FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
First Countywide Guide to Berkshire Galleries Debuts
Berkshire County, Mass. — June 2, 2008 — The first countywide guide to Berkshire County’s contemporary art galleries has been published just in time for the summer 2008 cultural season, through a collaboration among Berkshire Creative, Berkshire Living magazine and the Berkshire Visitors Bureau.
The full-color guide includes a brief description, address and contact information for fifty-two galleries; the five museums in Berkshire County with art exhibits are included as well. A convenient map showing the county’s towns, cities and major roads also is provided.
Berkshire Living provided the design and editorial content of the brochure, which will be featured as a pullout in the magazine’s June edition. Quality Printing produced 75,000 copies of the guide, which Berkshire Brochure will be distributing at drop-off points throughout the region this summer and fall.
The Berkshire Visitors Bureau will distribute 25,000 copies of the Gallery Guide at its two visitor centers, in information packets requested by visitors, at Southern New England AAA offices, and at Massachusetts Turnpike information centers. A downloadable version of the Gallery Guide will be available online with the Visitors Bureau’s monthly gallery column, The Red Do on Berkshires.org. The guide will also be available electronically on the Berkshire Creative website at BerkshireCreative.org; download it here.
Berkshire County is home to a growing number of contemporary artists and the for- and non-profit galleries that represent their products. This guide aims to help the major members of the Creative Economy support the sale of art, the galleries, and the artists who produce it in the region.
The guide is an initiative of the Berkshire Creative’s working group, the Creative Marketplace, led by Jonathan Secor, director of special projects for Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and Megan Whilden, director of cultural development for the city of Pittsfield. The group’s main mission is to increase market access for existing Berkshire County creative products, particularly those of individual artists.
The Berkshire Creative Economy Report states, “Individual artists and craftspeople form the foundation of the creative sector of the Berkshires. They make the Berkshires one of the nation’s leading regions in the visual arts, and make a significant contribution to the identity and strength of the creative economy sector in the Berkshires.”
Copies of the Gallery Guide are available from Berkshire Creative at 413.822.8324, in the June edition of Berkshire Living, and at distribution sites around the county. For more information, contact Helena Fruscio, Berkshire Creative Director of Operations, at 413.822.8324, or Helena.Fruscio@berkshirecreative.org.
