image description
Artist Edward Pelkey with his paintings that were stolen earlier this year. Both paintings turned up at a tag sale on Elm Street on Sunday. Pelkey said the tag sale operator offered to sell them to him for $100.

Pittsfield Artist's Stolen Paintings Found After Six Months

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Someone stole two paintings by local artist Edward Pelkey this past January.

On Sunday, they turned up at a tag sale on Elm Street.

For Pelkey, it was a surreal experience. He was having a regular Sunday when he was alerted of their location by an acquaintance.

"Half an hour later, I was home with my paintings," he said. "It's strange how life works, both the theft and the return."

But this hasn't ended the six-month mystery of the artworks' whereabouts.

Back in January, the Pittsfield-based artist's works titled "The New Gunfighter in Town" and "The Cubist Bounty Hunter" were reported stolen from the Tartell Gallery in the rear of Methuselah Bar and Lounge on North Street.


Surveillance footage showed a man entering through an abutting, vacant storefront that shares a bathroom with the bar and gallery, turning on the lights, taking the artwork, and turning off the lights before exiting.
 
Due to the image quality, details of the man's features could not be made out but he was said to be familiar with the space due to the fast nature of the theft and had keys from the neighboring space.

The images were shared with the public and the Police Department turned the investigation over to its detective. At the time, a $1,000 reward was being offered for the paintings' return.

On Sunday, a friend of Pelkey's wife was walking past the convenience store at the corner of Elm and Newell Streets and noticed the oil paintings in a tag sale there. The police were alerted and Pelkey was there in about 10 minutes.

"It's just kind of crazy pulling into this spot and seeing my paintings for sale," he said.

At the time, nobody was monitoring items and Pelkey placed his paintings in the back of his car while he waited for someone to come outside.

When the man putting on the tag sale came outside there was some back and forth, with him asking what Pelkey was doing and Pelkey reporting that the paintings were stolen property.


At one point, he said he was offered $100 for his own artwork.

"I was like, 'That's not how it works,'" Pelkey said.

The police arrived quickly and tempered the situation down. The man reportedly did not offer an explanation as to how he acquired the paintings.

As far as Pelkey knows, the situation is still under investigation. The police reportedly told him that the man was going to be charged with possession of stolen property and investigated if it was him in the surveillance footage.

Police have not responded to an inquiry about the situation.

Pelkey said the owner of Methuselah, Yuki Cohen, was thrilled to hear that his paintings were found.

When asked what the future will look like for the paintings, he said he is just enjoying having them back for now.

"I'm kind of just like enjoying seeing them again," he said, reporting that he may put one back up in the Tartell Gallery to replace one that was sold but he has not decided yet.


Tags: theft,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

ServiceNet Warming Center Hosted 126 People This Winter

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

ServiceNet manages the warming shelter next to the church. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — ServiceNet's warming center has provided more than heat to unhoused individuals over the last four months and will run to the end of April.

It opened on Dec. 1 in the First United Methodist Church's dining area, next to ServiceNet's 40-bed shelter The Pearl. The agency has seen 126 individuals utilize the warming center and provided some case management to regulars.

While this winter was a success, they are already considering next winter.

"I've been on this committee many years now. There's probably only a few months out of the year that I don't talk about winter, so I'm always trying to plan for next winter," Erin Forbush, ServiceNet's director of shelter and housing, told the Homelessness Advisory Committee on Wednesday.

"We are in this winter and I'm already thinking what's going to happen next winter because I want to be really clear, winter shelter is never a given. We don't have this built into the state budget. It's not built into our budget, so there is always trying to figure out where we get money, and then where do we go with winter shelter."

She pointed out that warming centers are "very different" from shelters, which have a bed. The warming center is set up like a dining room, open from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m., and folks are welcome to stay for breakfast.

"We are asking people to come in, get warm, be out of the elements," Forbush explained.

The warming center will close on April 30.

View Full Story

More Pittsfield Stories