NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Ten electrical boxes throughout downtown North Adams have been transformed into vibrant works of public art as part of a new citywide beautification project.
The initiative, led by the city's Cultural District Committee, Public Arts Commission, City Councilor Andrew Fitch, and Mayor Jennifer Macksey, was completed in October 2024 after months of planning.
Local artists with strong ties to North Adams were invited to apply, and ten were selected through a competitive process. The artists were chosen and approved by the Cultural District Committee in August of this year. Although the artists were able to propose unique designs, they were chosen by members of the Cultural District Committee with final approval coming from the Mayor herself. Some of the qualifications included; appropriateness for all audiences, quality of art, and strength of the artists' connection to North Adams, among other categories.
The project was officially unveiled during October's First Friday celebration.
"We have had another successful collaboration in the arts community. This project emphasizes the individual artist's sense of expression and the beautiful city they thrive within. I am beyond ecstatic with the outcome and hope everyone can go out with their families and enjoy the art," said Mayor Macksey.
The decorated electrical boxes can be found at the following locations:
River & Marshall Streets (Sunshine Park) – Misa Chappell
Eagle & Main Streets – Zoë Marguerite Villane
Marshall St. & St. Anthony Drive at MASS MoCA – Lucas Craze
American Legion & Ashland Streets – Justin Timoney
Eagle & Veteran's Drive near St. Joe #1 – Mark Jackson
Eagle & Veteran's Drive near St. Joe #2 – Maximilian Poirot
Main & Ashland Streets – Melissa Mendes
Center & Holden Streets – Keith Bona
Main & State Streets at Hotel Downstreet – Ivy Gifford-Blasi
River & Eagle Streets – United Cerebral Palsy (UCP)
This marks the third consecutive year the city has undertaken a large-scale public art project, following last year's storefront banner initiative. The effort reflects an ongoing commitment to enhancing North Adams' downtown experience for both residents and visitors, stated a press release.
"The art our community members have added to our downtown electrical boxes is beautiful, uplifting, and a true gift to our city. I can’t imagine I only speak for myself when I say that I am grateful for these artists and the countless hours of work they put into the project," Fitch added. "The positive effects of their work will be seen, felt, and cherished for a long time."
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Main & Mill: A Vibrant New Restaurant on Main Street
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — You can now enjoy another eatery on Main Street by well-known restaurant siblings Colleen and Sean Taylor.
Their restaurant Main & Mill opened for the first time Tuesday, bringing their vision of creating something vibrant and new to downtown North Adams.
"We have created Main & Mill to be part of our day. It's very seasonal ingredients, thoughtful cooking, beauty, beautiful presentation and dishes. And we really wanted to be part of the community, the downtown area, and start a vibrant area on this end, which has been shuttered for a while," said Colleen.
The building is owned by Ginko on Main Street LLC, which has granted 20 years exclusive possession of the property to Latent Builds as the developer. Jack and Suzy Wadsworth, behind Ginko, are development partners with Karla Rothstein and Salvatore Perry of Latent.
The bank closed in early 2021 and was purchased by Ginko late that year. Plans for the property unveiled three years ago envisioned a restaurant, retail, a park and rooftop bar.
Colleen saw potential and said she initially wanted the building when it first went up for sale. Being good friends with Rothstein and Perry, she helped them design the kitchen and the bar before learning in March that she could lease it as a restaurant space, something she told them would be a great idea.
She said one of the most important things about the restaurant was the collaboration between Rothstein, Perry, and the Wadsworths, who put a lot of time and energy into the building.
"If Sean and I had done it, we would not be able to do what the collaboration supported. The collaboration of the three of us being able to really have that kind of money to put in down here. The design that the architecture firm that Carla and Sal own is stunning," she said. "The time and effort, everyone came together to do this in a really trusting manner."
The two wanted the restaurant to be an all-day venture, so people could eat at any point throughout the day, all week long.
"We wanted it to be open for coffee and socialization in the morning where people can meet, have their cup of coffee, have a quiche, a vegetarian quiche, or croissant or yogurt. Something intentional with their coffee," she said. "Then move into a lunchtime for the downtown business or anybody, and then go into supper, dinner, with drinks later into the evening. So have it really be open all day long, so that there wasn't a void on any particular day."
They also wanted to do something different than the other restaurants they owned.
"We didn't want to mimic any other restaurant in town. We wanted to bring something that was inspiring, something that had some familiar things that people would see, and other things that we would bring to them for them to experience," she said.
As a woman business owner, Colleen said she wanted to bring a female chef into the kitchen.
Colleen brought on Chef Anna DeRose, who she said puts twists on a lot of her dishes.
"So we have a creme brulee, but our creme brulee is topped with marshmallow," she said. "Our creme brulee is like almost two desserts in one. It's a s'mores creme brulee. So you could have a s'mores, and you could have a creme brulee - but when you put both of them together, fireworks go off."
Jake Eberwein showed the committee sections of the nbess.org website, including the resources page, which will be key to keeping residents informed about the study’s findings and collecting information from those residents. click for more
The planes were paper, the buildings cardboard and Main Street was a hallway at Colegrove Park Elementary School, but the setup represented nearly two weeks of creative research and design by the pupils in the public schools' 21st Century Summer Program.
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