the local life: Creative Culture
Talking Art What inspires you about creating art in the Berkshires? That’s the question we asked five artists in Pittsfield’s Clock Tower Artists collective—and here are their answers. By Luke Chinman
Joanie Ciolfi, oil painter
Ilene Richard, visual artist
Everything. The ever-changing landscape. The intensity of color and reflection after a rainstorm. Drives through Lenox, Stockbridge, and Williamstown and revisiting familiar landmarks which present themselves in a new way with every passing cloud.
A combination of the beauty of the Berkshires and my involvement with the Clock Tower Artists community. Being around all of the talented artists; it’s a very motivating environment—we all feed off of each other’s talents. ilenerichard.faso.com
Deborah H. Carter,
Shany Porras, visual sound artist
Stefanie Weber, action-based dance artist
My inspiration comes from my materials. Yina Moore, founding executive and artistic director of the Adams Theater, introduced me to The Old Stone Mill Waste Makers Space in Adams, which rescues all sorts of waste from industries. It is truly my “candy store”!
Since I am most inspired by live orchestral music, my family and I frequent Tanglewood—but we also love the Ostrich Room (Lenox), South Mountain (Pittsfield), The Foundry (West Stockbridge), and other local bars and pubs. I am often amazed by the musical talent in the Berkshires and feel fortunate to have it so accessible.
deborahhcarter.com
shanyporrasart.com
multimedia wearable art designer
I grew up in a General Electric Pittsfield bubble. My mother owned a local beauty salon, and “The Berkshires” as people often think of it, didn’t exist for many of us. It seemed like a place for others, not those from working-class roots like us. Today, post-industrial Pittsfield remains a fertile ground upon which to seed ideas and blossom. It mysteriously calls to me as a transcendent place where muses meet. fertileuniverse.com
Meet the artists: clocktowerartists.com
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THE B • Fall 2023
P H OTO S : J O A N I E C I O L F I
joanpalanociolfi.com