Mass MoCA - Art leading the Way to the Future

 

North Adams has been a symbol of what happened to midsized American cities as manufacturing declined.  At the center of this city are a series of handsome brick buildings which fell into disrepair as the factories closed.  With the loss of the manufacturing, other business failed and once handsome housing stock was abandoned.   This dilemma of ongoing decline faced many American cities, but North Adams with the development of the Mass MoCA campus is leading the revitalization to an important area of the city.  MoCA says North Adams has always manufactured things, now it is creating art!

The manufacturing center in North Adams covered almost 13 acres or a third of the city's downtown area.  The last traditional occupant, Sprague Electric closed in 1985.  A year later a collaboration between North Adams and Williams College presented an extraordinary vision for a new economic and cultural driver.  The results of this collaboration resulted in the 1999 opening of Mass MoCA which has grown to be a premier center for the creation of art in a wide variety of forms.  From the parking lot, one walks past several buildings housing a variety of galleries, commercial venues and open spaces to arrive at a very handsome Visitor Center which hints at the space available in this center.

Sol LeWitt

Beyond visiting the campus of MoCA, the aim was to see the Sol LeWitt:  A Wall Drawing Retrospective.  Everyone in Connecticut is well aware of the work of Sol LeWitt as he is a native son and his work has been prominently displaced at the Hartford Antheneum and the New Britain Museum of Art.  As many times as I walked past one of LeWitt's installation, I never understood his philosophy.  He claimed that he was the originator of the idea behind the design and that idea is separate from the execution of the art.  The exhibition of 105 wall drawings installed over 3 floors was a collaboration of LeWitt, Yale University Art Gallery, the Williams College of Museum of Art, and Mass MoCA.

watch the creative process

Teresita Fernandez: As Above So Below

MoCA is endowed with huge, light galleries and these spaces attract unique, creative art installations.  This type of art is often constructed from a variety of materials and depending on the media, I have either briefly stopped to observe the work or passed by it quickly.  The series of art work created by Teresita Fernandez entitled As Above So Below simply demanded that one stop, observe and enjoye.   My favorite of the several different pieces in this exhibition was called Sfumato and it was fascinating.  The work consisted of over 30,000 small rocks of raw, mined graphite complimented by a hand-drawn graphite marks. Up close you find yourself studying the individual rocks and their tails, but as you step away or look down the gallery you become mesmerized by the shape that emerges and wonder how the artist knew these shapes would be present when all the pieces were in place.

As I wandered through this gallery, I was reminded on the pointillism style that evolved from the European impressionism in the late 1880s.  Once again, I was struck how contemporary art could be seen evolving from earlier schools.

It is important to note that Mass MoCA is more than gallery spaces.  There are numerous performances spaces in various sizes and the leadership of this unique facility has been extraordinarily effective in building a cultural space in the Berkshires.  I would urge anyone interested  in contemporary visual and performance art to travel north and enjoy this fine facility which truly celebrates and supports the creation of art.