The Brothership Building Window curated by Berkshire Art Center (formerly IS183 Art School of the Berkshires) will feature Art / Arte by local artists belonging to two Pittsfield-based organizations: Manos Unidas + Roots & Dreams and Mustard Seeds for the month of September.
Manos Unidas is a multicultural cooperative-based organization that strives to unearth the common strengths and innate skills of our underheard community through shared bilingual resources, empowerment ventures, living arts, cross cultural organizing, and cooperative economy initiatives. Working alongside low income, immigrant, youth, and differently-abled community citizens, we are unfolding a culture of "Beloved Community" (MLK Jr.) while crossing borders of race, class culture, language, ability, and belief hand in hand.
Roots & Dreams and Mustard Seeds provides mutual aid and development support in order to empower vulnerable communities in the creation of worker co-ops, housing cooperatives, and community owned real-estate. "Working collaboratively with local, regional, and federal partners to build out grassroots solidarity economy initiatives here in Pittsfield, MA and surrounding Berkshires, we can better enable socially just and equitable economic futures for ourselves and our communities."
The work on display in the show is available for purchase through Berkshire Art Center’s Gallery Shop from the participating artists below.
Participating Artists
1. Matt Brinton
Artist Bio:
A creative writer, poet, fine artist, community worker, and person of faith.
Matthew is very passionate about his Christian faith, and seeks, through his art, to give people a reason to hope and find meaning and purpose in their lives. He is not afraid of creatively addressing pertinent issues through his art. His overall artistic mission is to connect people to the "highest good" and to help them find their higher calling in life.
Matthew is currently a student at BCC, an employee of Guido's Fresh Marketplace, a volunteer for the non-profit Manos Unidas, and a regular congregant of Greater Grace Church of the Berkshires. Through all of these outlets he has been able to sow seeds of creativity and faith which he hopes will have a positive impact in the world.
Matthew seeks shelter under the wings of "the highest" and finds it hard to breathe when he comes out from under that shelter. His desire is that others will experience the peace and safety he experiences while under that shelter.
When a person truly finds the reason for why they were born, they experience the greatest miracle of all and they shine a pure undiluted light on all those around them. Matthew doesn't claim to be one who has fully entered into that light, but one, who, in his mess of imperfections, keeps on trying to enter. May he one day enter it and may all those he is trying to help enter, enter too.
2. Soka Vanegas
Artist Statement: Explore the liminal. What is in between reality? Exploring the space between what you see and what you don't. To embrace femininity. To explore the organic and imagine another dimension. I encourage you to use materials that don't typically exist in nature and make art. Explore the liminal.
3. Nicole Fecteau
“Nicole Krauss” drawn in pastels by Matt Brinton