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Pittsfield Celebrates Student Winners of Berkshire Jazz Art Contest

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — During Jazz Appreciation Month, Pittsfield High students' jazz artworks bring a pop of color to the halls of City Hall and the city's annual Berkshire Jazz Festival.

Senior Jackson Almeida took first place and will have his artwork featured around the city on the posters for the annual event. Almeida said he used what he learned from his class to help create the colorful background.

"This year, I took a contemporary painting class, and we learned all about how to make backgrounds and stuff like that. So I decided to use a scrape technique for the background, and I want to make a silhouette so I put the silhouette and the bubbles to make it look cool," he said.

Each year, Berkshire Jazz Inc. sponsors the student art contest to engage the community. The winning entry becomes the graphic for the Pittsfield CityJazz Festival, which kicks off on April 17 to the 25.

Second place was another senior, Madison Stetz, whose artwork featured a group of silhouettes playing instruments in the sunset using oil pastels.

"I take ceramics, so I didn't really know how to like paint or anything, but I grew up using oil pastels, so I knew I wanted to do something with the oil pastels. And I just really liked the way, like the silhouette is, like the sun setting with the lamppost, like looks. I kind of already like 'Princess and the Frog' vibes," she said.

This place went to junior Jonathan Ayala, who used purple and yellow for his design. 

An honorable mention for the judges choice award also went to junior Taylor Blake.

The artwork will be displayed in City Hall for the duration of National Jazz Appreciation Month, an initiative of the Smithsonian Institution that was sanctioned by Congress in 2001. The Student Art Contest was created by Berkshires Jazz board member Art Niedeck nearly two decades ago.

PHS has participated for 17 years, overseen by art teachers Colleen Quinn with support from colleagues Lisa Ostellino, Michael Greenberg, and Alisa Mierzejewski. Small cash prizes are awarded to the top three works.

Members of the Clock Tower Artists Group — coordinator Marion Grant, Joanie Ciolfi and Carolyn Kelly — judged this year's art.

Quinn was overjoyed to see her students win and said they love doing this every year.

"We've been doing this for like, I'm not sure, almost 20 years now, but this one was really special," she said. "These guys, Jackson has been helping me set up this show the past four years, and then when he won this year, we were all like, 'Oh my god', really, it's been great, and they helped me so much. Then Maddie Stetz also her piece, and the other student isn't mine, but he's amazing."

Ayala's teacher, Greenberg ,said it was special to see him receive third place.

"It's really a wonderful, special event in the year," he said. "We spend so much time just in our rooms and coming out here and seeing that art in the world is so fun. Jonathan's such a wonderful artist, so seeing him get recognized is extra special. Yeah, it's very affirming, having the community feel like they embrace the art and it's great."

Mayor Peter Marchetti also congratulated the students.

"I love this event. Every year we get all of your posters that kind of line City Hall," he said.

"Congratulations to all of you whether you won or not, I think some of this stuff is great and the fact that you are doing what you like and doing it to the best of your ability is important."

The new president of Berkshire Jazz Inc., Chuck Walker, presented the awards and was excited to do this for the first time, as he keeps the winners posters close to home.

"I'm excited about today. I'm excited about the Jazz Festival coming up, and this is really the kickoff, my official kickoff of the Jazz Festival," he said. "Since becoming a board member of Berkshires Jazz, I've been a real, real big supporter of this. ...

"What these kids are creating is the face of what we do, I absolutely mean it. If anybody ever showed up in my house, you will see 15 years of posters. So, I feel that this is not only a significant part of the Jazz Festival and what we do, it is exactly what the Jazz Festival means — it is inclusion, the creativity, the improvisational tone of what these kids do is jazz. So it brings jazz full circle back. And I just could not be prouder to be associated with this and to see the work and really hard work that these kids put in."

Pittsfield Man Creates Device to Clear Lakes of Algae Blooms

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
08:07AM / Sunday, October 11, 2026

Marc Bellora holds a jar of lake water, left, to compare to water cleaned by his Aqua Clarifier Water System.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Marc Bellora has high hopes for a device he's created to treat lakes from harmful algae blooms.

His patented water clarifier can physically remove captured material rather than letting the nutrient-rich material settle back into the lake, which occurs when herbicides are used.

"It's a long-term lake management tool that can be used to reduce legacy nutrients in lakes and ponds over time," he explained. "We built the prototype, this is a prototype. It does approximately 65 to 70 gallons per minute. It's very environmentally friendly. Can be used with air only, or we can use a low-dose potable polyaluminum chloride (PACL) or chemical on board that can help improve results."

The water clarifier barge is based on well-proven technology for water treatment, he said. "It's a self-contained, portable, mobile unit that removes algae blooms, nitrogen, phosphorus, and the associated nitrogen and phosphorus within lakes."

Bellora founded Clear Waterways Group with business partner Mark Simon. They built a prototype mobile unit and are still working out the kinks. It's taken Bellora about five years to bring the project to fruition as he is also a full-time Realtor.

He says the repurposed barge they use has a device that uses air to filter the water to separate harmful bacteria or uses a chemical at low doses. They are testing both to see how well each does at cleaning the water.

"They would do the same thing here, except they would spray it, and it blocks all that stuff together," Bellora said of the use of herbicides. "But then it drops to the bottom. So now all the nutrients that are attached in that plot go to the bottom and contribute to the legacy nutrients only to fuel next year's bloom. Ours removes it."

He said just using air alone has removed 70 to 90 percent of harmful algae where he has been operating on the south end of Pontoosuc Lake.

"Essentially, we take in the bad stuff, we take in the lake water. We separate the good stuff from the bad stuff. Clean water goes back into the lake, and the bad stuff can either be composted, or it can be taken to the wastewater treatment plant, which is what we're doing here," he said. 

Bellora explained that tiny air bubbles attach to particles in the water, making them buoyant so they rise and can be removed. The unit can operate with air alone, or with a low dose of potable polyaluminum chloride.

PACL helps through flocculation: it gathers small particles into larger clumps that are easier for air bubbles to capture. He said this can help remove dissolved nutrients that air alone may not capture as effectively. 

Bellora said he was inspired to build something like this after noticing the lakes he enjoys being shut down because of algae blooms. 

The city issued a health advisory for Pontoosuc in August, warning residents not to swim or come in contact with the lake water because of an algae bloom. The cyanobacteria can cause skin irritations, vomiting and diarrhea and nerve or liver problems. 

Bellora previously worked for a company that used traditional dissolved air flotation (DAF) systems to treat water. In that role, he traveled around the country to work at paper mills and food-processing plants.

That experience gave him a practical understanding of DAF, and while flying between jobs, he would see green ponds and wonder whether the technology could be adapted to treat lakes.