MCLA MOSAIC to Present Benedetti Artist in Residence Ngoc-Tran Vu

03:55PM / Thursday, February 05, 2026Print Story | Email Story

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — MOSAIC at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) is hosting cultural organizer and multimedia visual artist Ngoc-Tran Vu as the 2026 Benedetti Artist in Residence for the spring semester.

Vu will support creative advocacy in North Adams through Creative Sector Advocacy Week with MASSCreative, taking place March 2-6, 2026, as well as her opening lecture at noon on Feb. 12 at MCLA. Her residency will culminate in a public event and exhibition on May 14 at MOSAIC's Eventspace, located at 49 Main Street.

During her Benedetti Teaching Artist Residency, Vu will bring her practice into the classroom, studio, and wider North Adams community as a space for public memory making and creative civic engagement. Her residency will support the next advocacy phase of "1975: A Vietnamese Diaspora Memorial," an intergenerational, community-led public art initiative rooted in storytelling, healing, and belonging.

According to a press release, Vu is committed to strengthening local networks, navigating resources with care and nourishments, while building new relationships that help move shared visions forward with accountability and clarity.

Through participatory gatherings such as memory mapping, story circles, and collaborative sessions, Vu invites students, local artists, and residents to explore how resilience, sustainability, and belonging live across generations.

As part of the residency, she will also prototype interpretive approaches that can support long-term stewardship and community ownership of public memory work beyond Boston, where she was raised and is currently based.

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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."

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