Nonprofit Center Adds Associate Director

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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires (NPC) has hired McCaela Donovan to fill a new position of associate director. 
 
Reporting directly to founder Liana Toscanini, Donovan will share the leadership and administrative workload as the NPC engages in succession planning throughout 2025.
 
Said Toscanini, "We're excited to have found such an enthusiastic and experienced leader at a time when our services are really in demand."
 
Donovan has spent the majority of her career in the nonprofit sector, most recently in a consulting role. Multiple leadership roles include managing director of White Heron Theatre Company on Nantucket and Assistant Director of the Boston University School of Theatre. Donavan is an Eliot Norton and IRNE award-winning actress, having worked in theatre, film, and television for over 25 years in both NYC and Boston. She holds a BFA from Ithaca College, an MA from Emerson College and an MFA from Brandeis University. She currently serves on the Affordable Housing Trust in Stockbridge.
 
"It's an honor to join the Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires at a crucial and potent moment for the sector," said Donovan. "Nonprofit organizations highlight the best of us, are essential for the health of our communities, and serve as a reminder of our shared humanity. I look forward to supporting the many nonprofits in the Berkshires."
 
Founded in 2016, the Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires serves as a support and infrastructure organization for a large sector of more than 1200 registered charities. Visit npcberkshires.org for more information.
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Pryor & Peacock's Whimsical Furniture Environmentally Friendly

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
 

The company uses digital printing to create the upholstery fabric, saving water and saving vintage furniture from ending up in landfills.

STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — A unique furniture store has popped up on Elm Street this month.

Mom-and-daughter store Pryor & Peacock is hosting the pop-up storefront from Aug. 13 to Aug. 25 at 6 Elm. The New Marlborough business is co-founded by Rosalina Wright and Luca Shapiro, who is also the creative director. 

Their online shop was created in 2024 but they wanted people to see the pieces in person, so they're renting the space for a limited time before a long-term tenant moves in.

The store sources prints to create unique fabrics and reimagines vintage and antique furniture acquired at auctions, local shops, and online.

"We source prints from all over the world that date from the late 1600s up through mid-20th century, and Luca turns those prints into fabric by manipulating them, scanning them, oftentimes has to add or subtract things, and then we manufacture the fabric using only digital printing, which is very environmentally friendly, unlike traditional textile printing," Wright said.

Upholstering the furniture can take weeks of work. Shapiro looks for the perfect design for each piece and, if need be, uses Adobe Photoshop to extend the art work to fit or enhance the print.

"One of the most difficult parts comes in marrying the fabric to a piece of furniture because we only use antique and vintage frames also to be earth friendly, and they're also more beautiful and durable than new furniture," Wright said. "So the image has to go with the furniture, so that takes a lot of work."

One of Pryor & Peacock's missions is to be environmentally friendly. Digital printing doesn't use the same amount of water as traditional textile productions do nor does it contaminate water with ink according to their website.

Not only are they saving water, but they are saving furniture from going into the landfill while also using more durable furniture that doesn't break as easily as current pieces. They started their business to create something unique and to help the environment together.

"It's creating something nobody else is doing. People can't continue to buy throwaway furniture. Six percent of American landfills is furniture, and digital printing not only opens up the possibility of being able to put unique images on a piece of furniture, but it also is, as I said, environmentally friendly. So, for us, the excitement is to take an old East Lake settee that somebody's going to store in their barn and forget about, and make it something completely new and surprising," Wright said.

They hope their furniture helps bring a pop of fun to someone's home.

"We think our furniture is very whimsical and surprising, and most furniture today is oatmeal colored couches and gray neutral chairs, and it's boring," she said.

The two named their business after their mothers' maiden names to honor them and believe the name reflects their pieces.

Shapiro works in interior design outside of the business and the two liked working together and thought it would be great to start a business together. Shapiro says they can work well together and that her and her mother, Wright, has flipped houses before and have the same eye for design.

"So it's very easy for us to work together. When we see something, generally we agree on whether it works or doesn't work on a piece. We agree on the color schemes and that sort of thing. So it's very fun and fulfilling to work together," Shapiro said. 

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