We just came across a great blog by Abbi who is participating in B-HIP (Berkshire Hills Intern Program) this summer.  If you’re wondering what the art scene is like in the northern Berkshires outside the MASS MoCA campus or what its like to be 20 something in this area, read what Abbi has to say. She’s interning at a Greylock Arts, a great gallery in Adams.  Lumens just opened last night and runs through October. Check it out.

We just posted LOTS of pictures of the LeWitt Retrospective installation in progress on flickr. Check it out and get ready for November 16!

If you visited MASS MoCA during the past year, you’ve no doubt noticed that two of the six trees in Natalie Jeremijenko’s Tree Logic had seen better days. Yesterday, they were replaced, and an awesome Flickr set was born.

We’ve got Edward Burtynsky giving a talk on Thursday 6/26 at 7 but you should come to North Adams early to go to the opening of the Downstreet Art project.

There’s a ton going on on Thursday and its just the start of a great summer of art in North Adams. Here are some details:

There are SEVEN new galleries and nearly TWENTY art destinations including some with strong ties to MASS MoCA like: Primary Secondary Volumes 1 & 2 at 28 Holden Street which features the work of 20 of the drafts-people working on the Sol LeWitt project and Maya III by Jarvis Rockwell at 73 Main Street. You may remember Maya II which was here with Game Show in 2001. Its a nine-foot-tall pyramid covered with action figures plus a site specific wall drawing by Jarvis.

We’re just scratching the surface. There’s a great deal to see and its open all summer and into the fall.

On Thursday you can also celebrate with some of the participating businesses. Shima,Crafty Creations, Second Chance will all have extended hours. Shear Madness will have free eyebrow waxing; Papyri Books will host a sidewalk chalk project; Moulton’s General Store and I Got Goodies will have free chocolate and fudge samples; Cup & Saucer and The Hub will be offering DownStreet Art menu specials and Cafe Latino will host the official after-party.

Hope to see you there!

Over the past few months a team of us have been developing the new children’s scavenger hunt that will take place in the galleries the fourth Saturday of June, July and August this summer. The hunt will focus on the two newest exhibitions in the galleries Badlands: New Horizons in Landscape and Being Here is Better Than Wishing We’d Stayed by Miss Rockaway Armada. Not only have we been having great discussions about how to pull themes from both exhibitions, including recycling and conservation, into the hunt but we have also been making prototypes for art projects. Today we had our first prototype meeting and I thought you might be interested in seeing what we have been working up.

Upside down plants prototype 1.

Upside down plants prototype 2 + 3.

And our Education Coordinator Alison showing off her plant prototype and a camouflage crown she created.

Cheers,

Brittany

If you love Denise Markonish’s new exhibition Badlands, you’ll find plenty more of her curatorial talents to love around the region this summer. Here’s the roster of exhibitions she’s curated this summer:

• Cultivate (a companion exhibition to Badlands) at Berkshire Botanical Garden opens June 8
• In the Zone II through August 3 at Brattleboro Museum in Brattleboro, Vermont
• The Medium is the Message at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz which opens June 7
• AND the Fence Show at the Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy opens June 14

Those of us for whom a super-productive weekend  means getting rid of 2007 New Yorkers and replacing the paper towels in the kitchen are awed by Denise’s productivity and salute her success.