OLLI at BCC Presents 'Transformative Spaces: Building a New Museum'

08:58AM / Friday, December 05, 2025Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Berkshire Community College (BCC) presents "Transformative Spaces: Building a New Museum" via Zoom on Wednesday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public.

Pamela Franks, Class of 1956 Director of the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA), will share the current plans for the new museum building, scheduled to open in 2027. The building was designed by Brooklyn, N.Y. architecture firm Solid Objectives – Idenburg Liu, known as SO-IL. The new WCMA will be purpose-built to support transformative experiences with art that are integral to liberal arts education, lifelong learning and human connection.

According to a press release:

Franks, a specialist in modern and contemporary art, has devoted her career to unlocking the potential of college and university art museums — working with students, collaborating with artists, fostering inclusive academic and public engagement, and training future generations of museum professionals. Franks' arrival at Williams in 2018 launched a period of collaborative planning for WCMA's first purpose-built building. Prior to WCMA, she worked at the Yale University Art Gallery as Senior Deputy Director and Seymour H. Knox, Jr., Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, where she played a central role in a major renovation and expansion project completed in 2012, and at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas during construction and through the museum's opening in2003. Franks received her PhD in art history from the University of Texas at Austin in 2000 and is a graduate of the Getty Leadership Institute (2008) and the National Arts Strategies Chief Executive Program (2019).

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Pittsfield's Christian Center Seeks Community Input on Services, Name

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:57PM / Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Worker Dionisio Kelly, left, board member Kenny Warren, Executive Director Jessica Jones, and Food and Services Director Karen Ryan.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — It's a new year, and The Christian Center is looking at how it can serve the area in 2026 and beyond.

This includes a possible new name fueled by community forums in late January and early February.

"We're hoping people will come in and talk about the name, talk about what programs, what services they would like to see from us. What would be most meaningful," Executive Director Jessica Jones said.

"Because the population in this area has changed quite a bit, and we no longer serve just the West Side. We serve people from other parts of Berkshire County. So the hope is just to make it more inclusive."

The Christian Center was a stop on Berkshire Community College and NAACP Berkshires' Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.

The nonprofit will hold three input sessions at 193 Robbins Ave. to inform future programs and branding, and ensure that West Side voices are heard.

The sessions will be held on:

Saturday, Jan. 31, from 10 to 11:30 a.m.
Thursday, Feb. 5, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 10, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.

The center dates back to the early 1890s, when it was the Epworth Mission started by the Methodist Church to serve newly arrived immigrants and help them assimilate. The Christian Center was incorporated in 1974.

Over the decades, it has drifted away from a faith-based organization to a space for anyone who needs a meal, a warm jacket, a place to bring their child, or a meeting place. A space for everyone.

This is what center officials wanted reflected in the name.

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