A house from Houghton Street was cut up to fit into Building 5 for 'Training Ground.' (Mass MoCA)
NORTH ADAMS - The detritus that was to be Swiss artist Christoph Buchel's first major American installation is being hauled out of Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.
Describing the unfinished "Training Ground For Democracy" as "abandoned materials," museum officials said the massive Building 5 gallery will be cleared for a new exhibition in November.
“With several hundred tons of materials and thousands of objects and partial constructions sitting abandoned in our galleries, we carefully considered what we could do,†Joseph C. Thompson, Mass MoCA’s director, said in a statement late Tuesday."We obviously cared a great deal for the work and had expended extraordinary effort and energies to try to bring it into existence; we did not want to act precipitously in either dismantling or displaying it. With no other options, and wanting to move forward as the situation continued to draw resources away from other artists and public programming, we sought a declaration of our respective rights by an impartial party – a federal judge.â€
The museum spent more than $300,000 - double the estimated budget - on the installation, which was to include a wrecked North Adams Police cruiser, a house moved from Hougton Street, one of the theaters from the old North Adams Cinema and numerous items donated by local residents.
But the museum balked at trying to get the fuselage of a jetliner and Buchel walked off in late 2006 and never returned. The exhibit, which was to open last December, was covered with yellow tarps as the two sides tried to settle the dispute, only to land in court.
Judge Michael A. Ponsor of U.S. District Court in Springfield on Friday rejected Buchel's claims that the museum had violated his rights under the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 by allowing the public to see parts of the exhibit. Buchel cited a tour of the exhibit by Gov. Deval Patrick as evidence. The judge, however, ruled the act didn't apply to unfinished work.
In his summary judgement, Ponsor said the museum had the right to display the work or not since it had supplied funding and labor. If the installation was put on display, Buchel had the right to request a disclaimer.
According to The Boston Globe, Buchel has decided to appeal the decision.
Museum officials said they had "explored every possible avenue in an effort to re-engage the artist, and when those efforts proved futile, the museum offered him the opportunity to retrieve the materials from the museum galleries (reimbursing the museum for its costs), which he declined to do."
The exhibit was canceled in May and the museum requested a declaratory judgment from the court on its and the artist's rights over the unfinished work.
"We are deeply appreciative of the court’s thoughtful scrutiny of this matter," said Thompson in the statement. "After giving careful deliberation to the interests of many constituents, including the artist’s own views, and factoring in the limited time window available given our normal exhibition cycle - together with other considerations both logistical and philosophical - we have decided to begin removing the materials immediately without placing them on public display."
A new exhibition, Jenny Holzer’s "Projections," will open in the space Nov. 17.
The museum also said it would co-host a symposium with the Clark Art Institute devoted to the issues raised by this case. The symposium will be held later this fall.
Meanwhile, Buchel will open a new installation later this month at the Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions that is described as "a commentary on past and present military agendas." It will include replicas of missiles, bombs, and other military equipment stashed away as if hidden and forgotten in a small waiting room, discovered only after walking through a series of adjacent rooms and doors.
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so who is going to pay for the removal and the cost's associated with the cancelled exhibit?
North Adams School Finance Panel Reviews Fiscal 2026 Spending Plan
By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Finance & Facilities Committee took a deeper dive this week into next year's school spending plan.
The draft proposal for fiscal 2026 is $21,636,220, up 3.36 percent that will be offset with $940,008 in school choice funds, bringing the total to $20,696,212, or a 2.17 percent increase.
Business and Finance Director Nancy Rauscher said the district's school choice account would be in relatively good shape at the end of fiscal 2026.
As a practice, the district has been to trying not to exceed the prior year's revenue and to maintain a 5 percent surplus for unexpected special education expenses. However, this year's revenue would be about $500,000 so the amount used would be significantly more.
"But given our current balance, we could absorb that in the net result of what we're anticipating in the way of revenue next year," Rauscher said. "Relative to committing $940,000 to school choice spending next year, that would leave us with a projected balance at the end of FY 26 of a little over $1.2 million, and that's about 6 percent of our operating budget."
But committee members expressed concerns about drawing down school choice funds that are projected to decrease in coming years.
"I think mostly we're going to go through this and we're going to see things that this just can't be cut, right? It's just, it is what it is, and if we want to provide, what we can provide," said Richard Alcombright. "How do we prepare for this, this revenue shortfall?"
Ashlyn Lesure scored 18 points, and Regan Shea and Emma Meczywor added 15 and 11, respectively, as the Hurricanes successfully defended their 2024 state crown and won the program’s fourth state title in a run that has seen Hoosac Valley go to the state final nine times since 2014. click for more
The draft proposal for fiscal 2026 is $21,636,220, up 3.36 percent that will be offset with $940,008 in school choice funds, bringing the total to $20,696,212, or a 2.17 percent increase.
click for more
Two members of the family, an adult and a minor, sustained serious injuries; two members of the family, an adult and a minor, sustained minor injuries; and one four-year old child died inside the residence. click for more
Mayor Jennifer Macksey had hoped to gain immediate approval on the purchase-and-sale agreement with the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation but councilors balked at approving a document they'd had for only a few days.
click for more
Moresi & Associates is moving forward with housing in the former Notre Dame School and the Williamstown Theatre Festival is planning performances in North Adams.
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