Since 1950, the non-profit Berkshire Art Association has been dedicated to encouraging emerging artists and to giving Berkshire residents and visitors opportunities to view and become engaged with contemporary trends in American art. Between 1952 and 1998, the Berkshire Art Association held annual juried regional shows at the Berkshire Museum. The first BAA exhibit had 70 works selected from 300 s
ubmitted and a catalog that sold for 20 cents. By 1957 the BAA Show had gained the attention of artists and art lovers far beyond Berkshire County, including The New York Times. Jurors have included Norman Rockwell, Professor Lane Faison of Williams College, Thomas Messer and Thomas Kren, both directors of the Guggenheim Museum, and directors of galleries at Carnegie Mellon, the Addison Gallery of American Art, the Rhode Island School of Design, Yale, Smith, the Whitney, and MOMA among many others. In 1972 the first two student awards were given, $250 each, the start of what became the annual Fellowship for college art students. For several years a $1,000 traveling prize for art students was awarded, funded by the Lawrence H. BAA upgraded its exhibits and catalogs in the 1980s,offered it first workshop on Artists’ Hazards, and began tours to New York artists studios. By the late 1990s, the show was attracting over 800 entries and standing room only crowds for its opening night lectures and receptions. The BAA also sponsored spring shows - Works on Paper and Invitationals. Many interest groups kept the BAA’s mission vital – art classes; sketch groups; artist, fellowship, fundraising and reception committees; touring groups; and always a large and active Board. After the museum decided to discontinue hosting juried art show, the Berkshire Art Association held the 2000 invitational exhibit at the DeSisto School Gallery in Stockbridge. The BAA's focus for the next few years was on Artist Talks, Studio Tours and the Fellowship Show. The BAA Fellowship Show moved to the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts in Pittsfield, a perfect space for a small exhibition. With an endowment and fundraising, awards have increased from $3,000 to $5,000 annually, and the opening awards reception is a well attended event. The BAA was an organizing partner of a different kind of juried exhibit in 2004 - SHEEPTACULAR PITTSFIELD! Artists decorated 70 Merino Sheep Sculptures, and artists, tourists, local citizens, and school children flocked downtown to enjoy this fun public art. The BAA sponsored 5 Artists' Talks and a Public Art Forum at the Berkshire Museum. In 2005 we helped inaugurate summer juried outdoor art shows in downtown Pittsfield. This summer we will again with the City of Pittsfield’s Artscape Committee and Downtown sponsor the Pittsfield Art Show, featuring 75 artists exhibiting juried fine arts and fine crafts. Over $40,000 in art changed hands at the 2007 show, making this an art show to see! From 2006 through 2007, the Berkshire Art Association coordinated Art Of The Game - a baseball-themed public art celebration involving youth, schools, sculptors, painters and installation artists, and baseball enthusiasts and players. Visitors to Pittsfield will still see baseball themed art around the City.
