News & Events

Creative Economy Summit highlights

Dr. Stuart Rosenfeld, a nationally renowned expert on the creative rural economy, headed an eminent roster of leaders at the Fostering the Arts and Culture Partnership's Creative Economy Summit in November. Guest speakers and participants have recognized the economic importance of this region's strong arts, crafts and tech arts and came together to learn to help make this region's creative economy flourish.

Meri Jenkins, Massachusetts Cultural Council presented the role of the arts in Massachusetts. Drawing 'ahhs' included her remarks that participation at Massachusetts arts events tops that of all sporting events, and that the Masschusetts Creative Economy is worth over $4 billion a year. Serving on a panel with Stuart Rosenfeld, Meri Jenkins and Craig Dreezsen, arts consultant and former Director of the UMass Arts Extension Service, was Beth Siegal, Mt Auburn Associates who created the initial studies on the region's creative economy for Congressman John Olver. Below right, Bob Pura, President of Greenfield Community College makes a point.

Senator Stan Rosenberg announced his desire to create a one billion dollar endowment for the Massachusetts Cultural Council, freeing the organization from the whims of budget slashers and buffering this vital organization from years of poor economic growth. Reminding the audience that Massachusetts was the first state to create an arts council, the success inspired the creation of the National Endowment for the Arts and 49 states have now established their own organization to promote the arts and artists in their states. Lunch in the Gallery (at right) provided an opportunity for networking, sharing ideas and decompressing!

Morning breakout groups included the Franklin County manifesto, Franklin County Circa 2016 and Marketing Franklin County. Panelists gave brief introductions and participants worked on brainstorming ideas and sharing concerns. The outcomes of each breakout is varied and ongoing:

The Franklin County Manifesto group has since taken the concepts and has begun to draft language that will resonate with the artists in this community and provide common ground to grow the creative economy while maintaining our shared values of community, interest in the natural world, nurturing and welcoming creativity, and much more. Bob Barba, Associate Dean of Community Education at Greenfield Community College, and Mary Clare Powell were moderators.

From this the Marketing and Branding will explore ideas that define this region's goods, beauty, culture and create economic opportunity, building on what we value and wish to share or promote. Moderators Amy Shapiro Franklin County CDC, and Art Schwenger, Executive Director of the Shelburne Falls Area Business Association were joined by panelists Lydia Grey, Garlic & Arts Festival, and Jim Olsen of Signature Sounds.

Franklin County Circa 2016 aimed to define where we want to be in 20 years and what steps are needed to reach those goals. Moderators Leo Hwang-Carlos, Associate Dean of Humanities at Greenfield Community College and Ann Hamilton, President of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce were joined by Paul Hake, Paul Hake Productions and Paul Hellmund, Director of the Conway School of Landscape Design. These efforts have become the basis of the region's Vision, and each part, including discussion of the economy, quality of life, sustainability, education, tourism and diversity helps to make the whole.

The Fostering the Arts and Culture Partnership is a project of the Franklin County Community Development Corporation (FCCDC), Franklin County Chamber of Commerce (FCCC), Franklin-Hampshire Regional Employment Board (FH-REB), Greenfield Community College (GCC), MassCountryRoads.com, and the Shelburne Falls Area Business Association (SFABA).  The Fostering the Arts and Culture Partnership is working to:  1.) Assist area visual artists, writers, musicians, composers, graphic designers and others to create their own success by providing business and creative workshops and personalized business plans; 2.) Maintain a website to promote individual artists; 3.) Create a database to connect artists to one another and to inform each of upcoming opportunities and events; 4.) Benefit the region’s Creative Economy by stimulating and supporting artists and others throughout Franklin County.

Fostering the Arts and Culture Partnership events are supported in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, TD Bank North, Entergy, and the Bank of Western Massachusetts.

Remembering Matthew Leighton

Through their work artists can touch many lives and inspire hope, provide insight, confound the viewer, and push the boundaries of materials and perception. Greenfield artist Matthew Leighton did that and added yet other dimensions. Through his assemblage work, Matthew gave us elements often missing in our daily lives: Joy and Simplicity.

Matthew Leighton passed away recently (Nov. 28th) and left behind a long list of friends, admirers, and of course, cherished children and his wife, Karen Lord. We at the Fostering the Arts and Culture Partnership extend our sympathies to family and friends for the loss of Matthew, and invite you to send in a brief memory of Matthew, his work, or a personal story. Your images and photos are also welcome. We will post and archive them. Email your remembrance to: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and please include your name and phone number.

To view his work, visit the Pushkin, 332 Main St., Greenfield where small works can be found on the first floor and a small gallery of his wall work and sculpture is on view on the second floor.

Matthew: Our Good Neighbor
In 1997, as we were bulldozing and preparing to create the Greenfield Energy Park, I noticed bits of pottery shards, buttons, and other small items in the ground that had just been unearthed. I collected 2 small boxes, not sure what to do with them as most were broken, but it seemed important to not just let grass grow over them. Then I remembered seeing Matthew just a few years before that happily hopping over the rubble of the Millers Falls buildings on Wells Street gathering bits of colored wire and other seemingly insignificant objects. Of course, he later fashioned these recycled pieces into amazing, breathtaking works of art.

I called him up to see if he had any interest in these boxes of wires, bottles and glass. He enthusiastically came to claim them and promptly made 8 fanciful wall sculptures--fun little people. What I did not know at that time was that the Energy Park would be the further recipient of his generosity when he handed me a check for $800 for the sale of these incredible works of art. He was truly one-of-a-kind with a big heart and gracious, thoughtful spirit. Our community was the richer for his presence and we all mourn his passing. May his grand goodness and that ever-present twinkle in his eye live in those privileged to know him.

Sandy Thomas, Director, Greenfield Energy Park

From the Guild Art Center and Hart Gallery: Ever since he created a large shimmering fish from squashed aluminum cans in 1990, Matthew Leighton has been creating whimsical assemblages made from found objects--or more graphically, trash. ¨All of my materials are free, thrown away, and found, in bits and pieces. I see myself more as a recycler than anything else,¨ Leighton said in a 1995 interview with art critic Helena Feder. He is best known for his ingeniously constructed humanoid figures which feature surprising combinations of objects that create amusing shapes and facial expressions.
In a 1995 review, Patricia Wright of the Daily Hampshire Gazette comments, ¨The essence of assemblage is the ability to see, in scattered bits of really dead stuff, something alive. Leighton*s imagination is terrifically limber, and also subtle, in this regard. . . The subtlety comes in, for instance, in the distribution of textures: the bright eyes, the ´arms´ and ´torso´--both polished so they read as a shirt or jacket.¨ In another well-known piece, Leighton uses layers of overlapping rubber kitchen gloves to create the impression of a woman's full-skirted, bright yellow dress. Or in another, the fan-shaped array of print elements from two manual typewriters form a ribcage, the focal point of a robotic human shape. Leighton has had one-man shows in Greenfield, Brattleboro, and Amherst. A quintessential expression of the character of the Five-College Area, Leighton´s art is simultaneously witty, sympathetic, and politically idealistic.

From Mark Lattanzi: I met Matthew not long after I moved up here in 1988 as a recent college graduate. What struck me talking with Matthew was that he was always inquiring about what you were up to.  He was that rare kind of person who made you feel comfortable and valued even if you had just met him!  From that point on, whenever I ran into him on the street or at an event, it was if I was meeting up with a long lost uncle who wanted to hear what was going on in my life. Later as he began his artwork, it became clear to me that he took delight in so much of life - from meeting a newcomer to figuring out how to create beauty out of crushed cans and castoff electronics.

I remember stopping into his studio and gallery on Mill Street one afternoon with my young daughter. He graciously accepted the surprise visit and gave us a grand tour, and impressed my daughter with his collection of bits and pieces. And of course, we spent much more time talking about what we were up to than about his wonderful art, which was all around us.

Earlier this year, when I met him and learned of his illness, he demurred my inquiries and instead we talked of my life and family. Matthew was such a kind and creative person, as evidenced by the art he created and the many he touched with his thoughtfulness, humor and joy.

From Dee Boyle-Clapp: I was introduced to Matthew's work before I met him, likely at a show at the Green Emporium in Colrain, MA. As a sculptor, I shared his love of materials and was especially struck by Matthew's transformation of the ordinary into objects dipped in humor. I remember his sculpture made from a kitchen steamer, so well created that it took a moment to recognize the source of the original object. I was struck by the alchemy of how his objects were built. You couldn't see welds or glue or awkward wires holding the fans of the steamer together, they just worked! The craft of his creation process was clean and made the pieces appear seamless, clearly not an easy feat when working with found materials.

Equally important to me was Matthew's generosity and kindness. Though I hadn't seen him in ages, I called him one day to ask for a donation for a humane society fundraising art event and he did not hesitate, "Absolutely, I will give you a piece." A short while later we had in our possession an early work, a metal assemblage of a dog mounted on mustard colored board. It spoke of Matthew's interest in form, and revealed a facility with materials and a willingness to play, find fun in objects, and turn the ordinary and goofy into something fun, warm, and beautiful. If art is a legacy, Matthew's is certainly one of joy, decency, compassion, and the spark of infinite potential.

United States Artists Awards announced

New York City-based United States Artists has announced its first fellowships, with unrestricted grants of $50,000 awarded to support the creative work of individual artists.
The fifty-four fellows, including four who belong to artists' collaboratives, represent every career stage — emerging, mid-career, and well-established — as well as a broad range of artistic practices. A total of six fellowships were awarded in the category of crafts and traditional arts, four in dance, nine in literature (fiction, nonfiction, poetry), six in media (audio, film, radio, video), five in music, seven in theater arts, twelve in the visual arts, and one in architecture and design.
Performance pioneer Meredith Monk and guitarist Bill Frisell were honored for a body of work that stretches over decades, while puppeteer Basil Twist, assemblage artist Anna Sew Hoy, and cartoonist Chris Ware were recognized as important new talents with great promise. The youngest fellow, Sterlin Harjo, is a 26-year-old Seminole and Creek filmmaker from Norman, Oklahoma, while the oldest is 83-year-old Ali Akbar Khan, an internationally known classical Indian musician from San Anselmo, California.
United States Artists, which provides direct support to living artists, was established last year by the Ford, Rockefeller, Prudential, and Rasmuson foundations. Seed funding from the founders will enable 100 percent of future donations to the organization to support artists over the next five years. "USA's goal is to fuel innovation in our culture by investing in creativity at its source — our nation's finest artists," said Susan V. Berresford, USA board chair and president of the Ford Foundation. "Our 2006 USA fellows represent the full spectrum of artistic excellence and the broad array of talent that abounds in all U.S. communities. This is...what USA, with its multidisciplinary scope and national reach, is designed to recognize."

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UPCOMING WORKSHOPS

Business for Artists
12-week course, Tuesdays, 9 am - 12 noon, March 20 - June 5
Franklin County Community Development Corporation, 324 Wells St. Greenfield
Requires interview with Amy Shapiro, Program Manager Business Technical Assistance
Tel: 413.774.7204 ext 117  Fax:  413.773.3562
Sliding scale according to ability to pay; $500 value.  Contact Amy for details

Web Options for Artists
Panel and date to be announced
GCC Downtown, 270 Main St. Greenfield.  $10
Many artists, especially rural artists, feel that they can most easily move beyond their regional markets by learning to more effectively utilize the internet. This workshop, in the form of a panel presentation and discussion, will provide an opportunity for area artists to sample the range of options for tapping into this relatively new and massively powerful electronic resource. It will serve to introduce artists to the upcoming site available via the Fostering Arts and Culture Partnership (massartandculture.org); it will provide information for those who want to explore the option of hiring someone to build and manage a web site; and will also provide information for those who are ready to learn to how to develop and maintain their own web site.
To register: Call Karen, 413.775.1803 or 24/7 with credit card at 413.774.7690 (VISA, Mastercard, Discover only) For more information: Call Dee, 413-775-1264.

Beautiful "Failures"…  aka Some Talk about The Terrible & Exhilarating Process of Finding Your Own Way in Art ... and Business
Date to be announced
Why do some fantastic businesses close? Why do great artists find their work rebuffed? Why do some bands become such sellouts? If the customer is always right, then must all entrepreneurs abandon their personal visions? What happens when an artist compromises? What happens when an entrepreneur doesn't? Join a discussion among business owners and artists and former business owners and artists on their personal goals, their public goals and the interplay between their audience and themselves.  Christopher Janke, the moderator, is a poet and entrepreneur and runs Slope Editions, a non-profit publishing company that runs by the seat of its pants.
Registration information pending