07.04.07

Ever since I bought my condo at 433 North I've been thinking about throwing a July 4th Party to watch Pittsfield's Parade pass below. At 4:00 PM on July 3, I made the decision to do it. I sent out an email and calls inviting people to join me in my luxury sky box seats.

About 20 friends showed up and a festive time was had by all. Hanging out the windows we attracted the eyes and waves of many of the marchers -- including Deval Patrick. He flashed me a thumbs-up and I returned it, pleased to have made contact with the governor, fleeting as it was.

The Parade is an important local tradition. A Native (one born and raised in Pittsfield) at the party recalled more bands, more floats in her youth. Fund raising. Volunteers. Times change. However, it seems to me that a revitalized Parade could have tremendous capacity to attract more positive energy to the Pittsfield story. It would be interesting to experience how the involvement of members of the Pittsfield Renaissance community could help produce a truly vibrant and unique Parade.

Tipping Point

The first Third Thursday marks the tipping point -- the day Upper North Street became one of the coolest places in the entire world. What caused the tip? My nomination: the opening this week of the Ferrin Gallery. Leslie Ferrin and Donald Clark have brought style, energy and beautiful art to this exciting neighborhood. With them here, 433 North is officially epicenter of the Pittsfield Renaissance.

New Signs

The name "Open House" derives from my intention to post new entries for my blog while I conduct open houses for the seven available suites at 433 North -- I not only live here, I am a realtor representing the project. I have just purchased three sandwhich boards to place on the street at random times during the week in the hope of attracting passers by to stop and take a look. When there is no one looking I will write my posts. Hence the name.

This picture shows the sign I've located on the corner
of North Street and Maplewood Avenue. Behind the sign is the Greystone Building, owned by George Whaling. It now houses Bellissimo Dolce, Yoga on North, the Black Market, Greystone Gardens and a dozen or so apartments. When George bought it five or six years ago most people thought he was crazy -- the neighborhood was dreary and nobody came here. Now as I sit here in the lobby people of all sorts are bustling by on the street. George is no longer seen as crazy. Rather he has attained celebrity status locally for being a key driver of the area's new vitality.


Here is the same sign, different angle. In the space between the sign and the park bench you can see one of the many commemorative plaques to be found around Pittsfield. This one memorializes the first ever inter-collegiate baseball game, played on this site July 4, 1859. Amherst College (my alma mater) beat Williams College by the score of 73 to 32. Go, Lord Jeffs!

Showtime

Last night the Storefront Artists Project held a fundraiser at Spice -- an evening of Dada cabaret and fine art. Well attended by local artists, gallerists and art money-supporters, the event sparkled late into the night in the restaurant's second floor banquet space. Among those present I recognized several people who two nights before had also been at the Berkshire Museum at the reception for Berkshire Living magazines's photographers.

At the Museum event I stepped away for a moment to the permanent galleries to view Gregory Crewdson's photograph Untitled (Beneath the Roses), a huge digital image staged and shot in Pittsfield in the summer of 2004. The photo depicts a woman alone in a car at the very corner of North Street now occupied by Spice but back then the site of a vacant Goodwill store. Three scant years before the glittering festivities of last night, Crewdson chose to shoot his image in this location for its dreamy sense of desolation. Things are moving very quickly in Pittsfield!

Interestingly, Joyce Bernstein and Larry Rosenthal, who brought us Spice, also helped bring the Crewdson photo to the Museum. Clearly they belong in the Pittsfield Renaissance Hall of Heroes.