Director Nathaniel Silver.

With over 33,000 objects, the building will introduce the history of Hancock through its objects, imparting Shaker narratives, highlighting works of artistic importance and cultural complexity, and foregrounding the hard-working community who crafted and used them. This collection-driven experience will inform the visitor's journey prior to entering the grounds where they will be immersed in the physical context, the twenty historic buildings comprising the Village, where many of the objects functioned and were made.

"We thank NEH for this grant and look forward to fulfilling plans that will enable Hancock Shaker Village to better serve its communities," said Board Chair Bob Plotz.

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Pittsfield School Committee Requests Redacted PHS Report

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
04:30PM / Saturday, January 31, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The School Committee and City Council have requested a redacted report of the Pittsfield High School investigation that concluded last spring.

On Wednesday, the committee approved member Ciara Batory's request to release the PHS investigative report with proper redactions by Feb. 18. The previous day, City Council members made the same request, but left the deadline up to the School Committee.

Five past and present PHS staff members were investigated for alleged misconduct, and allegations were found to be "unsupported," according to executive summaries released by the former committee.

"The fact that the City Council has urged transparency here speaks volumes. When another elected body looks at a situation and says the public deserves answers, we should listen because trust isn't built by asking people to take our word for it," Batory said.

"Trust is built by showing our work. Honesty will always shine, and secrecy will always create doubt."

It was noted that the report will be heavily redacted and might provide less information than the summaries. The School Committee will review the document before it reaches the public.

"In preparation for the meeting, I have been told by legal counsel that what will be released as a redacted version will have less information than what was in the summary report," Mayor Peter Marchetti, chair of the committee, said.

"That's what I can share."

Batory asserted that the district cannot move forward by asking families to trust major changes in the district, such as the middle school restructuring, "while holding information they paid for, information that directly impacts their confidence in the system that serves their children."

"Let me be clear. I'm not asking us to be reckless," she said. "I’m asking for a redacted release, a legal release so we protect students' privacy while giving the community the truth they deserve."

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