Mass MoCA Announces Memorial Day Weekend and Summer 2025 Programming

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art  has announced its programming for Memorial Day Weekend and summer 2025.

The events accompany the opening of the exhibition "Vincent Valdez: Just a Dream..." 

Memorial Day Weekend Events:

• Vincent Valdez: Just a Dream... The exhibition, the first museum survey of Vincent Valdez's work, will open on Saturday, May 24. It will feature drawings and monumental portraits from the past two decades. The exhibition is co-organized by the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH) and MASS MoCA and co-curated by Denise Markonish, Chief Curator at MASS MoCA, and Patricia Restrepo, Curator at CAMH. The exhibition expands upon the current presentation at CAMH with the addition of several works. 
• Members Opening Preview Celebration: Saturday, May 24, 5:30 p.m. An event to preview the opening of "Just A Dream..." and exhibitions "Ohan Breiding: Belly of a Glacier" and "Dirty & Disorderly: Contemporary Artists on Disgust". Tickets are $20, free for members.
• MASS MoCA Benefit Dinner: Friday, May 23, 5 p.m. A fundraising event to mark the close of MASS MoCA's 25th Anniversary Season and the opening of the summer season. The event will include dinner, a preview of "Vincent Valdez: Just a Dream...", and an opportunity to view "Trisha Brown Dance Company: Roof Piece". 
• Trisha Brown Dance Company: Roof Piece: Saturday, May 24, 2 p.m. & 4:30 p.m. A performance of "Roof Piece" (1971) by choreographer Trisha Brown. The site-specific work will take place across the roofs of the museum's campus. Tickets are $49 in advance, $59 week-of (10 percent discount for members). 
• In Conversation: Kristy Edmunds & Susan Rosenberg: Saturday, May 24, 3 p.m. MASS MoCA Director Kristy Edmunds will converse with Susan Rosenberg, author of Trisha Brown: Choreography as Visual Art. Tickets are $5, free for members. 
• Saul Williams: Saturday, May 24, 8:30 p.m. A performance by poet and electro rap artist Saul Williams. Tickets are $29 in advance, $39 week-of, $59 preferred (10 percent discount for members). 
• In Conversation: Vincent Valdez & Hanif Abdurraqib: Sunday, May 25, 11 a.m. Artist Vincent Valdez will discuss his work with poet, essayist, and cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib. A book signing will follow the talk. Tickets are $10, free for members. 
   

Summer 2025 Programming:

• Activations of Jeffrey Gibson's POWER FULL BECAUSE WE'RE DIFFERENT: Performances by Indigenous artists Martha Redbone on Saturday, June 21, at 8 p.m. and MX Oops on Saturday, Aug. 30, at 8 p.m., engaging with Gibson's installation. Tickets for Martha Redbone are $29 in advance, $39 week-of, $59 preferred (10 percent discount for members). Tickets for MX Oops are $20 (10 percent discount for members).
• Camp MASS MoCA 2025: Weekly sessions from August 4–22 for students entering grades 2–9. Registration is $400 per week (10 percent discount for members, processing fee waived). Weekly themes include Creative Lab in Multimedia and Performance, WHOOP DEE DOO Presents: The Most Beautiful Mess in the World, Pulse and Flow: a site-based art journey, and The Alchemy of Connection. 
   

   

  Member pre-sale for events began Feb. 12, 2025, at noon. General tickets went on sale Friday, Feb. 14, at 10 a.m. Additional summer programming will be announced at a later date.

Berkshires Remember First Responders, Military Personnel Lost at 9/11 and Aftermath

By Jack Guerino & Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
02:30PM / Friday, September 11, 2026

North Adams Mayor Jennifer Macksey, with Fire Chief Brent Lefebvre speaks at Friday's memorial. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The county's two cities held memorials on Friday morning to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks. 

Great Barrington was scheduled to hold a dedication of piece of steel from the World Trade Center at 6 p.m.

North Adams held its ceremony in the fire station's side garden starting at exactly 8:46 a.m., the time Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center's North Tower.

 

The small square of grass was packed with police officers, firefighters, wire and alarm personnel, dispatchers, and Northern Berkshire EMS employees, and city employees, officials and community members. 

 

After the ceremonial tolling of the bell, an honor guard presented the colors.

 

Mayor Jennifer Macksey said it felt odd welcoming people to a very solemn event.

 

"What happened 25 years ago put a mark on emergency services. It put additional pressure on police, fire, EMS, and dispatchers," Macksey said. "While we remember those who lost their lives during 9/11, and those who ran to help as many as they could during 9/11, we have to pause and appreciate those who continue to serve despite that awful threat that occurred 25 years ago."

 

She said it was a direct attack on the United States and all of its people.

 

"It was a question of our freedoms and our ability to be safe in our communities," the mayor said. "I can say today that here in North Adams, it could happen to us, but I know with the professionalism of our Fire Department, Police Department, EMS, and our dispatch team, we are a better community; we are a safer community than we were 25 years ago."