Restaurants near mass moca8/24/2023 The staff and the architects have done a masterful job of preserving the look and feel of the mill buildings, thereby keeping the historical connection alive. So how is it doing so far? As someone who specializes in being an outside observer, who has interviewed many of the Mass MoCA staff, and who knows almost nothing about contemporary art, I offer some personal answers.įar from distancing itself from the city, MoCA has made an obvious effort to celebrate its factory roots and to become a member of the community. Now, a museum that was 13 frustrating years in the making is already more than four months old and headed for a cold winter of reflection and planning for next summer and a new century. When the bells sounded in the tower that afternoon, it felt like the city was being awakened from a long silent sleep. It was a joyful celebration and a notable sign that the folks at MoCA were willing to tip their hats to North Adams. Nearly 300 locals showed up, many of them female Sprague retirees who hadn’t set foot on the factory site since it closed. Lying underneath all that hope has been the worry that Mass MoCA would disappoint us with more delays, or that its final product would prove distant from the city, pleasing and catering only to a culture far removed from the blue collar legacy of Sprague Electric and Arnold Print Works.ĭriving home from the parade, I remembered when Mass MoCA held a late-afternoon reception in August 1997, to introduce the Clock Tower Sound Sculpture. For the last four years, each summer has boasted an ever-increasing series of events that have brought new life to the street and new hope for the next summer. Once again, the Fall Foliage Parade brings the summer to an abrupt end. Bill Isherwood in Sprague clock tower (1972), courtesy of North Adams Transcript.Īs the last band made the turn and disappeared down Ashland Street, I could almost feel the chill of an oncoming winter lurking behind the mountains.
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