pittsfield
the city at the center
A city of 45,000, Pittsfield is the geographic and commercial center of the Berkshires, with a proud history of manufacturing—and the contemporary challenges and opportunities that the decline of the sector has brought. Cultural initiatives have lifted the city’s mood and kindled its aspirations to become a hub for the arts. The opening of cannabis dispensaries Temescal Wellness west of town and Berkshire Roots and Bloom Brothers to the east has also lifted moods. The recent opening of the $13.8 million Berkshire Innovation Center, after eleven years of planning and building, is another sign of the city’s resilience. Pittsfield’s downtown is now its Upstreet Cultural District, anchored by the beautifully restored 1903 Colonial Theatre, part of Berkshire Theatre Group, and the innovative Barrington Stage Company, which normally attracts almost 60,000 patrons per year to its four downtown venues and has become the incubator of shows that regularly go on to stages in Boston and New York. Throughout December, the Berkshire Theatre Group is offering a stage production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas—The Musical at the Colonial. Barrington Stage will present the 10x10 New Play Festival in February. The Whitney Center for the Arts, established by Pittsfield native Lisa Whitney in 2012 and located in the creatively repurposed 1865 Thomas Colt House, is normally another beehive of culture, with art shows, intimate theatre and music performances, and special events. It’s temporarily closed but offering online exhibits. The vibrant Pittsfield visual arts scene features public art, galleries, studios, and cooperatives, and the First Fridays Artswalk (5 to 8 p.m. on the first Friday of the month.) Located in the center of town on North Street, the Berkshire Museum, a wonderful resource for the community, open for in-person visits, is also offering a full schedule of online programming, and will host summer camps beginning in June.
Clockwise from top left: Hiking, Methuselah Bar and Lounge, Bousquet Mountain. Like many small-city museums, its holdings range across subjects and fields of knowledge, but highlights, including an aquarium, natural history specimens, a mummy, and the Feigenbaum Hall of Innovation, make it a great place to take children to discover worlds beyond their screens. The new, immersive “Curiosity Incubator” gallery is a portal to greater awareness of the human family. Right next door to the Berkshire Museum is Museum Outlets, a fun store for gifts. If you’re in the market for furniture, Paul Rich & Sons, also on North Street, has 30,000 square feet of floor space to look at, most of it American made (and no assembly required), and Circa Berkshires, a few blocks away, offers a treasure trove of hand-picked Danish and Mid-Century
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