1Berkshire Trendsetter Award Nominations Open

07:53AM / Saturday, June 07, 2025Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The 1Berkshire 2025 Berkshire Trendsetter Award nominations are now open.

These Awards will be presented at the annual Celebrate the Berkshires event. In addition, the honorary Putting the Berkshires on the Map award winner will be announced at this event.

"We are happy to announce the Trendsetter Awards are back for the 12th year. These awards allow us to shine a light on the exceptional individuals and businesses in our community," said 1Berkshire President and CEO Jonathan Butler. "To date, 1Berkshires has given out over 65 of these Awards and we can not wait to give out six more this year."

The six Trendsetter categories are: Driving Visitor Engagement, Advancing Our Economy, Nonprofit Collaborator, Under 40 Change-Maker, Visionary of the Year, and Breaking the Mold.

1Berkshire encourages any and all businesses as well as individuals to self-nominate or to nominate others that are doing great work.

The deadline to nominate is Thursday, June 12, 2025. Nominees do not have to be members of 1Berkshire.

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Colombian Artist Celebrates Immigrant Stories in New Pittsfield Mural

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
06:49AM / Saturday, October 24, 2026

Artist Laura Barrios explains the inspiration of the mural, of immigrants building new lives in the Berkshires.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The walls along the Intermodal Center's train platform are a little more colorful following the unveiling of Let It Shine's third mural at that location, transforming a space once surrounded by bare concrete into a vibrant display of public art.

The unveiling on Thursday, marks the close of Let It Shine's 2026 outdoor public art season and the third year of its emerging artist program, said Mill Town Foundation Program Director Andy Wrba.

Let It Shine's Emerging Artists Mentorship program was established in 2024 to support aspiring artists in the community by providing guidance, hands-on experiences, and opportunities to create large-scale public art.

"This mural, along with all the murals, as part of this emerging artist program, and even more broadly, all the murals that you see downtown throughout Pittsfield shows that we care about the cultural scene and we care about the creative people that live and work in our city," Wrba said.

The new mural, painted by Colombian artist Laura Barrios, celebrates immigrants who have built lives and found a sense of home in Berkshire County.

Barrios has been working on the piece for the last two months alongside mentor artist, Jesse Tobin McCauley.

"It's a homage to the immigrants who work and make a home in the Berkshires … this is a very personal experience too because I am an immigrant," Barrios said in her speech.

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