Since May of 2012, the Downtown Pittsfield Cultural Association has hosted what is known as the First Fridays Artswalk.
On the first Friday of the month between the hours of 5pm and 8pm, members of the community can tour several businesses and galleries along North Street in Pittsfield, where the works of local artists are on display, oftentimes with the artists on hand to meet the public.
The last ArtsWalk of 2021 took place on Friday, December 3rd, and Connecting Point’s Brian Sullivan hit North Street to bring us this next story.
Learn more about some of the artists participating in the December 2021 ArtsWalk.
Read the full transcript:
Zydalis Bauer, Connecting Point: Since May of 2012, the Downtown Pittsfield Cultural Association has hosted what is known as the First Fridays ArtsWalk.
On the first Friday of the month between the hours of 5 and 8pm, members of the community can tour several businesses and galleries along North Street in Pittsfield, where the works of local artists are on display, oftentimes with the artists on hand to meet the public.
Friday, December 3rd, was the last installment of the ArtsWalk of the year and Connecting Point’s Brian Sullivan hit North Street to bring us this next story.
Brian Sullivan, Connecting Point: What better way to usher in the holiday season than with festive lights and the sweet sounds of seasonal standards being sung by carolers?
But while one season was being welcomed in, another was drawing to a close, as December 3rd marked the last of the First Fridays ArtsWalks of 2021. The event is put on by the Downtown Pittsfield Cultural Association, and since its inception in May of 2012, it served to connect community businesses, galleries, and artists — artists like Ilene Richard.
Ilene Richard, Artist/Illustrator: A friend of mine who is a nurse over at Berkshire Medical, she — she started it because she felt there was a need and she was very much into the arts.
And she would literally take people for a walk through the downtown, and have — there were different art shows that were placed in different buildings and different spaces in the area. And it was basically a whole evening’s worth of art, you know, art adventures. And it was a fun thing. They would meet up — she would meet up with people over at the bus station and walk them through downtown.
That’s how I got to meet her. And that’s also how I got to understand what the ArtWalk is.
Brian Sullivan: Richard is just one of over 20 artists located here at 311 North Street in Pittsfield.
The space, known as the NU Art Studios and Gallery, has an almost clubhouse-like feel to it. The most recent addition to the club can be found here in the corner studio.
Shany Porras, Artist: I’m a fairly new artist to the NU Arts Gallery and Studios community. And I’ve started joining in on the First Fridays ArtsWalk back in September.
The artists here, though, are pretty close-knit group of artists, and they’ve been doing this since the very beginning of First Fridays ArtsWalk. So, it’s a long starting tradition for a lot of the artists here, and I’m just happy to be joining in.
Brian Sullivan: Because there are so many artists under one roof here, the NU Arts building is essentially the central hub of the arts walk.
For Ilene Richard, who’s been around for several of these events, she knows what to expect. But for Porras, the experience of opening her workspace to members of the community is still new, and she hopes that it’s something that both sides can enjoy.
Shany Porras: For folks coming into the studios, it’s a really good opportunity to…be in a low key environment with the artists and looking at the art.
And if you find something you love, you can take it home, but if not, you got to have a little bit of fun with your neighbors and your fellow artists in the community.
Brian Sullivan: While there’s sure to be plenty of foot traffic here at the NU Art Studios, this isn’t the only game in town tonight. There are several other locations up and down North Street that people can visit as well, and having the map uploaded to my phone makes them easy to find.
Soma’s Aromas delivered on the good times with succulent scents, tasty suds, and artist Elizabeth Nelson on hand preparing her next work of art. TKG Realty had several works on display as well, including these two pieces by Kinney Frelinghuysen.
Working our way back to the NU Arts Studio, we come across the Hotel on North, where Scott Taylor’s work was being exhibited. We stopped by Taylor’s studio in Dalton earlier in the day, where we discussed what to expect that night.
Scott Taylor, Artist: The show that you’ll see at Hotel on North really came out of being in Covid. And it’s called “When Worlds Collide.”
So, the interesting part of it is, is that the theme is all over the place, but so were my emotions. And as an artist, I paint emotions.
I’m also a landscape — a landscape painter, as well. But — but I really…I really enjoy putting myself out there.
Brian Sullivan: It’s something that all of the artists are doing during the ArtsWalk: putting themselves out there, with the best case scenario being that they can sell some of their work.
But while it’s good to hope for the best, sometimes the safe bet is to temper expectations and just hope to have a nice time with the community.
Ilene Richard: We get a mixed bag of people that come in here. We get people that are seriously looking to buy art. There’s people that are just here to entertain themselves for a few hours, get out. You know, it’s cold, so they want to get out for a few hours.
And it’s a mixed bag, it really is.
