The First Fridays Artswalk in downtown Pittsfield returns on Friday, May 3 from 5 to 8 pm as part of the City of Pittsfield’s First Fridays at Five. Participating venues include Berkshire Art Center, Clock Tower Artists, Dottie’s Coffee Lounge/Dorothy’s Estaminet, Hotel on North, Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, Living in Recovery, Marketplace Cafe, Roots and Dreams and Mustard Seeds, Soda Chef, and TKG Real Estate. There will be Art in the Park with Mike Carty at Sottile Park and Pottery in Palace Park with Jim Horsford.
Download the Downtown Pittsfield app in the App Store or on Google Play to follow a virtual walking tour of art on your cell phone.
The Clock Tower Artists at 75 South Church Street will host an open studios event in their beautiful, light-filled space on Friday, May 3, 5 to 8 pm, and on the “First Saturday,” May 4, 1 to 5 pm. Witness the artists’ artistic processes firsthand and be captivated by an eclectic blend of masterpieces that will enchant and inspire you. Special for First Fridays at Five: Take the art shuttle to and from the Clock Tower Artist Studios from 5 to 7 pm. The art shuttle will run every 15 minutes from City Hall on Allen Street.
Artists with Open Studios on May 3 include Deborah H Carter, Marion Grant, Caroline Kelley, Bruce Laird, Mark Mellinger, Linda Petrocine, Shany Porras, Sally Tiska Rice, Ilene Richard, Audrey Shachnow, and Stefanie Weber.
The Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, 28 Renee Avenue, will feature artworks by Pittsfield High School Artists, May 3-31. Senior AP Art & Design students will present their senior portfolio sustained investigations, and there will be an opening reception with the student artists during the First Fridays Artswalk on May 3 from 5 to 7 pm.
The Berkshire Art Center (BAC), 141 North Street, will continue to offer Free Artmaking Drop-Ins on the First Friday of the month from 5:30 to 7:30 pm, year-round. For the month of May, The Berkshire Art Center will also feature two window displays: “Same Difference” by Stephanie VanBramer (north window), a series of watercolor experiments, and “Street Manifesto: Expressions in Spray” by Ma’leek Adams-Powell (south window).
“Street Manifesto: Expressions in Spray” revolves around graffiti art, aiming to showcase the grunge and underground aspects from the artist’s perspective. With a goal to transform the perception of graffiti into a positive art form, the installation will feature video footage of the artist’s graffiti clean-up efforts.
TKG Real Estate, 137 North Street, will feature “A Meadows Walk,” paintings and nature photos by Denise Michaud Lucas during the May 3 First Fridays Artswalk. There will be a reception with the artist from 5 to 8 pm on May 3.
In this exhibit at TKG Real Estate, you will view realistic paintings of birds and wildlife that can be found around our beautiful Berkshires, as well as a few domesticated animals, bringing you tranquility as you journey on through “A Meadows Walk”.
The Marketplace Cafe, 53 North Street, will feature Mollie Kellogg’s Magical Realism Paintings from 2004-2007 for the month of May. There will be a reception with the artist during the May 3 First Fridays Artswalk from 5 to 7 pm.
Creative Sorceress Mollie Kellogg conjures a magical world on canvas. The metallic pigment underpainting and thick, mixed-media (primarily acrylic) application, enables a three-dimensionality to the surreal worlds from which Kellogg’s figures emerge. Kellogg’s messy process was first utilized in the creation of Magical Realism paintings in 2004 and is still used today in her Incognito Witch Project. Mollie works from her home studio in Dalton, MA on fine art commissions, upcoming shows and performances, commercial artwork, and multi-disciplinary passion projects.
Roots and Dreams and Mustard Seeds, 119 Fenn Street, will feature a half dozen artists during the First Fridays Artswalk on May 3 for one-night only, 5 to 8 pm. Artists include Marco and Maria Ortiz, Peppa and Drake, Sandra Bonilla, and Matthew Brinton. Mediums include drawings, photographs, wood burnings, small sculptural pieces, and dance.
Living in Recovery, a peer recovery support community at 75 North Street, will feature work by artists Shane Ott and Jeff Malderez on Friday May 3, 5 to 8 pm, during the First Fridays Artswalk. Every hour on the half hour, all are welcome to participate in free coffee and canvas workshops. There will also be kids’ art projects with Katrina. The entrance to Living in Recovery is on McKay Street.
Barrington Stage Company’s Wolfson Center at 122 North Street will present Between Generations, an ongoing collaboration between Luiza Folegatti and Latinas 413, highlighting mothers and daughters and their stories surrounding migration in the Berkshires. The show is composed of photographs and interview excerpts and part of a larger project aiming to strengthen the community through art events.
There will be an opening reception for Between Generations on Friday, May 3, 5 to 8 pm, with live music by Clara Guatta and Yo Soy Arte at 6:30 pm.
Luiza Folegatti is a Brazilian photographer based in North Adams since 2021. Her work integrates artistic practice, teaching, and social advocacy work around the rights of women migrants. She strongly believes in the positive impact generated by projects that combine photography, education, and community building. She has taught photography workshops for nonprofits working with immigrants for many years, in Germany and the US, and is currently visiting faculty in photography at Bennington College, part-time residency coordinator at MASS MoCA, and Artists At Work grantee.
Dottie’s Coffee Lounge/Dorothy’s Estaminet, 438/444 North Street, will feature “FOR THE LOVE OF: Culture, The Figure, and the Landscape” through the end of June. There will be an opening reception with the artists on Friday, May 3, from 4 to 6 pm. Dottie’s will remain open until 9 pm during the First Fridays Artswalk. “FOR THE LOVE OF: Culture, The Figure, and the Landscape” features Katunemo (a group of 13 painters, photographers, poets, and musicians who celebrate their common culture), Ernie Kirk’s photographs of the human figure, and landscape paintings by Kathy Glenn.
Hotel on North, 297 North Street, will feature “Jazz Visions II” by Marguerite Bride through the end of May.
Marguerite Bride has been a co-partner with her husband Ed in living a jazz infused life since they met and married in the late 60s. In fact, their first dates were the Newport Jazz Festivals, so the signs were written on the walls way back then. It seemed only natural that her painting career would eventually become jazz infused as well.
Some of these paintings were first introduced in 2016 during the first “Jazz Visions” exhibit, a duo painting/photography exhibit which included the fine art jazz photography of Lee Everett.
There are approximately 25 paintings in this exhibit, watercolors on paper and canvas, plus a few fine art reproductions. The collection of paintings has since expanded to include portraits of known and loved jazz greats (Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, Phil Woods, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, and others), local and famous haunts (Mission, The Apollo, Bohemian Cavers, Cotton Club) and even paintings of many of our local talented jazz musicians.
Additionally, first time offered, the original painting called “The Master’s Hands” personally signed by Dave Brubeck during his last visit to the Berkshires is included in this show. The profits from the sale of this painting will benefit Berkshires Jazz, Inc.
Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. and First Fridays Artswalk will host a Free Kids’ Paint & Sip on Friday, May 3, 5 to 8 pm, as part of the First Fridays at Five Family Fun Zone on Dunham Mall (100 North Street).
This free Paint & Sip is best suited for ages 5 to 12, although younger and older children are welcome. All materials, instruction, and juice will be provided. Children are welcome to drop in anytime over the course of the event, and all children must be accompanied by an adult.
Download the Downtown Pittsfield app in the App Store or on Google Play to follow a virtual walking tour of art on your cell phone.
First Fridays Artswalk is supported in part by a grant from the Mass Cultural Council, and a grant from the Pittsfield Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
This program is also supported in part by The Feigenbaum Foundation.
First Fridays at Five is a brand-new event led by the City of Pittsfield and Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. taking place in downtown Pittsfield from May-September. Season partners and sponsors include: the Feigenbaum Foundation, Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, Mill Town Foundation, MountainOne, and the Pittsfield Cultural Council.
Check out all of the May 3rd First Fridays at Five events at lovepittsfield.com/first-fridays.
Event Highlights (South to North):
Artists at the Clock Tower, 75 South Church Street, Third Floor
Deborah H Carter, Marion Grant, Caroline Kelley, Bruce Laird, Mark Mellinger, Linda Petrocine, Shany Porras, Sally Tiska Rice, Ilene Richard, Audrey Shachnow, and Stefanie Weber
Open Studios: Friday, May 3, 5 to 8 pm
Marketplace Cafe, 53 North Street
Mollie Kellogg’s Magical Realism Paintings from 2004-2007
Opening Reception: Friday, May 3, 5 to 7 pm
Living in Recovery, 75 North Street
Art by Shane Ott and Jeff Malderez
Kids’ art projects with Katrina
Friday, May 3, 5 to 8 pm
Every hour on the half hour, all are welcome to participate in free coffee and canvas workshops.
Roots and Dreams and Mustard Seeds, 119 Fenn Street
Marco and Maria Ortiz, Peppa and Drake, Sandra Bonilla, and Matthew Brinton
On View: Friday, May 3, 5 to 8 pm
Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, 28 Renne Avenue
Pittsfield High School Artists
Opening Reception: Friday, May 3, 5 to 7 pm
Pottery in Palace Park with Jim Horsford
Friday, May 3, 5 to 8 pm
Barrington Stage Company’s Wolfson Center, 122 North Street
Between Generations
Luiza Folegatti
Opening Reception: Friday, May 3, 5 to 8 pm
Live music by Clara Guatta and Yo Soy Arte at 6:30 pm
TKG Real Estate, 137 North Street
Denise Michaud Lucas
Opening Reception: Friday, May 3, 5 to 8 pm
Berkshire Art Center/Brothership Building, 141 North Street
“Same Difference” by Stephanie VanBramer (north window)
“Street Manifesto: Expressions in Spray by Ma’leek Adams-Powell” (south window)
Free All Ages Art Making Drop-In: Friday, May 3, 5:30 to 7:30 pm
Soda Chef, 161 North Street
Nicole March Art – Window Display
Art in the Park with Mike Carty at Sottile Park
Friday, May 3, 5 to 8 pm
Hotel on North, 297 North Street
“Jazz Visions II” by Marguerite Bride
On View: Friday, May 3, 5 to 8 pm
Dottie’s Coffee Lounge/Dorothy’s Estaminet, 438/444 North Street
“FOR THE LOVE OF: Culture, The Figure, and the Landscape”
Opening Reception: Friday, May 3, 4 to 6 pm (Dottie’s is open until 9 pm)