My routine is always the same. I am awake at 4:30 a.m. and in my car by 5:15. With my bottle of Nantucket Nectars iced tea and my favorite CD (Revival, by Gillian Welch), I head up Route 8, cross the Conn/Mass line by 6:00, and watch the sky brighten over the quiet rural villages … [Read more...]

"Let me tell you something about Mass MoCA. The entire area will change. Some say it will be two years, some say it will be three, but I’m going a bit further. I think it’s going to be four or five years. It will benefit North Adams, Adams, Pittsfield, Troy, and Albany. Mass MoCA … [Read more...]

The first time I traveled to North Adams to give it a serious look, I took a walk around town and happened upon a door that led up to some apartments. I walked in. Why? I was curious. My curiosity was rewarded. I immediately noticed a skylight that illuminates the landing at the … [Read more...]

"I’ll be down to get you in a taxi, honey/Better be ready ‘bout half past eight/Honey, don’t be late/Gotta be there when the band starts playin’" -from "Dark Town Strutter’s Ball," by Shelton Brooks "When I was a teenager, we had three dance places that we could go to: the … [Read more...]

"My father’s shoe store was called Siciliano’s Climax Bootery. When I got out of high school, a thought came into his mind that this was such a sweet area, that he ought to go into the ice cream business. It was right on the corner of Eagle and Main where the Pizza House is now. … [Read more...]

"There’s new life in the city, but there’s still a struggle on the street." -Eileen Gloster I spent the day in North Adams on Saturday. I was up at 5:00 a.m. and on Main Street by 6:45. It was cold. I bought some film at Brooks Drugs just after it opened and the clerk … [Read more...]

As the last band made the turn and disappeared down Ashland Street, I could almost feel the chill of an oncoming winter lurking behind the mountains. Once again, the Fall Foliage Parade brings the summer to an abrupt end. This was my fourth parade. For the last four years, each … [Read more...]

The end of Daylight Savings Time is a welcome change for me. When I left my house for North Adams at 6:00 a.m. on Veterans Day, the sun was on its way up behind me, and I could once again see the mountains and the strange orange glow on the bare trees. I had to stop and take a … [Read more...]

"Someday, that’s going to be Fifth Avenue." -comment often attributed to Tom Krens, Mass MoCA founder, while looking at River Street from the windows in Building 5. The word around town lately is that all the houses on River Street from Houghton to Brown may be demolished … [Read more...]

Several weeks ago, a most welcome announcement was made. That row of beautiful but deteriorating houses on River Street, across from Mass MoCA, will be saved and turned into an inn. The renovations will preserve the historic architecture. Mass MoCA Director Joe Thompson explained … [Read more...]

A few weeks ago, I went to an interesting event at Mass MoCA. There was a presentation by Michael Govan, who is director of the DIA Center for the Arts, a contemporary art museum that will open next year in a former factory building in Beacon, New York. Michael showed slides and … [Read more...]

The recent warm weather has once again allowed me to comfortably walk around aimlessly with my camera and find new subjects to photograph. With the trees still bare, it’s a perfect time of the year. Everything is visible up in the hills, and I can lug my equipment around without … [Read more...]

On May 16, the Bean will be four years old. When I visited North Adams for the first time in July of 1996, I saw potential up every hill, down every street, and around every corner, but I didn’t run into very many persons who seemed to recognize it. One of those who apparently … [Read more...]

  "Four weeks into my job (January 1991), we got a fax from Governor Weld. Joe and Jennifer were out of town. It basically said that Mass MoCA was finished, and we could pack our bags. I was really scared. I was sure that I could find another job, so I wasn’t worried … [Read more...]

"Success can be a dangerous thing. Fortunately, I haven’t had to deal with it." -Kaare Bolgen In the past year, North Adams and the entire North County area have experienced a sudden growth in jobs and tourism mostly as a result of Mass MoCA, the explosion of Internet … [Read more...]

Some people think that big money is all a community needs to grow and prosper. Unfortunately, big money without good ideas serves to enrich only those who already have big money. When you have good ideas first, big money follows them. When North Adams began to experience the … [Read more...]

"All big men are dreamers. They see things in the soft haze of a spring day or in the red fire of a long winter's evening." -Woodrow Wilson Winter brings its special gifts, though we must sometimes look thoughtfully to realize and appreciate them. One of those special gifts is … [Read more...]

I was talking with my friend Eric Buddington the other day at the Bean. The subject turned to what is often called street art. Eric said he likes to create spontaneous art in public places. For example, on a recent trip out west, he gathered some leaves under a tree and put them … [Read more...]