Community Members Join Flying Cloud Board

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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Flying Cloud Institute (FCI) announced that Faith Gagliardi and Caitlin Greer Meister have joined the organization's Board of Directors.
 
Faith Gagliardi is a business manager with nearly 20 years of hands-on work experience covering marketing, operations, analytics, and leadership. She currently serves as Account Manager at Working Planet and previously worked as the Senior Director of Owned Media at Go Fish Digital (formerly Agital/Exclusive Concepts). Gagliardi earned a Masters of Science degree in Communications from Lasell University, as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Wentworth Institute of Technology.
 
"The future I want to help build is one filled with science and art, wonder and awe. I look forward to working with Flying Cloud Institute on bringing hands-on experiences to youth — helping our communities grow in return," said Faith.
 
Caitlin Greer Meister is a specialist in strengths-based learning, neurodiversity-affirming practices, giftedness, and executive functioning. As a parent educator, instructional leader, founder, and mom of two, Meister is Orton-Gillingham trained and holds a certificate in Instructional Leadership from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her work and words have been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine, Parents, and more, and she provides professional development for schools, workshops for parents, and speaks for organizations and conferences in the United States and abroad.
 
"In my 12 years as a mom, I've been a public school parent, private school parent, homeschool parent, and worldschool parent. I have seen a lot of different educational environments, and I've never encountered another one like Flying Cloud. After experiencing firsthand what FCI can do for families like mine, I'm eager to help expand their impact on families, classrooms, and communities," said Meister.
 
These professionals join officers Cathy Ingram, Director of Development at Miss Hall's School, as Chair; Dana Vorisek, Economist for the World Bank Group, as Treasurer; and Barbara Viniar, retired former President of Berkshire Community College, as Clerk; as well as Board members Leigh Doherty, Executive Director of the Literacy Network; Liliana Atanacio Garcia, Grant and Program Administrator at Mill Town Foundation; and Sarah Reynolds North, founder and baker at Found Bread.
 
"I am honored to serve as Board Chair with dedicated and talented board members and staff as we embark on a new year of innovation and community impact," said Cathy Ingram.
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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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