Whitney Center for the Arts Taps New Director

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Monica Bliss has been appointed director of performing arts at the Whitney Center for the Arts, the arts center in the renovated historic Thomas Colt House, the former home of the Women's Club of the Berkshires on Wendell Avenue.

A resident of New Lebanon, N.Y., Bliss volunteered as president and chair of publicity for Town Players of Pittsfield, Pittsfield's own historic 98-year old community theater. Previously, she worked as a sales manager for Barrington Stage Company. 

Bliss studied opera at the Hartt School of Music and theater at both Berkshire Community College and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. She graduated from Wahconah Regional High School in Dalton.

A soprano in the Berkshire Opera Festival Chorus, Bliss has performed with many local music and theater groups, including Shaker Mountain Opera, Berkshire Concert Choir, Berkshire Lyric, Town Players of Pittsfield, Ghent Playhouse, BCC Players and Berkshire Theatre Group. 

"The Whit" will feature monthly theatrical and musical programming for audiences of all ages, including an Early Bird Cabaret, a Teen Open Mic Night, Princess Song & Tea Parties, Jazz Nights, a return of the popular Opera Notte series and more.

Dalton Health Board Orders Dust-Abatement Plan for Concrete Site

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
05:36PM / Monday, April 14, 2025

Residents protest on Wednesday ahead of a Board of Health meeting. 

DALTON, Mass. —  Residents urged for quicker action to address the dust and particulates affecting their neighborhood allegedly from Berkshire Concrete's dig site.

 

During Wednesday's meeting, the Board of Health voted to send a letter to the company requiring a comprehensive plan by April 25. 

 

This letter establishes a formal deadline for submitting a detailed plan to address the dust nuisance and notes that failure to comply with this requirement could lead to financial penalties and potential legal action.

 

The board also recommended to request that a third-party review the dust mitigation plans and ongoing air quality monitoring as conditions of the special permit for Berkshire Concrete.

 

Resident David Pugh argued that Petricca Industries, the parent company of Berkshire Concrete, has shown a generational disregard. 

 

"The history speaks for itself," he said. A petition submitted by residents argues this point, using newspaper clippings dating back to 1976. 

 

"What we need with [the board's] action, is the same level of reaction by the people who created the problem to begin," Pugh said.