BCC receives $10M grant for critical infrastructure upgrades
PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Community College (BCC) recently announced it is one of four public colleges in the Commonwealth to receive substantial funding through Gov. Charlie Baker’s new Critical Building Infrastructure Program. Joining recipients UMass Dartmouth, Northern Essex Community College, and Massachusetts Maritime Academy as the first recipients of the multi-stage, $165 million program, BCC will receive $10 million to support window replacement at Koussevitzky Arts Center and Jonathan Edwards Library buildings, including the removal of caulking containing PCBs to comply with EPA requirements. The projects are expected to be completed over the course of about 18 months.
The state funds are available through An Act Providing for Capital Facility Repairs and Improvements for the Commonwealth, a $3.9 billion capital bond bill passed by the Legislature and signed by Baker in 2018.
BCC Vice President of Administration and Finance Andrea Wadsworth explained that ever since PCBs were discovered while making exterior building repairs over a decade ago, BCC has been working with the Division of Capital Assets Management and Maintenance (DCAMM) and the EPA to address the problem. Previously funded projects include Melville and Hawthorne Hall renovations, the construction of the new One Stop center and the creation of Berkshire Science Commons, set to open in fall 2022.
“Sixty years ago, the dangers of PCBs as they relate to construction projects were unknown,” Wadsworth said. “This new award allows BCC to honor our commitment to the EPA and to continue to provide a safe environment for our students, faculty and staff.”
During the past six years, the Baker-Polito Administration has committed or invested funds of approximately $1.1 billion to address deferred maintenance and critical repairs at higher education campuses.
—A.K.
* * *
Williams College receives STARS Gold Rating for sustainability achievements
WILLIAMSTOWN — Williams College has earned a STARS Gold rating in recognition of its sustainability achievements from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). STARS, the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System measures and encourages sustainability in all aspects of higher education. Williams’ STARS report is publicly available on the STARS website.
Williams has a long history of attention to environmental issues. Its Center for Environmental Studies, founded in 1967, was one of the first environmental studies programs at any liberal arts college in America. More recently, in 2015 the school announced an ambitious set of climate goals, including the reduction of net greenhouse gas emissions to 35% below 1990 levels, making new curricular investments related to the study of the environment and climate change, and investing endowment funds in projects that benefit the environment.
In 2021, the school’s provost, Dukes Love, reported that the college had met many of these goals and would set new ones following a campuswide strategic planning process. The new generation of goals encompasses climate action; attention to buildings, landscaping and land use; education and research; responsible consumption; community, equity and inclusion; and accountability and transparency. These aims are being codified in a Sustainability Action Plan, accompanied by a Climate Action Plan, a Zero Waste Action Plan and a Community and Equity Action Plan.
—A.K.
* * *
Steinhauer joins Lee Bank board; five new corporators elected
LEE — Ilana Steinhauer, executive director of VIM Berkshires, has been elected to the board of trustees of Lee Bank, and five new corporators have been named.
Steinhauer, a family nurse practitioner, worked in a private medical practice in the Boston area before joining VIM, a nonprofit based in Great Barrington. She earned her master’s degree in nursing from Simmons College and a bachelor’s degree in religion from Wesleyan University.
New corporators, nominated by the board’s governance committee, include: Nicole Antil of Richmond, owner of Antil Creative, a consultancy specializing in branding, communications, culture, and strategy. Antil also serves as chief creative officer for Graham-Pelton, a nonprofit fundraising and management consulting firm. A graduate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute with a degree in design, she has previously worked in marketing roles at Maxymillian Technologies and began her career as an interior architect in the Washington, D.C. area. She is also a member of the board of Community Health Programs and volunteers for EforAll.
Melissa Agosto, a resident of Pittsfield, is director of finance for Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge. An accountant, she has also held financial leadership positions at Canyon Ranch, the College Internship Program and in private accounting practice. She earned her accounting degree from the University of Puerto Rico.
Michelle Decepida of Pittsfield, a systems engineer, is deputy program manager for engineering at General Dynamics Mission Systems (GDMS) in Pittsfield. A graduate of the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering, she earned her undergraduate engineering degree at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She worked previously at Pratt & Whitney and other firms. She serves as executive board member and treasurer of Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity and as event coordinator for the GDMS Early Career Employee Resource Group.
Mauer Desai, a Pittsfield native and resident, entered the hospitality business full-time in 2009 after graduating from Bridgewater State University. He converted the Ramada Inn in Pittsfield to a Best Western Plus and serves on the governor’s committee within the Best Western brand. In 2019, the Desai family bought the Black Swan Inn, a lakeside boutique in Lee, and he helped oversee construction and brand management for the Courtyard by Marriott in Lenox. Desai holds a certificate in hospitality administration from American Hotel and Lodging Association.
Tannya Romero, a Pittsfield resident and native of Ecuador, works as a quality assurance specialist for Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing. As a digital training management technician, she has worked for Achieve TMS East. She worked previously in residential support for Berkshire County Arc. Romero earned her bachelor’s degree in biology with a concentration in pre-medical professions from MCLA, and her associate’s degree in biology from BCC. She is a Spanish-language interpreter for VIM, and has mentored science students at BCC and served on the BCC Alumni Board. She has volunteered for Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT) and Berkshire Community Action Council, and is the co-founder of the local nonprofit organization Latinas413.
—A.K.
* * *
McNair named Brokerage Manager for Sotheby’s Berkshire Brokerages
GREAT BARRINGTON — William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty recently announced that Stephanie McNair will assume the role of Brokerage Manager for the firm’s two Berkshire brokerages, located in Great Barrington and Lenox. McNair brings to the position vast knowledge and experience in the real estate market in the Berkshire region.
A seasoned agent, McNair has been working in real estate since 2009, representing buyers and sellers throughout western Massachusetts. McNair ran her own boutique real estate agency, Harvest Moon Realty, from 2012–2017. Before that, she held various roles in marketing, public relations and crisis communications for organizations including the American Diabetes Association, Baystate Health System, and Six Flags International.
McNair is a longtime resident of Western Massachusetts and is very active in her community. She is cofounder of The Oxford House, a self-supporting drug recovery home with two Western Massachusetts locations, and an active supporter of The Open Pantry and Rays of Hope, having sat on the boards of both organizations.
—A.K.
* * *
Clark Art announces research and academic fellowships
WILLIAMSTOWN — The Clark Art Institute’s Research and Academic Program (RAP) announces the appointment of its 2022–23 class of fellows for the upcoming academic year.
The Clark is one of a small number of institutions globally that is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. Through RAP, the Clark hosts a residential fellowship program that welcomes international scholars for periods ranging from two to nine months.
In the past two years, RAP has introduced two new fellowships to support scholarship in art history, including a fellowship in Caribbean Art and its Diasporas, and a fellowship in Critical Race Theory and Visual Practice. Fall and Summer Fellows present a free public lecture related to their work during their tenure at the Clark. In this year’s cycle, the Clark initiates a new fellowship sponsored by The Kaleta A. Doolin Foundation (KADF), a feminist nonprofit dedicated to being a resource and strategic partner for social and environmental justice by protecting and advocating for women and girls for the purpose of advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the arts and sciences. The first fellowship begins in January 2023.
Fellowships for the 2022–2023 academic year are awarded to:
- Short-term Clark Fellow: Olivier Bonfait, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France (Fall 2022), “From Rubens to Richter”
- Short-term Beinecke Fellow: Bridget Cooks, University of California, Irvine (Spring 2023), “Covers: Popular Art and Racial Black Thought”
- Clark/Oakley Humanities Fellow: Jonathan Flatley, Wayne State University, Detroit (Fall 2022/Spring 2023), “Like Trees”
- Clark Class of 1974 Fellow: Turry Flucker, Tougaloo College Art Collection, Jackson, Mississippi (Spring 2023), the interconnection between the Tougaloo College Art Collection, the New York School, the Civil Rights Movement of 1960–69, and the National Endowment for the Arts
- Caribbean Art and its Diasporas Fellow: Donette Francis, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida (Summer 2022), art produced by Miami-placed Caribbean artists
- Florence Gould Foundation Fellow: Margaret Graves, Indiana University, Bloomington (Fall 2022/Spring 2023), “Invisible Hands: Islamic Ceramic and the Colonial Art Market”
- Beinecke Fellow: Kathryn Howley, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, New York City (Spring 2023), “The Bodily Aesthetics of Ancient Egyptian Art”
- Futures Fellow: Tsedaye Makonnen, visual artist, Washington, D.C. (Fall 2022), “How do performance artists contribute to awakening empathy towards marginalized people?”
- Michael Ann Holly Fellow: Jeremy Melius, University of Oxford, England (Fall 2022), the Victorian critic John Ruskin and art history
- Short-term Clark Fellow: Marta Ruiz del Árbol, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid (Fall 2022), “Gabriele Münter: A painter with a Photographic Gaze”
- Critical Race Theory and Visual Culture Fellow: Shawn Michelle Smith, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago (Fall 2022/Spring 2023), “Environmental Double Consciousness”
- The Kaleta A. Doolin Foundation Fellow: Shundana Yusaf, University of Utah, Salt Lake City (Spring 2023), “The Resonant Tomb: A Feminist History of Sufi Shrines in Pakistan from Medieval to Postmodern Period”
—A.K.
* * *
Berkshire Money Management celebrates new Great Barrington location
GREAT BARRINGTON — Berkshire Money Management has a new office in Great Barrington, and on Thursday, April 28, they hosted an open house for local business owners and non-profit leaders, members of the Southern Berkshire community, municipal partners, clients and staff. The celebration began on the steps of the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center with remarks by Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Betsy Andrus and Berkshire Money Management founder and CEO Allen Harris, and then moved down the block to BMM’s new office at the corner of Main and Castle Streets. Hors d’oeuvres and drinks were served and live music was provided by Berkshire Busk! artists. According to Harris, because BMM has grown significantly, especially during the last three years, this new office will serve as a convenience for South County clients, a resource for local business owners and a way for BMM to offer sponsorships and volunteer activities to the community in and around Great Barrington.
—M.L.S.
