ArtWeek Berkshires 2024 Welcoming Submissions

04:00PM / Monday, March 25, 2024Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — ArtWeek Berkshires, a county-wide collaboration, will take place May 17-27.

The ArtWeek committee posted its call for artists. The non-juried event is free to all Berkshire County individuals, organizations, and businesses interested in showcasing creative work. Submissions from actors, cartoonists, crafters, dancers, designers, filmmakers, illustrators, mimes, multimedia artists, musicians, performance artists, poets, puppeteers, theater artists, visual artists, writers – and more – are welcome.

The event will feature open studios, gallery talks, theater, performances, workshops, and more interactive experiences.

ArtWeek Berkshires features more than 100 events each year. It has previously taken place in the fall but will be moving to the spring for this year. The county-wide collaboration features Berkshire County’s five Cultural Districts - the Downtown Great Barrington Cultural District, Lenox Cultural District, North Adams Cultural District, Upstreet Cultural District in Pittsfield and Williamstown Cultural District.

"After much discussion from artists, participants and the steering committee, we are thrilled to be moving this event to the spring to kick-off the season in the Berkshires," said Jen Glockner, Pittsfield’s Cultural Development Director and ArtWeek Berkshires 2024 Steering Committee co-chair along with Laura Brennan, Assistant Director and Economic Development Program Manager at Berkshire Regional Planning Commission. "This is a call to all artists and organizations. We are encouraging everyone to consider submitting an event to ArtWeek Berkshires, whether you’re an emerging artist or seasoned professional."

Funds pooled by the five cultural districts through their Cultural Districts Initiative grants from Mass Cultural Council make this event possible. Promotions include: billboards within Berkshire County; posters; flyers; print and digital ads as well as social media promotion.

If you are an artist, arts organization, or business that would like to participate in ArtWeek Berkshires 2024, you may sign up through this online form: https://1berkshire.jotform.com/240214256876155.

Go to https://berkshires.org/artweek-berkshires/ for more information or reach out to your closest Cultural District. You can contact them at:

Great Barrington - culturalgb@gmail.com
Lenox - lenoxcultural@gmail.com
North Adams - tourism@northadams-ma.com
Pittsfield – cultural.development@cityofpittsfield.org
Williamstown - info@williamstownchamber.com

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If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Fenton: Governor's Council Must Deliver for the Berkshires

Community submissionGuest Column
10:22AM / Friday, August 28, 2026

I am a Springfield lawyer running for Governor's Council and I am asking for Berkshire County residents to support me over an incumbent from North Adams.

Here's why: Last year I learned about staffing issues in our regional courts that I could not ignore. In 2025, it was reported that four of Western Massachusetts' 11 Superior Court judgeships were vacant, all at the same time. A few weeks later, that grew to five vacancies. This meant there were only six Superior Court judges serving all of Western Mass at a time when Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden counties had more than 100 pending homicide cases.

Those numbers were alarming to me, so I started to engage with leaders in the community who work most closely with the court system and I came to learn that these vacancies were only the tip of the iceberg here in Berkshire County.

I learned that no Superior Court or District Court judge had been appointed from the Berkshires since the current incumbent took office. As a result, there is not a single Superior Court judge who lives in the Berkshires today, and several of the District Court judges drive in from other counties to support Berkshire courts in Pittsfield, Great Barrington, and North Adams. Court staff also informed me about severe staffing shortages at the Berkshire Clerk of Courts office resulting in other counties needing to loan staff to the Berkshires just so hardworking employees can take a brief and planned summer vacation. This is not normal. These issues are a reflection of genuine problems with the Berkshire County court system and show a lack of proactive attention from our Governor's Councilor.

Instead of focusing on regional equity, I watched as the current incumbent celebrated that she has voted against the governor's nominees more than any other councilor, without much explanation as to why. Most recently, she voted against two extremely qualified former prosecutors for the Parole Board. This was despite an in-person plea from the governor and a letter of support from all the three of the district attorney's from Western Mass. Those votes do not show independence or standing up for principles, they demonstrate naivete, and an unwillingness to work with the key stakeholders.

I had seen and heard enough. I decided to jump in the race and challenge the incumbent to address these problems head-on.

I am a partner of a regional law firm. I understand our courts and the importance of having qualified, fair and hardworking judges. And I know how important it is to have judges from the Berkshires serving the Berkshires. To achieve that, you need strong relationships with the legal community and local stakeholders. You need to know how to use the power of the Governor's Council to fight forcefully for our region. And you need to be laser focused on identifying vacancies before they occur so that they can be filled quickly with local candidates.

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