7/17/19
NORTH ADAMS, MASS. — DownStreet Art, the third-Thursday popup program of Massachusetts
College of Liberal Arts’ Berkshire Cultural Resource Center (MCLA BCRC), returns to
downtown North Adams from 5-8 p.m. on July 25, 2019. As always, DownStreet Art is
free and open to the public.
If you can’t make it July 25, don’t worry—DSA returns to downtown North Adams on August 29 and Sept. 26.
Make sure to catch Main Street storefront installations designed by local and regional artists, and expect new gallery exhibits (and new galleries!), music under the Mohawk Theatre marquee and at MCLA Design Lab, an Eagle Street beverage garden, yoga demonstrations, food vendors, and more. Here’s what’s in store:
Main Street Storefronts:
49 Main Street:
Gloria Calderon-Saenz “North Adams with Strings Attached”
Eric Reinemann “Intersections”
68 Main Street:
Benjamin Lamb “Torn to Pieces”
101 Main Street:
Sarah DeFusco & Megan Karlen “Stratos-Fear”
105 Main Street:
Emilee Yawn “Fake Nature”
107 Main Street:
Hideyo Okamura “Abstract”
Sara Farrell Okamura “Fact vs. Fiction”
Music under the Mohawk Theatre marquee:
*Times are estimated
5:30 p.m.: Ciarra Fragale
Glitzy indie pop from New York’s Hudson Valley. Ciarra’s new album “Call it What You Will,” is out now!
6:15 p.m.: Tiny Deserts
Tiny Deserts makes sounds that hurl themselves into the real world. They take on meaning, contained between ears and in cars, sent through wires and electricity—sent through space.
7 p.m.: Forks of Buffalo
Forks of Buffalo is an experimental indie project that isn’t afraid to get into folk or even noise. Their sound seems to radiate the relaxed yet traditionally countercultural essence of the Berkshires. This versatile group has the ability to catch you with intriguing and soothing sounds in the first moments of a song, while building to a greater social commentary.
Music at MCLA Design Lab, 49 Main Street:
6 p.m.: Found Sound Nation
Since 2012 FSN has run the Young Composers Workshop at Drury High School in North Adams in collaboration with Bang on a Can's Summer Music Institute. Each summer they invite eighth- through 12th-grade students enrolled in the band program at Drury to participate in a weeklong composition workshop. FSN facilitators Ian Davis, Amy Garapic, Zubin Hensler, and Jeremy Thal —as well as Bang on a Can All-Star Mark Stewart— work with these young composers to expand their understanding of music and explore the basics of composition. Collaborating closely in small ensembles as well as in a large group, the students are introduced to entirely new ways of making music. Some of the topics we have touched on include methods of improvising, extended techniques, soundpainting (group improv via designated hand gestures), loop-based composition (both acoustically and digitally), and how to generate source material from found sounds. The ongoing success of this program would be impossible without support from Drury High's band teacher Chris Caproni. The 2019 cohort of Drury Young Composers will perform a set of original music.
Gallery Openings:
Ferrin Contemporary
Jason Walker: Personal Encounters (on view July 6-August 10)
Artist talk and reception 6 p.m.
1315 MASS MoCA Way
Gallery 51
Jon Verney: Burning at the Center of Things (on view June 27-Aug 24)
Artist talk 6 p.m.
51 Main Street, North Adams, MA
mcla.edu/About_MCLA/area/bcrc/mcla-gallery-51
Gravity Gallery
Charity Thackston & Jason Lee Starin (on view July 25-August 24)
Opening reception 5-8 p.m.
44 Eagle Street, North Adams, MA
Also on view:
Gallery 28
Artwork by Ellen Joffe-Halpern, Marilyn Cavallari, Robert LaFond, and Grant Sun
28 Holden Street
Installation Space
TIME-LINK PRESENT"
An immersive and experiential installation by Studio HHH
On view June 27-August 18
49 Eagle Street
Time Link-Present is a reference to the facets of crystals usually named “time link-past” or “time link-future” depending on the direction of their slant. This project asks the viewer to be dramatically in the present. Visitors will walk into a room of immersive crystalline formations. Through projection mapping, these crystalline formations are brought to life as the viewer is encouraged to sit and put on a sensor belt for a unique experience activated by their breathing. The rhythm of each visitors breath becomes visualized within the installation. If multiple participants synchronize their breath together, they will unlock a visual light show on the crystalized forms throughout the space.
Outside Gallery
Terminal by Yoko Naito
10 Ashland Street, North Adams, MA
Also join us for:
Eagle Street Beverage Garden: In the Eagle Street Pocket Park featuring fresh beer on tap from Bright Ideas Brewing and tasty margaritas from Desperado’s. (21+)
Bike to the Murals: A four-mile long ride through downtown North Adams, coordinated by the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition. Meet at St. Anthony's Municipal Parking lot at 6 p.m. and see the murals by bike.
Common Folk Presents: Live silkscreen printing demonstrations and an artist showcase.
Frog Lotus Yoga: Check out the Frog Lotus tent for yoga demonstrations, or hop on a mat yourself! Frog Lotus Yoga has been serving the North Adams community for 17 years as the most beautiful yoga studio in the Berkshires! Frog Lotus offers yoga, Thai yoga massage, Barre, and Pilates. Stop by and learn all that Frog Lotus has to offer.
Vending Pop-ups: Bounti Fare
Downstreet Art events are held on the last Thursday of every month from June through September and are free and open to the public. In addition to the Thursday, June 27 event, DSA Thursdays will continue throughout the season on July 25, Aug. 29, and Sept. 26.
DownStreet Art is a program of MCLA’s Berkshire Cultural Resource Center, which provides professional development training, resources, and support to the artists, art managers, and creative workers of Berkshire County run by MCLA. DSA’s goal is to help the economic development of North Adams and encourage the dialogue between our community and the arts. Since its inception in 2008, more than 150,000 visitors have come downtown and through the doors of DownStreet Art’s galleries and exhibits.
