Announcing the 2021 New North Adams Project Artists!

What began in 2014 as a program of MASS MoCA’s Assets for Artists, with the goal to attract artists to the North Adams region, has evolved to ensuring that artists currently here have what they need to set down deep, lasting roots in the Northern Berkshires. Hosted in 2020 and 2021 by the Artist Impact Coalition, the “new” North Adams Project supports resident artists through a tailored combination of professional development resources, financial support, and a community-liaison program offered by local cultural leaders and creative organizers.

In the second half of this post, you can find names of the grantees we worked with in 2020.

Gloria Calderon-Saenz

With roots in New England and Colombia, Gloria Calderon-Saenz is a painter and printmaker celebrating life in all its forms. By carving and painting wooden panels, or creating woodcut prints on hand-made cotton paper, Gloria embodies the slow, sustainable growth that originally drew her to North Adams. Gloria is working to transform her studio practice to one that shares her passion and knowledge through community workshops, as well as pursue collaborative public art projects in the North Adams area.

“I have focused on strengthening connections with my neighbors, sharing our passion for organic gardening, and was able to teach a few workshops for teens in the area. I love to share my knowledge… I need to share my ideas with other artists and organizers.”

Misa Chappell

Misa Chappell is a visionary artist inspired by the wide scope of the divine feminine, creating works on traditional surfaces like paper and canvas, as well as locally sourced wood, stone, and slate. Her practice celebrates color, experimentation, and evolution as she draws upon learned techniques and the discovery of new materials. As a curator at Common Folk Artist Collective, Misa facilitates exhibition opportunities for local artists to deepen community connections, encourage first-time exhibitors, and contribute to the professional development of emerging artists in the region.

“When I moved to North Adams in 2013, I felt the freedom and support that I needed to develop a sustained visual art practice of my own. As a founder, leadership team member, and exhibitions coordinator at the Common Folk Artist Collective, I have the opportunity to learn from other artists’ experiences, and curate in-house and "nomadic" exhibitions in North Adams and neighboring communities.”

Amy Coon

Amy Coon is a multidisciplinary artist, designer, and photographer whose practice ranges from personal, collaborative, and client-based projects. Her fine art addresses topics such as femininity, identity, and social justice, and her freelance services offer graphic design and event, interior, and portrait photography. After producing two murals in North Adams within the last year, Amy is deepening her roots in the community by investing in a stable studio space to bring design and photography services and classes that help local businesses.

“I've lived in many areas but none of them have invested in their local artists the way that North Adams does. It's been an honor to be selected for these opportunities and to give back to invest in North Adams through murals. I hope that I can bring my design and photography to this community to help bolster brands and therefore their businesses.”

Danielle Galietti

Interested in process, concept and connection, Danielle Galietti is an interdisciplinary artist investigating our interdependence on one another and our environment. Her experiential work was most recently activated through the creation of large-scale contour line drawings made in the fresh-fallen snow at Natural Bridge State Park, using only what was available: body, energy, and snow. Expanding on her work with the public access station and regional studio artists, Danielle envisions further strengthening her local connections to offer public workshops that respond to the distinct needs of the North Adams community.

“I am interested in working with creative and non-creative community members and disadvantaged populations to help share the joy and healing powers that art making and creativity can offer. I would really like to share and contribute in a positive way to uplifting all members of this community.”

John Haynes

Primarily working with wood, John Haynes salvages furniture from refuse piles and transforms them into one-of-a-kind functional pieces or art. This practice is also applied to architectural interiors and exteriors, including doors, floors, counters, shelves, trim, and bannisters. After moving to North Adams several years ago to rehab a gutted house, John intends to extend his work to help other residents upcycle furniture and contribute to the ongoing efforts of revitalizing downtown.

“I have felt welcomed and inspired by people I continue to meet here. There is a lot of mutual interest in one another’s creative work which I find motivating and supportive. I appreciate the stories and perspective of the Old Guard that have been here many years and the enthusiasm of the younger set just starting out.”

Molly Hess

Molly Hess is an interdisciplinary and performance-based artist with a dance focus that is playful and whimsical. Molly engages artists and audiences through site-responsive collaborations, exploring subjects with deep curiosity and care without taking things too seriously. Building upon her experience as a choreographer, Molly hopes to one day create an accessible Northern Berkshire performance company that prioritizes community oriented spaces, and inspires others to create dance and performance work in the area.

“More than anything my work is driven by a desire to make dance a publicly accessible art form, build community, and spark creativity in people of all ages. I hope that my work lights up the imaginations of my audience. I want my work to inspire people to create and connect.”

Megan Karlen

Textile artist Megan Karlen creates woven scarves and dish towels that not only challenge the distinction between fine art and craft, but also offer a connection between our past and present. Megan envisions working beyond the loom to cultivate a shared sense of pride in North Adams’ industrial history, integrating its artistic value beyond the touristic pull of MASS MoCA. With the opportunities provided by the North Adams Project, Megan will begin this vision by offering weaving workshops and educational resources, and producing posters that highlight fabrics from pattern books by Arnold Print Works.

“North Adams is both the skeleton of an old metropolis and the lifeblood to a group of makers who continue to take root here. It is not a place that people are trying to break INTO; it is a field open to newcomers and ideas. I find that very inspiring.”

Kurt Kolok

After making North Adams his home over 20 years ago, Kurt Kolok is reinvigorating his past as a local gallery owner to contribute to the creative energy of the city. Kurt activates his passion for seeing, learning, and sharing art through the restoration of antique furnishings alongside the curation of local artists’ work. While currently offering new and secondary artworks and mid-century modern furniture and furnishings through several fairs and online marketplaces, Kurt envisions selling through a downtown storefront that contributes to the vitality of the region.

“Each of us has a desire to envision and realize the best that North Adams could be while embracing all of the many beautiful things it already is. Nearly every conversation I have with people begins or ends with the idea of creating something through collaboration - sometimes a business idea, a temporary project or a community event. For me, there would be no North Adams without the community as it is.”

Anthony Martinez

When Anthony Martinez relocated to North Adams during the pandemic, he carried with him the experience of communities with dramatic transformations due to the arts. As an interdisciplinary artist, Anthony is interested in the relationship between art institutions and the communities they physically occupy through performances, video, and installations that interrogate ideas of progress at the expense of the community. As a new member of North Adams, he plans to utilize the community connections facilitated through the North Adams Project to contribute and make artwork that facilitates equity for all the diverse populations of North Adams.

“In working with the community, I hope to learn more about the changes the arts have in North Adams and find possible directions towards positive growth for all the community members in the years to come.“

Nate Massari

Intersecting individual and cultural identity are central to Nate Massari’s painting practice, which he describes as representing a world of surreal, almost nightmare-ish compositions. Through fusing found imagery with personal imagery, Nate’s process is equal parts investigative and therapeutic, serving as a means toward self-discovery. His practice has recently developed to include technology-based media and envisions working collaboratively with local students and experts in the field of technology sciences.

“The dynamic nature of computer based art carries the potential of interactivity that static media does not. I wish to learn what kinds of needs or wants are being unmet by the current arts environment in North Adams, and find a role that my practice can fill.”

Nina Pelaez

Nina Pelaez is a poet, multimedia artist, and curator, whose wide-reaching practice explores the interconnectivity between human and non-human bodies, objects, and environments. Nina is currently embarking on a multimedia, socially-engaged project about local communities displaced as a result of environmental devastation, building multi-dimensional portraits of place. For the past six years, Nina has worked as Curator of Programs and Interpretation at the Williams College Museum of Art. Her curatorial projects take a participatory and interdisciplinary approach to learning and creativity while expanding traditional notions of art expertise.

“I am eager to blend my passion for uplifting the work of others while connecting to North Adams as an artist in my own right. I would love to tap into and help contribute to the vibrant writing and visual art communities here, offering space for contemplation, collaboration, and creative production.”

Anna Salmeron

Anna Salmeron works in photography, video, and installation and performance art. Previous to living in North Adams, Anna and her husband nurtured an artist-run exhibition space and artistic community in East Boston called Atlantic Works Gallery, and most recently has dedicated her work to The Biennial Project, a conceptual exploration of artistic success in the formal art world. Anna envisions opening a non-commercial exhibition space in North Adams to present both local and international artists.

“We want to support the people who have always called this area home, not just newer members of the community such as ourselves, and will advocate for greater understanding and bridge-building between groups in all our work”

Fred Kasha Simon

Visual artist Fred Kasha Simon creates large scale drawings of urban landscapes, depicting fictional cities that evoke memories of places people have lived or known. When Fred moved to North Adams two weeks before the pandemic, he was already drawn to the peace and friendliness that was harder to find in mega-cities. Understanding the elitism that the art world can project, Fred hopes to illuminate the relatability of his work by bringing it into day to day life through vacant downtown storefronts.

“I continue to be amazed by this town on the whole. People are very friendly and down to earth, no one has made me feel strange or out of place. The peace and quiet has been good for my soul after 17 straight years of big city living. There's an urban nature here also, and an industrial heritage, and I'm finding inspiration for my work in that.”

Becky Waterhouse

As a visual artist and creative place-maker, Becky Waterhouse uses illustration, public art, and community organizing to reimagine collective ownership of shared spaces. Straddling the role of artist and arts administrator, Becky offers illustration and design services to local creators and has produced several murals in North Adams and beyond. Her community engagement practice is activated through her roles as Co-Director of Common Folk Artist Collective and a coordinator of the Artist Impact Coalition, both of which follow the collective impact model to serve under-resourced artists in the region.

“The North Adams community has been the foundation of my creative practice. It is my goal for my practice to be a driving force for challenging supremacist social structures, while contributing to the collective growth of North Adams as a whole.”

Samantha White

Samantha White revitalizes old, used and unwanted materials to give undesirable pieces of history a new life. The North Adams community of artists has transformed the breadth of her creative practice, where her singular planned projects have evolved to curating an entire storefront of secondhand and handmade treasures at Terra. By bringing new life to pieces rich in regional history, Sam hopes to bridge the gap between generations who make North Adams their home, connecting locals and visitors alike.

“Living and working in a community of artists has transformed my artistry and creativity. In North Adams ideas, information and mediums are always being shared and inspired amongst the community. My practice that was once planned, methodic and monotonous, became rooted in exploration and experimentation.”