Brill Gallery

ArtWeek Berkshires will occur at multiple venues from October 14 to 23. In North Adams the Eclipse Mill will again host open studios.

By the 1930s, Herman Melville's novel became an example of Great American Writing and was studied in many University English Programs.  The interest in Herman Melville continues such that since his death on this day (September 29) in 1891, more than 60,000,000 copies of MOBY-DICK have been published around the world!

Celia Smith and her sister-in-law Charity Smith had been sending letters to the Arnold Print Works requesting a meeting for their New Idea – Printed Cloth Dolls.  They never received a reply, so with a Sample Doll in hand, they made the trip to North Adams in 1890, but were turned away at the door. Initially the dolls were hand made with cloth scraps. They caught on and sold well. Arnold Print Works agreed to Buy the Partners’ Patented Designs. Royalties were10 Cents per Printed Fabric Yard.  In the 1892 Holiday Season, 200,000 Doll Sheets were Sold.

The Eclipse Annual Exhibition features work by residents of the North Adams, studio/loft residence complex. The reception from 6 to 8 PM, Friday, October 12 launches the annual Open Studios that weekend. The popular event provides the opportunity to interact with artists in the setting where their work is created. In addition to studios work by resident artists is displayed in corridors of the four floor complex that houses 40 units.

Arthur Yanoff has had a one man show at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and was named Jewish Artist of the Year. A couple of years ago he and photographer Kay Canavino collaborated on a Melville project for the Ralph Brill Gallery and the author's former home Arrowhead in Pittsfield. We met recently to discuss Boston's Coffee Corner and its rarely documented hipster legacy which was a spawning ground for gonzo.

The Eclipse Mill at 243 Union Street in North Adams houses the Eclipse Mill Gallery, The Brill Gallery and River Hill Pottery and studio. The pottery is open daily and the two galleries on weekends through the fall. Both galleries have openings of new shows on June 15.

Lewis Hine used his camera to expose the issue of child labor in America. In 1911 he created nine images of children about to start their 12 hour shift at the Eclipse Mill in North Adams, Mass. Through October 8 the Eclipse Mill Gallery is showing the special exhibition The Mill Children. The project was organized by gallerist Ralph Brill with Realist Painter William Oberst, Abstract Painter Dawn Nelson, Historian Joe Manning, Composer/Musician Matt Hopkins, Filmmaker Steven Borns and Educator Anne French. Wespoke with Joe Manning about his ongoing Lewis Hine Project.

Each year Eclipse Mill gallerist Ralph Brill initiates a North Adams based, national and international project. There will be a summer long exhibition focused on Herman Melville, featuring the painter, Arthur Yanoff, and photographer, Kay Canavino, at Melville's home, Arrowhead and at the Eclipse Mill (June 24 to July 24). That will be followed by another exhibition, Mill Children, which notes the 100th anniversary of when Lewis Hine photographed Child Labor in North Adams. The Melville project opens with a reception at Arrowhead on Friday, June 17, starting at 6 PM with a house tour at 6:30 PM.

It has become a lively North Adams tradition that the season of the Eclipse Mill Gallery, at 243 Union Street along Route 2, ends with a special holiday store. There are extended hours that are convenient for shopping with a more personal touch. The Eclipse also offers other shopping options with River Hill Pottery, Brill Gallery, and G.S. Askins used books.

With seven additional visual art destinations over last year’s offerings and 11 new galleries, this year’s DownStreet Art initiative â€" organized by the Berkshire Cultural Resource Center (BCRC) at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) â€" not only will increase in scope and size; its installations will highlight communities from around the world.

With the participation of several teams of artists Ralph Brill lit up the sky over North Adams as a part of his second annual Hoosac River Lights. The event is intended to call attention to the natural resource and beauty of the river which powered the mills along its banks. Including what is now the vast Mass MoCA. It was an evening highlight of the Fifth Annual North Adams Open Studios.

Julie Seitel, a theatrical lighting designer, while working on a show at Williams College began to rethink some of the "practicals" as works of art. She has asked the artists; Richard Harrington, Brian Jewett, Marjorie Minkin and John Powell to join her in a light themed exhibition "Illuminati" which opens at the Eclipse Mill Gallery on July 31.

When Mass MoCA opened a decade ago artists migrated to North Adams attracted by large, cheap loft spaces. For the second season that growing arts community is trying to revitalize the business district through a city wide project known as DownStreet. Artists hope that their commitment and sweat equity will start to pay off.

Julie Seitel, a lighting designer for the Williams College Theatre Department did a fabulous job curating and installing the Second Annual Berkshire Salon. The survey of work by 55 artists launches the season for the North Adams based Eclipse Mill Gallery.

Last year MCLA and the City of North Adams combined to turn vacant downtown stores into the seasonal galleries called Down Street. The programming has been expanded to include 27 museums and galleries. The fun begins on Memorial Day Weekend with the Berkshire Salon at the Eclipse Mill Gallery and the 10th Anniversary Ball at Mass MoCA. Let the games begin.

The Eclipse Mill in North Adams includes the Eclipse Mill Gallery which has just opened its second show of the season "Off the Wall: Art of the Eclipse in the Third Dimension." There is also the Ralph Brill Gallery which is about to open "Nude & Naked" and River Hill Pottery which is participating in "Off the Wall." Visitors to the gallery also enjoy browsing through books offered by bookseller Grover Askins. There's a lot to take in with one stop on the way to and from Mass MoCA.

If all goes according to plan in April gallerist Ralph Brill will light up a section of the Hoosic River between the Eclipse Mill and Mass MoCA in North Adams. He is involved in the development of a World War II Museum that would become the Northern Berkshires' "Fourth Museum."

Negotiations for the Contemporary Artists Center to develop a permanent home in the former Notre Dame church property in North Adams ended in acrimony and finger pointing. It is a serious loss and set back for an emerging but struggling arts community.

Five exhibitions at the Clark, the Williams College Museum of Art and the Brill Gallery show a vast range of photographic work.

In addition to leaf peeping visitors to North Adams are invited to attend Open Studios on October 14 through 15 from 11 am through 6 pm. The exhibition "4x4 Artists Invite Artists" will be featured in the Eclipse Mill Gallery.