News About Berkshire Creative
News: MCC Grants BC $100,000 grant. The Massachusetts Cultural Council has elected to grant Berkshire Creative a significant seed grant to help keep up the momentum. State to Announce Major Investment in Berkshire County's Creative Economy What: 
Members of the Massachusetts Legislature and business and cultural leaders will join the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) in announcing a major new investment in Berkshire County's creative economy. The MCC will announce an Adams Arts Program grant to the Berkshire Creative Economy Project. The MCC recognizes the pivotal role that creative enterprises play in driving the Massachusetts economy. Tapping into our state's wealth of cultural assets, the agency supports projects that create jobs and income, revitalize commercial areas, and draw visitors. Its Adams Arts Program inspires innovative, progressive, and systemic approaches to economic development in communities across Massachusetts. When: 
Thursday, August 2, 2007 at noon Where: 
The Norman Rockwell Museum, 9 Glendale Road, Route 183, Stockbridge, MA Who: 
Sen. Benjamin Downing of Pittsfield, Rep. Dan Bosley of North Adams, Rep. Smitty Pignatelli of Lenox, Representative Christopher Speranzo of Pittsfield; Anita Walker, Executive Director, MCC; Laurie Norton Moffatt and Ellen Spear, co-founders, Berkshire Creative Economy Project; Dan Hunter, Executive Director, Massachusetts Advocates for Arts, Sciences, and Humanities (MAASH). About the Massachusetts Cultural Council The Massachusetts Cultural Council promotes excellence, access, education and diversity in the arts, humanities and interpretive sciences, in order to improve the quality of life for all Massachusetts residents and contribute to the economic vitality of our communities. MCC is committed to building a central place for arts and culture in the everyday lives of communities across the Commonwealth. The agency pursues this mission through a combination of grants, services, and advocacy for cultural organizations, schools, communities, and artists. MCC receives an annual appropriation from the state of Massachusetts and funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and other sources. See www.massculturalcouncil.org for more information. About the Berkshire Creative Economy Project The Berkshire Creative Economy Project focuses on the Creative cluster comprising nonprofit institutions, individual artists and commercial businesses that produce and distribute creative products and services. The Creative Economy Project identifies how the region can leverage its richness of cultural and artistic assets to help grow the regional economy. The project spotlights a robust and vibrant economic cluster of arts, cultural institutions, and the businesses that fuel, support and supply them. It is part of the Berkshire Blueprint, an economic action plan that encourages and motivates cooperative regional initiative and outlines a clear, well-articulated focus on priorities business issue areas. See www.berkshireedc.com for more information. Gregory Liakos 
Communications Director 
Massachusetts Cultural Council 
10 St. James Avenue, 3rd Floor 
Boston, MA 02116 
617-727-3668 x 343 
greg.liakos@state.ma.us 
www.massculturalcouncil.orghttp://www.massculturalcouncil.org/http://www.berkshireedc.com/mailto:greg.liakos@state.ma.ushttp://trk.nrm.org/r.emt?h=www.massculturalcouncil.org&t=Fd4Epg&e=jeQYrKx8y74shapeimage_1_link_0shapeimage_1_link_1shapeimage_1_link_2shapeimage_1_link_3
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Norman Rockwell travels to Ohio The Norman Rockwell Museum exports the Berkshire Creative economy to Northeast Ohio with the opening of the Norman Rockwell American Chronicles exhibition. akronartmuseum.comhttp://akronartmuseum.com/shapeimage_5_link_0
Art goes to Miami-The Berkshire Eagle PITTSFIELD — The owner of the Ferrin Gallery has taken her show on the road to capture the art buzz — and buying power — of the country's most important contemporary art show, Art Basel Miami. Leslie Ferrin is among hundreds of gallery owners from around the world descending on the increasingly popular art party, with its focal point at the Miami Beach Convention Center, and at dozens of spin-off "fringe" shows in nearby hotels.More...http://www.ferringallery.com/dynamic/exhibit_artist.asp?ExhibitID=203http://www.berkshireeagle.com/headlines/ci_7647806shapeimage_6_link_0shapeimage_6_link_1
Nancy Fitzpatrick to lead Berkshire Creative Nancy Fitzpatrick represents the creative economy in action. In January, the entrepreneur, philanthropist and community leader will take the reins of Berkshire Creative, having been named chairperson of the Berkshire Creative Economy Council by unanimous vote of the Council’s executive committee. The Berkshire native owns Roaring Inc., which owns and operates The Red Lion Inn, Elm Street Market and Jack’s Grill, and operates the Porches Inn. She is Vice Chairman of Fitzpatrick Companies Inc., parent company of Country Curtains and Housatonic Curtain Company, partner in the women’s apparel boutique, Evviva, and president and owner of Crispina Design Workshop. “When I think of it, every single thing I do is pretty directly involved with this thing we’re calling the creative economy,” states Fitzpatrick, who is also affiliated with many of the county’s most established cultural organizations, including the Mass MoCA Foundation, Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Berkshire Museum. Berkshire Creative co-founders Laurie Norton Moffatt and Ellen Spear say Fitzpatrick was an obvious choice to lead the council. “Her businesses, her personal interests and her roots in the county make her the embodiment of our message and what we hope, collectively, to achieve,” says Spear. “Under her leadership, we look forward to continuing the important progress Berkshire Creative has already made.” First Countywide Guide to Berkshire Galleries Debuts (Berkshire County, Mass. — June 2, 2008) — The first countywide guide to Berkshire County’s contemporary art galleries has been published just in time for the summer 2008 cultural season, through a collaboration among Berkshire Creative, Berkshire Living magazine and the Berkshire Visitors Bureau. The full-color guide includes a brief description, address and contact information for fifty-two galleries; the five museums in Berkshire County with art exhibits are included as well. A convenient map showing the county’s towns, cities and major roads also is provided. Berkshire Living provided the design and editorial content of the brochure, which will be featured as a pullout in the magazine’s June edition. Quality Printing produced 75,000 copies of the guide, which Berkshire Brochure will be distributing at drop-off points throughout the region this summer and fall. The Berkshire Visitors Bureau will distribute 25,000 copies of the Gallery Guide at its two visitor centers, in information packets requested by visitors, at Southern New England AAA offices, and at Massachusetts Turnpike information centers. A downloadable version of the Gallery Guide will be available online with the Visitors Bureau’s monthly gallery column, The Red Dot, and on the home page of berkshires.org. The guide will also be available electronically on the Berkshire Creative website at BerkshireCreative.org. Berkshire County is home to a growing number of contemporary artists and the for- and non-profit galleries that represent their products. This guide aims to help the major members of the Creative Economy support the sale of art, the galleries, and the artists who produce it in the region. The guide is an initiative of the Berkshire Creative’s working group, the Creative Marketplace, led by Jonathan Secor, director of special projects for Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and Megan Whilden, director of cultural development for the city of Pittsfield. The group’s main mission is to increase market access for existing Berkshire County creative products, particularly those of individual artists. The Berkshire Creative Economy Report states, “Individual artists and craftspeople form the foundation of the creative sector of the Berkshires. They make the Berkshires one of the nation’s leading regions in the visual arts, and make a significant contribution to the identity and strength of the creative economy sector in the Berkshires.” Copies of the Gallery Guide are available from Berkshire Creative at 413.822.8324, in the June edition of Berkshire Living, and at distribution sites around the county. For more information, contact Helena Fruscio, Berkshire Creative Director of Operations, at 413.822.8324, or Helena.Fruscio@berkshirecreative.org.
Download a PDF of the Guide (3.5MB)