North Adams Open Studios - Call for Artists

NORTH ADAMS OPEN STUDIOS - CALL FOR ARTISTS

For Immediate Release

Contact: Phil Sellers

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  North Adams Open Studios is looking for artists  with
and without studios  to participate in its sixth annual autumn showcase of
local artisans to be held on Saturday and Sunday, October 15 and 16, from 10 to
6.

Last year, nearly 100 artists were exposed to over 2,000 visitors who visited
the city during the two-day event.

North Adams Open Studios offers visitors a glimpse inside the creative spaces
of working artists in the city, along with the opportunity to learn more about
the artistic process. Venues include artist-owned studios, galleries,
storefronts and group spaces  where artists from the city and neighboring
towns display their works outside of their studios.

The annual event showcases a diversity of artwork, including paintings,
printmaking, photography, graphic art, fabric art, paper-making, weaving,
pottery, sculpture and a variety of other visual and performing arts.

Registration information for the non-juried event, along with guidelines and
information for artists needing to rent space, is available at the North Adams
Open Studio website, www.northadamsopenstudios.com.

Artists, galleries, and businesses are encouraged to register before June 30 to
receive a discounted registration rate of $35. After June 30, the registration
fee, which includes a year-long spot on the events website and advertising in
regional and national publications, is $45. Fees for space in the NoAMA Mill
are $25 for an 8-foot by 10-foot spot; $35 for a 8-foot by 20-foot space and
$45 for an 8-foot by 30-foot spot. Space in the NoAMA Mill is limited and will
be reserved as participants requesting the space successfully complete the
registration process. Registration closes on August 31.

North Adams Open Studios informally began in 2004, when six artists, who had
moved into the then newly renovated Eclipse Mill Artists Lofts, opened their
doors to the community for the first time  hoping to introduce themselves and
their artwork to their new community.

Although the first event only drew 100 visitors, many of whom were former mill
workers curious to take a look around the lofts, the idea of hosting an annual
weekend-long event began to take shape.

The annual creative showcase became a city-wide event in 2006, including
artists from the Eclipse, Beaver and Windsor mills, creating a corridor of art
venues along Route 2. Artists without easily accessible home studios or
non-traditional studios were invited to join for the first time as well,
sharing space in vacant downtown storefronts.

In 2009, the all-volunteer run North Adams Open Studios was honored by the
Massachusetts Cultural Council  one of seven venues to be recognized with its
Gold Star Award that year. Open Studios, which was nominated by the Cultural
Council of Northern Berkshire, was selected from a field of some 5,000 eligible
venues supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, across the state.

To participate in North Adams Open Studios, register at
www.northadamsopenstudios.com.