New arts center coming to Pittsfield

[media-credit id=3 align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]PITTSFIELD – A center planned to promote and foster the arts and cultural development now has an official name, the Whitney Center for the Arts and Culture, and it may open as early as the end of March, said its owner, Pittsfield native and New York resident, Attorney Lisa Antoinette Whitney.

The center will be located in a stately 1865 mansion at 42 Wendell Ave., known around town as the Thomas Colt House. It was home to the Women’s Club of the Berkshires for 75 years.

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Atty. Whitney purchased the property last year for a total of $225,000.

Reached in her New York office by The Beacon, Atty. Whitney indicated conclusive plans for the upcoming arts center are still in-the-making. It will serve as a “platform for artists and promote cultural development in Pittsfield,” she said.

There may be classes offered such as foreign language, painting, photography, sculpture and singing.  There could be artist studios as well as banquet and event space, Atty. Whitney said.

There’s even been talk about establishing a writers’ room where people could come in and talk about books.

“The space is vast and it’s beautiful,” Atty. Whitney said. “The goal is to preserve the building.”

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She sees the Whitney Center for the Arts and Culture as collaborating, as opposed to competing, with various existing organizations such as the Berkshire Music School and the Town Players.

The building, itself, is really beautiful, its new owner said: “It’s such an accommodating place for these kinds of things.”

The historical building’s new owner knows this area well. She even owns the house she grew up in and spends many weekends and holidays there.

“I’m a Pittsfield girl,” she said.

Her mother owned the former Sugar Bowl, which was a popular eating spot on North Street, and then taught in the Pittsfield Public Schools.

Her father worked as a chemical engineer at General Electric. She grew up with one sister, Jorene, who now resides in Ohio.

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“Growing up in Pittsfield, I thought I lived in the center of the universe,” Atty. Whitney said.

She’s a staunch advocate of the city and its cultural aspects. She attended both Pittsfield and St. Joseph’s  High Schools. Even as a child, she thought Berkshire Museum was a “wonderful” place.

“I still have lots of friends here. I’m so impressed with Pittsfield and the renaissance it went through,” she said.

She said former Mayor James M. Ruberto did a good job in promoting the arts and “the new mayor is in step with us.”

Atty. Whitney is vice president and general counsel for VF Sportswear, Inc., in New York City. She plans to eventually retire and move permanently to Pittsfield.

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“I like old buildings,” the new owner said. The home where she grew up was built in 1900 and the home in which she lives in New York dates to 1899.

The Thomas Colt House was built in 1865 by a local judge. He also owned a paper mill in the part of Pittsfield that is now called Coltsville.

The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The mansion is in relatively good shape but needs some updating such as making bathrooms handicapped accessible, work on exit signs and so forth, Atty. Whitney said.

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Resident squirrels have already been evicted, she laughed.

If the Massachusetts Historical Commission approves the updates on the bathrooms and if all the other minor improvements can be completed, the center could be operative by the end of March.

“That’s a goal,” Atty. Whitney said, indicating nothing is set in stone.

The new center will have a board of directors of at least four or five people to start, she said. The executive director is Ghazi Kazmi.

She said the entire idea of creating the Whitney Center for the Arts and Culture has been received by the community with “openness and welcoming.”

“It’s just like we were old friends,” she said. “We all have the same goals for the community. Pittsfield was a great place to grow up. There were so many things to do. There was always this accessibility to culture and arts in Pittsfield. It just really has come a long way.”

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Building sale creates new funds

The Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation announced last week the proceeds from the sale of the mansion have been donated to create two new funds, the Women’s Club of the Berkshires Scholarship Fund and the Women’s Club of the Berkshires Fund. The latter will support non-profit projects serving women and girls.

“The board of directors of the Women’s Club was saddened by having
to sell our magnificent home in the Thomas Colt House two years ago. It had been our home since 1937,” said Isabel O’Brien, former president of the Women’s Club of the Berkshires, Inc.

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“However, to now have the funds to carry out the club’s mission of ‘improving the welfare of women in all phases of their lives’ gives us great joy,” she added. “We are so proud to be associated with Berkshire Taconic and look forward to working with them in the area of providing scholarships and grants to women as well as organizations that support women and girls throughout Berkshire County.”

Posted by Susan M. Wicker Guerrero on February 21, 2013. Filed under Community News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry