Berkshire Art Center Announces Spring 2026 Classes, New Workshop Series

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STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — Berkshire Art Center (BAC) has announced its Spring 2026 lineup of classes and workshops, offering a range of creative opportunities in ceramics, mixed media, drawing, painting, and mindful art practices for artists of all levels.
 
BAC's ceramics studios will be active this season with courses such as Natural Sculptural Forms in Clay with Paula Shalan, Handbuilding Techniques: Altering Slab Forms with Ingrid Raab, and Thrown Forms for Teapots with Sharon Pollock. Additional offerings invite students to explore the expressive possibilities of clay through both handbuilding and wheel throwing.
 
For those interested in mixed media, BAC will offer workshops including Natural Dyeing with Plants: Eco-Printing Basics with Mallorey Carron, as well as Joyful Collaborative Collage and Joyful Jewelry Studio with Kim Waterman. Students can also join artist Jody King Camarra for Intuitive Collage or experiment with printmaking in her Print Lab sessions.
 
Drawing and painting classes will take place in BAC's spacious 2D studio, where instructor Wednesday Sorokin will lead courses including Painting Basics, Abstract Painting: Color, Design, and Spirit, and Drawing for Everyone, welcoming beginners and experienced artists alike. Friday Morning Painting Studio, a supportive and relaxed group setting for painters, will continue this season with guidance from Faculty Artist Diane Firtell. Open to artists working in any medium, the studio offers participants dedicated time to paint alongside others while receiving feedback and encouragement in a welcoming creative environment.
 
The spring schedule also includes opportunities to connect creativity with mindfulness. Executive Director Laura Thompson will lead a free three-week online series, Spark Your Creativity, inviting participants to explore reflection and creative renewal through guided meditation. Artist Thomas Libetti will also offer Drawing from Observation & Meditation, combining foundational drawing techniques with practices inspired by yoga and mindfulness.
 
BAC is also launching a new series of monthly workshops at Wander, located at 34 Depot Street, Suite 101 in Pittsfield. Held on the second Saturday of each month, BAC at Wander will introduce participants to creative techniques in a welcoming, community-centered setting. April's workshop, Indoor Urban Sketching with Jill McLean, will explore capturing scenes from everyday life—people, food, drinks, or interiors—using layered ink and watercolor. In May, Botanical Watercolor Resist with Johanna Merfeld will invite participants to draw from live plant materials while experimenting with the vibrant interaction between oil pastel and watercolor. In June, Visual Journaling with Kaily Ritz will guide students in creating a small sketchbook diary, combining drawing with collected mementos such as receipts, notes, and keepsakes to document daily life through art.
 
BAC's Spring 2026 programs are designed to foster creativity, connection, and exploration across a wide range of artistic disciplines.
 
For a full list of classes and registration information, visit berkshireartcenter.org
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Great Barrington Unveils 9/11 Memorial Featuring World Trade Center Steel

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — A piece of history will now stand in front of the Great Barrington Fire Department, serving as a lasting reminder of the courage, sacrifice, and heroism of those who rushed in, stepped forward, and answered the call on Sept. 11, 2001.
 
Hundreds of community members gathered outside the Fire Department for the unveiling of a 9/11 memorial featuring a steel I-beam salvaged from the wreckage of the World Trade Center.
 
The monument marks the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks, and its effect reached far and wide beyond New York, said Deputy Fire Chief James Mead.
 
"There are moments in our lives that become markers of time. Moments when we remember not only what happened, but where we were, who was beside us, and how the world somehow felt different afterwards," Town Manager Liz Hartsgrove said. 
 
"For those of us who experienced September 11, 2001 — it is one of those moments for us to share."
 
The acquisition of the beam was a multi-year effort initiated by the late Andy Moro, former commander of American Legion Post 298 in Housatonic, and was carried on by the Legion's second vice commander, John Morris. 
 
Morris said he was able to obtain the warped steel I-beam through connections he made during his time as a New York City firefighter.
 
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