Mahaiwe Board Officers Change Roles

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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.—The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center's Board of Directors approved new roles for several of its officers during a regular meeting on Friday, Feb. 20. 
 
Sheila Parekh-Blum was appointed Board Chair. Parekh-Blum first joined the board in 2023. 
 
Jamie DuMont was appointed Co-vice Chair. DuMont first joined the board in 2023. DuMont will serve in this position alongside incumbent Co-vice Chair Allison Wintner.
 
Jeff Lynch was appointed Clerk. Lynch first joined the board in 2024.  
 
Parekh-Blum, DuMont, and Lynch assume these roles from Margaret Deutsch, Mandy Victor-Pieczarka, and Ron Ashendorf, respectively, all of whom will remain on the board as active members. 
 
Treasurer Lawrence Rutkowski will remain in his position. 
 
"The Mahaiwe team welcomes its newest leaders on the Board of Directors with excitement and enthusiasm," said Mahaiwe Executive Director Janis Martinson. "We also salute the years of leadership from Margaret, Mandy, and Ron, who steered the Mahaiwe through countless shows, continued growth, the opening of a second performance space, and, for a time, through a pandemic. We are grateful they will all continue to serve on the board."  
 
Sheila Parekh-Blum 
Sheila Parekh-Blum is committed to nurturing creative and entrepreneurial ventures. After an early career in nonprofit management and development, she transitioned to a career in fine art and worked as a Specialist in South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art for Christie's. Today, Sheila devotes her time to early-stage investing, non-profit board leadership, and supports the careers of many local artists. Sheila serves on the boards of Hivers and Strivers, an early-stage investment group that invests exclusively in companies founded by veterans and graduates of the military academies, and on the Board of Trustees of The Mount: Edith Wharton Cultural Center in Lenox, Mass. Sheila, her husband Christopher Blum, and their three Havanese dogs live in the Town of Mount Washington.  
 
Jamie DuMont 
Producer Jamie DuMont has an extensive background in Broadway marketing and high-level event production. Early in his career, he worked on the original Broadway productions of Sunset Blvd., Rent, Jekyll & Hyde, Side Man, and Fosse. His event production clients have included Veuve Clicquot, Krug, the Royal Academy of Arts, and Ballroom Marfa. In 2018, DuMont co-founded The Fabulous Invalid with Rob Russo. The company develops theatrical and media projects that bring untold stories and fascinating personalities to contemporary audiences. Recent projects include Call Fosse at the Minskoff, presented at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in 2022, and the 2025 Off-Broadway premiere of Drew Droege's dark comedy Messy White Gays. 
 
Jeff Lynch 
Jeff Lynch is President and Founder of Idle Smart, a technology company that helps commercial fleets reduce fuel consumption, CO? emissions, and vehicle downtime through proprietary engine start-stop software. He previously held leadership roles at Thomson Financial, Sprint Nextel, and Embarq, where he led initiatives spanning strategy, product development, sales, and operations. 
A native of the Berkshires, Lynch earned a B.A. from Boston University and an M.B.A. from Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management. He has long been active in the community and has served on several nonprofit boards.
 
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Pryor & Peacock's Whimsical Furniture Environmentally Friendly

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
 

The company uses digital printing to create the upholstery fabric, saving water and saving vintage furniture from ending up in landfills.

STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — A unique furniture store has popped up on Elm Street this month.

Mom-and-daughter store Pryor & Peacock is hosting the pop-up storefront from Aug. 13 to Aug. 25 at 6 Elm. The New Marlborough business is co-founded by Rosalina Wright and Luca Shapiro, who is also the creative director. 

Their online shop was created in 2024 but they wanted people to see the pieces in person, so they're renting the space for a limited time before a long-term tenant moves in.

The store sources prints to create unique fabrics and reimagines vintage and antique furniture acquired at auctions, local shops, and online.

"We source prints from all over the world that date from the late 1600s up through mid-20th century, and Luca turns those prints into fabric by manipulating them, scanning them, oftentimes has to add or subtract things, and then we manufacture the fabric using only digital printing, which is very environmentally friendly, unlike traditional textile printing," Wright said.

Upholstering the furniture can take weeks of work. Shapiro looks for the perfect design for each piece and, if need be, uses Adobe Photoshop to extend the art work to fit or enhance the print.

"One of the most difficult parts comes in marrying the fabric to a piece of furniture because we only use antique and vintage frames also to be earth friendly, and they're also more beautiful and durable than new furniture," Wright said. "So the image has to go with the furniture, so that takes a lot of work."

One of Pryor & Peacock's missions is to be environmentally friendly. Digital printing doesn't use the same amount of water as traditional textile productions do nor does it contaminate water with ink according to their website.

Not only are they saving water, but they are saving furniture from going into the landfill while also using more durable furniture that doesn't break as easily as current pieces. They started their business to create something unique and to help the environment together.

"It's creating something nobody else is doing. People can't continue to buy throwaway furniture. Six percent of American landfills is furniture, and digital printing not only opens up the possibility of being able to put unique images on a piece of furniture, but it also is, as I said, environmentally friendly. So, for us, the excitement is to take an old East Lake settee that somebody's going to store in their barn and forget about, and make it something completely new and surprising," Wright said.

They hope their furniture helps bring a pop of fun to someone's home.

"We think our furniture is very whimsical and surprising, and most furniture today is oatmeal colored couches and gray neutral chairs, and it's boring," she said.

The two named their business after their mothers' maiden names to honor them and believe the name reflects their pieces.

Shapiro works in interior design outside of the business and the two liked working together and thought it would be great to start a business together. Shapiro says they can work well together and that her and her mother, Wright, has flipped houses before and have the same eye for design.

"So it's very easy for us to work together. When we see something, generally we agree on whether it works or doesn't work on a piece. We agree on the color schemes and that sort of thing. So it's very fun and fulfilling to work together," Shapiro said. 

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