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 Traffic Commission OKs Stop Signs, Parking Requests

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:48AM / Wednesday, August 12, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Traffic Commission granted stop signs and downtown parking requests during its recent regular meeting.

A petition from Ward 7 Councilor Kathy Moody to install stop signs at the corner of Thomas Road and Thomas Island Road was approved. One sign will be installed at Thomas Road and Thomas Island Road, and one at the corner of Thomas Island Road and Pecks Road.

Moody said for some reason, people don't understand they need to stop at the "very clear" intersection into the neighborhood alongside Onota Lake off Peck's Road.

"It's really difficult to see right there. Because of the corners, people are not stopping, and I have several phone calls from constituents that live on Thomas Island who have nearly been in very bad accidents there," she explained about the corner of Thomas Road and Thomas Island Road.

"If we could put a stop sign there, that would be terrific. It would help improve the safety of the neighborhood. It's a very small neighborhood. The roads are narrow. There are pedestrians everywhere. Having a stop sign to protect people at that almost blind corner would be very useful."

Police Sgt. David Hallas couldn't recall any significant vehicle accidents in that area, but said that speeding on that section of Peck's Road is "quite an issue."

Other commissioners commented that the roads on the island are very narrow, and it is one of the few places with mirrors so that drivers can see around corners.

Ward 1 Councilor Kenneth Warren's request for a stop sign at the intersection of Partridge Road and Oak Hill Road was also approved. He said it is a similar situation to Thomas Island.

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