Successful artist-run project in Pittsfield comes to an end

An artists’ project begun a decade ago as a means of helping to revitalize Pittsfield’s downtown has been so successful, organizers say, that it is being wound down.

The Storefront Artist Project sought out vacant space on the first floor of buildings that artists could occupy for free, according to Megan Whilden, Pittsfield’s director of cultural development. Some of the buildings had been empty for 20 years, she said.

Passersby could observe artists at work in these street-level studios. The project as a whole, Whilden said, “was basically an art project that played out on the streets of Pittsfield.”

Eventually, the studios helped to revitalize the city’s center, now home to roughly 50 restaurants, shops and other enticing venues, said Whilden, a former volunteer for the artists’ project.

As the downtown began to flourish and attract businesses, the street-level space slowly started renting out, forcing artist to move. Many, according to Whilden, did not move very far: They ended up renting space on the upper floors of the same buildings.

The downtown district, home to roughly 50 artists studios, now has a lower vacancy rate than does the local mall, Whilden said.

Mayor James Ruberto, who is leaving office this month, highlighted the Storefront Artists Project in a short video that won the 2010 Massachusetts Cultural Commission’s “Mayors Arts Challenge.”