MCLA Gallery 51: The Garden of Memory

09:07AM / Thursday, January 29, 2026Print Story | Email Story

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Gallery 51 at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) will present "The Garden of Memory," a gallery installation and printmaking works by Junli Song.

The exhibition opens with a public reception on Friday, Feb. 6, from 5-7 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.

In "The Garden of Memory," artist Junli Song invites viewers to enter her creative universe, the In-Between Cosmos, with an immersive installation created directly on the walls of the space using hand-cut papers, prints, ceramics, and other materials. This exhibition grows out of the cyclical nature of storytelling within her practice: Song not only makes in response to stories, but also invents myths to interpret what she creates. The narrative behind "The Garden of Memory" is inspired by her last installation, "Hagoromo" (University of Iowa, 2024), which explored a spirit realm populated by golden clouds and celestial beings. Who are these beings and what happens to souls when they die? This installation explores the story that emerged from wondering and dreaming these questions into being.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a performance that will bring this narrative to life within the space during First Friday, March 6 at 6:30 p.m., with a second performance at 7 p.m.

Junli Song grew up in Chicago, but lived abroad from 2012-2018 in South Korea, England, Italy, and South Africa. She originally majored in economics and international development at the University of Chicago and the University of Oxford, respectively, before returning to the creative path. She completed her MFA at the University of Arkansas with a concentration in printmaking in 2023. Song was selected as the Grant Wood fellow in printmaking at the University of Iowa later that year. She is currently the 2024-2026 Gaius Charles Bolin fellow in the studio art department at Williams College. Song has been selected for artist residencies including the Vermont Studio Center and the Women's Studio Workshop. As an artist and storyteller, she works across a range of media, from printmaking and painting to sculpture and animation, to explore imagined worlds and personal mythologies.

"The Garden of Memory" will be on view from February 6-April 11, 2026, at Gallery 51, located at 51 Main St. in North Adams, Massachusetts.

Gallery hours and additional programming information are available at Upcoming Exhibitions.

iBerkshires.com Text Ads

rk MILES Blding Materials

Are You Ready to Update Your Home? Start With rk MILES. 4 Locations (800)670-7433

www.rkmiles.com

Greylock Youth SummerFest

Come join in on the wealth building fun! August 3-8. Click for event details. Insured by NCUA.

www.greylock.org

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

North Adams Becomes a Purple Heart Community

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
05:16AM / Tuesday, August 11, 2026

Veterans Service Officer Kurtis Durocher, a Purple Heart recipient, tells his own story of how he was wounded in Iraq.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — City leaders last week held a ceremony marking the city as a Purple Heart Community to honor local military service members wounded or killed in combat.

"This designation is much more than a sign that will stand at the entrances to our city," said Kurtis Durocher, Northern Berkshire veterans service officer at City Hall on Friday. "It is a lasting commitment and a promise to this community. We'll never forget the sacrifices made by those who are wounded or killed while serving our nation. It is a public declaration of the courage and sacrifices of combat wounded. Veterans will always have a place of honor here in North Adams."

As a Purple Heart Community, North Adams will place signs throughout the city acknowledging the designation. The city will also hold a ceremony every Aug. 7 on National Purple Heart Day.

During the inaugural ceremony, Durocher said he was asked by the Military Order of the Purple Heart to find a keynote speaker for the event, preferably a Purple Heart recipient. But he was unable to find someone willing to speak. With the date approaching, he decided to tell his own story.

"I don't like standing up and telling my own personal story ... But I realized, in my position as a VSO, I get so many ... children of veterans who will say, 'I didn't know anything about my father until after he passed because he just didn't talk about it,'" Durocher said. "... I have been that way until I've gotten into this position, and so, now, I try to tell my story as much as I can when it is brought to me."

Durocher served in the Army for 20 years and retired as a master sergeant. On Friday, he recalled a time early in his career while serving in the 82nd Airborne Division deploying to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. On Sept. 12, 2003, his squad was conducting a patrol on Route Irish in Baghdad. He was serving as a gunner on an LMTV when it was struck by a 155-millimeter artillery shell. He said the explosive had been hidden behind a guardrail and detonated using nothing more than a washing machine timer.

"In an instant, everything changed. The blast knocked me unconscious. When I regained consciousness, I instinctively was removing my helmet," he said. "Almost immediately my training took over. We had been taught repeatedly that attacks like this were often followed by a secondary attack or an ambush. I quickly put my helmet back on and began searching for my machine gun."

View Full Story