MCLA: Scenes from the Center for Resourceful Living

10:48AM / Thursday, October 02, 2025Print Story | Email Story

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) presents "Scenes from The Center for Resourceful Living, North Adams State College, 1975-1980," on view at the MOSAIC Event Space, at 49 Main St. in North Adams, from Oct. 3 through Nov. 2.

An opening reception will be held on Friday, Oct. 3, from 5-7 p.m., during North Adams' First Friday celebration.

The MOSAIC exhibition of photographs documenting The Center for Resourceful Living highlights the 50-year anniversary of the founding of The Center and offers a peek inside this program at the then North Adams State College in the late 1970s.

According to a press release:

The Center for Resourceful Living featured hands-on learning and academic courses for students to explore life choices and innovations through localized solutions, renewable energy, and reducing the use of environmental resources. It was the vision of MCLA Professor Lawrence Vadnais and his wife, Elizabeth. Despite its brief existence, The Center had a substantial impact on the lives of those who engaged with its programs. Participating students ran a college farm, learned to grow and preserve food, created infrastructure powered by renewable energy, raised livestock, used draft animals to accomplish farm work and logging for construction, and acquired other practical skills and knowledge. Some might say the program was before its time in its anticipation of necessary actions to avert changes in the climate. Others may notice that now, 50 years later, we are still asking the same questions.

The exhibit features photographs from The Randy Trabold Collection, donated to MCLA by Ida Trabold, and MCLA's Freel Library Archives. Additional photographs are courtesy of those who participated in The Center's programs.

Coupled with the photographic exhibit, a documentary film, "Did You Put Milk in the Bucket?: A Tribute to The Center for Resourceful Living," will be shown on Saturday, Oct. 11, at 7 p.m., in MCLA's Murdock Hall, Room 218. The film screening serves as this year's Elizabeth and Lawrence Vadnais Environmental Issues Lecture.

Both the exhibit and the film screening are free and open to the public. The photographic exhibit is curated by and the documentary film was created by Sharon Wyrrick, who will attend the screening.

MOSAIC Event Space hours are Tuesdays through Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

This program is funded in part by a grant from the Cultural Council of Northern Berkshire, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

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Urban Legends and Cryptids Come Alive as North Adams Prepares for Mohawk Theater Haunted House

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:27PM / Thursday, October 22, 2026

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A spooky and scary night at the Mohawk Theater is approaching fast after local officials decorated it for their annual haunted house.

For the third year in a row the police department, fire department, City Hall, Northern Berkshire EMS, nbCC, Drury High School, American Legion, and 18 Degrees spent hundreds of hours the past few weeks setting up at the former theater.

This year's theme is Urban Legends and Cryptids, with an emphasis on local lore and giving participating groups room to create their own scenes.

Business Manager for the Department of Public Safety Meghan DeLuca showed iBerkshires the setup and what they have been working on.

When you first enter you'll notice the Hoosac Tunnel welcoming you with a train lit up and smoking. The posters on the wall were made by Drury High's digital marketing and media class will give you a sneak peak of what you may encounter when you enter the tunnel.

All of the departments chose a different theme for their space; MCLA welcomes you in detention, the American Legion is putting a twist on Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs, Drury is hosting aliens and another cryptid.

"We're all in here trying to curate the whole entire space because obviously, this is an undertaking. This building is not open to the public currently. I grew up in North Adams my whole entire life until we had the opportunity three years ago to come in here, and we were trying to find a space that was going to work for the haunted house. I'd never been in here, so I think that a lot of the allure is that this is a place that you're not expecting to be able to come into," she said.

DeLuca said planning begins around April, with organizers choosing a theme, confirming which groups will participate, collecting set ideas, and determining what materials are needed. Then setup begins around mid-August, as donated materials arrive and the team builds and adjusts the layout.

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