Heather Meehan

Sandy Newman has seen the arts alter the course of human lives in remarkable and unforeseen ways. She has seen individuals with schizophrenia step forward to tell their own stories, and CATA artists formerly crippled by terrible anxiety perform in front of hundreds of people at the annual gala performance.

“Academic rigor, an emphasis on writing clearly, discussion based classrooms, accountability and community amongst peers and faculty, intellectual curiosity. Learning as FUN.” -- Kathryn Boswell, Simon’s Rock professor of anthropology, describing the curriculum of the Bard Academy for early high school students.

By transplanting and re-envisioning the child-friendly studio model she found in Israel to the Berkshires, Ilana Siegal has found her calling: “My priority is to make everyone who walks in here feel as if they are treated as full human beings.”

“I have a passion for helping women become able to support themselves and get fair wages and a source of income. Te Berkshires is a very supportive and progressive community. People here get what fair trade is." -- Sue Fish of the Women's Peace Collection