Just over 10 years ago, Financial Times called Pittsfield, Mass. “the Brooklyn of the Berkshires.” It was a bit of hyperbole, and probably a little too early in Pittsfield’s ongoing renaissance for an international newspaper, of all things, to make that declaration.

Certainly, Pittsfield has come a long way since General Electric abandoned it in the 80s, sucking the vitality out of its economy and residents.  The many valiant efforts to revitalize Pittsfield — the renovation and reopening of the Colonial Theatre, Third Thursdays, the establishment of the Berkshire Innovation Center (to name but a few) — have helped Pittsfield inch closer to the vision of a vibrant county seat in the heart of the Berkshires. But perhaps it’s in the quietude of the pandemic that has Pittsfield percolating in ways unforeseen prior to COVID, and unexpected as we wait out this interruption in our regularly scheduled lives.

Last week we introduced Rural Intelligence readers to Familiar Trees, a new arts bookstore on North Street in Pittsfield. It’s there we learned about a gallery that recently opened just down a few blocks. Archive Project Space is actually the front half of the studio of artist/photographer/sculptor James Casebere. The storefront window had been frosted over as long as Casebere has worked there, anonymous to locals, although he is renowned in the art world. Now it’s a bright space that catches the eyes of passersby and invites them to stop in. In fact, during a recent visit, a few south county residents were doing just that, spending the afternoon checking out the new spaces on North Street. “We feel like we’re on vacation,” one said. (Let's hear it for Pittsfield!)

Casebere, a 2019-20 Abigail Cohen Rome Prize Fellow, was in the middle of his term at the American Academy in Rome when it closed during the COVID outbreak. He was forced to come home in March to his home in Canaan, New York and his studio in Pittsfield. For the five years he’d been working there, he’d kept a low profile, but something made him want to open himself to the community.

“The gallery has been in the back of my mind for a long time,” Casebere says. “It seemed like a good opportunity to invest in the future and help the neighborhood a little bit. Pittsfield’s had a rough time.” He mentions Familiar Trees and some of the other newer businesses in Pittsfield and sees them working together to help make Pittsfield more of a destination.

The 1,000-square-foot space is bright and airy, with a gleaming terrazzo floor Casebere discovered underneath an ugly brown carpet. Overhead lights are dead ringers for skylights. And, just as in Familiar Trees, the plywood-paneled walls look surprisingly elegant.

Archive Project Space opened with the exhibit “Ramona’s Front Yard,” by painter Roberto Juarez (also a resident of Canaan, New York). The series of pandemic paintings were inspired by that artist’s first visit to his grandmother’s (Ramona) house in Puerto Rico. Pineapples and pigs are among the figures that predominate in the interplay of color and light. It’s a happy group of paintings, a fine exhibit to set the stage for others to come. Juarez’s work will be up through March 1.

After Juarez comes Ari Marcopoulos, a photographer and filmmaker who’s made a career around youth culture. “His work is empathetic,” Casebere says, “and thinking about him was part of my connecting with the neighborhood.”   

Casebere himself has exhibited all over the world. Currently he has a show in Madrid, and has shown at the Brooklyn Museum, the Guggenheim, the Met, and…well, his CV is 17 pages long, which tells you something. His work has focused on visually deceptive photographs where he builds structures and photographs them to create work filled with space, light, color and texture. In his 1,400 square foot studio/archive, models of buildings he constructed for his photographs look like contemporary dollhouses waiting for (small) occupants. It’s not surprising to hear Casebere say that it was fun for him to modify a chunk of his earlier studio into an exhibition space.

He envisions using the space for discussions, poetry readings, sound-oriented installations, shows about architecture as well as visual arts.

“My dream,” Casebere says, “is to create more of a dialog among the artists here. So many have become based here rather than the city. I want to take advantage of that presence to create more conversation among artists, and also to engage other residents in ways that are meaningful.”

Archive Project Space, at 141 North Street, is open Thursday and Friday from 3-6 p.m. and Saturday from noon-6 p.m., or by reservation. Three visitors will be allowed at one time, masks required.

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