Pittsfield Cultural Council Announces 2026 Grant Awards

07:10AM / Wednesday, March 18, 2026Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Pittsfield Cultural Council (PCC) has awarded grants to a group of organizations, groups, and individuals who will provide creative experiences for community members of all ages this year.

Through funding provided by the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC), the PCC is supporting 48 projects that span a wide range of disciplines, including visual arts, music, theater, dance, literature, and community events.

Projects will take place throughout 2026.

The PCC is among 329 local councils that receive annual allocations from the MCC, a state agency dedicated to providing grassroots funding for projects in the arts, humanities, and interpretive sciences.

Each fall, the local council reviews applications and awards grants to projects that align with its mission of fostering a vibrant and accessible local arts and culture scene. Non-profits, businesses, government agencies, and individuals are encouraged to apply for grants for 2027 through the MCC website, which typically begins accepting project proposals in early September.

Pittsfield Cultural Council Grant Awards for 2026

Arts in Recovery for Youth: Expressive art program
Berkshire Art Association: BAA Biennial Show
Berkshire Art Center: Visual arts program for the Stickney Pittsfield Adult Learning Center
Berkshire Children's Chorus: "Joyful Voices of Berkshire Children" concerts
Berkshire Concert Choir: 2025-2026 concert season
Berkshire County Arc: Music therapy program
Berkshire Garden Center: Farm and garden program at Herberg Middle School
Berkshire Lyric Theatre: Educational programs and concerts
Berkshire Music School: "Pay-what-you-can" community group classes
Berkshires Jazz: Summer Showcase concert
Boston Comic Arts Foundation: Pittsfield Makes Comics workshop
Sarah Clay: "Day Dream" jazz concert
Downtown Pittsfield Cultural Association: First Fridays Artswalk and Art in the Park
Downtown Pittsfield, Inc.: "Where Nature and City Meet" storefront painting project
Elizabeth Freeman Center: "Healing Through Harmony," music therapy program
Diane Firtell: Plein air painting and art exhibition
Luiza Geraldi Folegatti: "All the Power/Toro el Poder," bilingual youth photo workshop
Greenagers: Greenagers Education and Environmental Stewardship Program
Heart & Soil Collective: Community Cooking Days classes
Maurice Hernández: Support for Revista Somos Berkshires, Spanish-language community magazine
Katunemo: Community art exhibition
Latinas413: Bilingual sewing workshops
Alex Leff: Screening of "The King Is Dead, Now What? The 250-Year Struggle for Democracy," an animated documentary
Literacy Network of South Berkshire: Storytelling for adult English-language learners
Literacy Volunteers of Berkshire County: "Project 45: Celebrating 45 Years of Literacy and
Community Through Music" celebration
Mary Jo Maichack: "Girl Talk: Finding Your Voice," storytelling workshop for girls
Bruce Mandel: "The View From Behind This Guitar, solo acoustic concert
Amanda Meli: "Songbird Soul" performance celebrating legendary women singers
David Neill: Fanfare Brass Ensemble patriotic music program
Nutshell Playhouse: Theatrical performances for children
Rita Parisi: "Women of ‘76" theatrical history program
David Ricci: "Hunter Gatherer: Salvaged Stories of American Culture," photography presentation
Rites of Empowerment and Passage (R.O.P.E.): "R.O.P.E. Celebrates Black America," youth arts program
Roots Rising: Pittsfield Farmers Market activities
Sheldon Ross: Ragtime Five Brass Quintet concert
Elizabeth Ryan: Soular Eclipse "Totality," jazz and R&B concert
Jay Santangelo: "Depot After Dark," outdoor summer dance series
Shakespeare & Co.: Fall Festival, arts education program for high-school students
Small Planet Dancers: "Roaring Twenties" dance, song, and comedy program
Noel Staples-F.: "African-Rooted Dance and Drum," dance and music classes
Tamarack Hollow Nature and Cultural Center: "Celebrate Malinke Culture From Guinea," music and culture class with master artist Bolokada Conde
The Brien Center for Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services: "Recovery Rewards: Healing Through Art" program
The Eagles Band: Free annual Colonial Theatre concert
The Stockbridge Sinfonia: Summer concerts showcasing American composers
Trustees of Berkshire Athenaeum: Berkshire Book Con, celebration of reading and writing
Lara Tupper: "Memoir Writing: What's Your Story?" workshop
Timothy Van Egmond: Singing and storytelling at the Hancock Shaker Village's Baby Animals Festival
Mary Witt: O-Tones "Music for the Soul," swing, blues and jazz concert

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EPA, GE Conducting Vernal Pool Study on Housatonic River

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
11:44AM / Tuesday, August 11, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A pilot study will determine the best way to remediate PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, from vernal pools in the Housatonic River.

Last month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and General Electric held an open house for the Vernal Pool Pilot Study on Reach 5A, a five-mile stretch between the river's confluence and Lenox border. Despite the rain, several people attended the event at the Berkshire Athenaeum.

EPA project manager Josh Fontaine explained that it is an evaluation of which remediation method to use for the remaining vernal pools in Reach 5A.

"We're going to be testing two different methods. One is an excavation method, which we already know has been very successful with another vernal pool cleaned up much earlier in the project," he said.

"And then the other is the application of two different carbon amendments. It would be the application of powdered activated carbon and the application of granulated activated carbon."

Ten vernal pools will be cleaned using these methods: five with excavation and five with active carbon; seven additional vernal pools will be monitored as controls. Construction will be complete around October, but the pools will be left to their natural processes and monitored with surveys and sampling for three years.

Fontaine said there is no frontrunner for methodology.

"We know the excavation method is effective, but we would like to see if the less invasive method of using the amendment will be as effective for potential use," he said.

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