I too would be interested in getting the latest scoop on this project, which in
my day was called MassMoCA.  Eric's info is pretty much right on, from what I
remember.

While I was at college in Williamstown (the town immediately to the west of
North Adams, in the uppermost northwest corner of Massachusetts and bordering on
both VT and NY), the planning and fundraising for this project was underway, but
something happened to derail it shortly after I graduated.  The plan was to turn
a huge complex of abandoned mills along the Hoosic River (Sprague, I think the
name was) into the largest contemporary art space in the world.  The Guggenheim
and Jacob's Pillow were two of the prospective tenants.  Governor Weld was
initially behind the project, but it later unraveled or was massively scaled
back (for reasons I confess I can't remember).  It would have reinvented North
Adams, which has fallen on hard times since its mills closed - despite the fact
that many of its neighboring towns are quite wealthy.  MassMoCA also would have
been the cherry on top of the art scene in the upper Berkshires, which is home
to (among others) the Williams College Museum of Art, the Clark Art Institute,
and the Williamstown Theater Festival - not to mention Tanglewood and Jacob's
Pillow, right down the road.

Given the bad state of affairs the last I heard of it (several years ago), I
didn't realize that MassMoCA was still alive and kicking - which is great!
Anyone who has more complete or more recent information than this, please post.

Thanks,

Nicole M. Bouvier
Scheduling and Exhibitor Relations Coordinator
Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES)
202.357.3168 x120
<[log in to unmask]