Talk Slated on Growth of North Adams Art Community

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Gallery North will host a talk by artist and developer Eric Rudd on Wednesday, Nov. 12. 
 
"The North Adams Artist Community: How we got here and where is it going?" will be held at the gallery, 9 Eagle St., at 6 p.m. The public is invited
 
Rudd is a well-known sculptor/mixed media artist. He works with new technological processes and materials including robotics, theme park rides, industrial spray polyurethanes and blow-molded polycarbonates.
 
Born in Washington, D.C., Rudd majored in art at American University and studied in Italy and Austria. He was invited to join the Jefferson Place Gallery in Washington, where his work was shown from 1966 until the gallery's closing in 1974. Moving to North Adams in 1990, his 60,000 square-foot studio in the historic Beaver Mill is one of the largest individual artist studios in the country.
 
Along with his art, Rudd has focused on creating studio spaces for people in the arts and has been involved with numerous artist-space projects. He converted a large warehouse into the first artist-studio space in Washington for himself and 20 other artists and galleries in 1978 and repurposed the Beaver Mill in 1989 into 40 condominium live/work artist lofts. Rescuing a historic former church in 1999 and another in 2012, Rudd founded the Barbara and Eric Rudd Art Foundation, doing business as Berkshire Art Museum.
 
He is the author of numerous articles, illustrated children's books, plays, novels, as well as books geared for artists including "The Art World Dream — Alternative Strategies for Working Artists" and "The Art Studio/Loft Manual — For Ambitious Artists and Creators."
 
For more information: www.EricRudd.com, Beavermill.com, BAMuseum.org.
 
Gallery North is open Tuesday through Friday 3-7, Saturday 3-8 and Sunday 10-2. 
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Greylock School Geothermal Funding Raises Eyebrows

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — As the Greylock School project moves into Module 6 — design development — there's a nagging question related to the geothermal system. 
 
There's been concern as to whether the system will work at the site and now a second concern is if it will be funded. 
 
The first question is so far partially answered based on investigative drilling at the closed school over the last week, said Jesse Saylor of TSKP Studio. 
 
"There was the potential that we couldn't drill at all, frankly, from the stories we were hearing, but ... we had a good we had a good experience here," he told the School Building Committee on Tuesday. "It is not an ideal experience, but it's pretty good. We can drill quickly, and the cost to drill, we don't expect will be that high."
 
He had spoken with the driller and the rough estimate he was given was "reasonable relative to our estimate." The drilling reached a depth of 440 feet below grade and was stopped at that point because the water pressure was so high. 
 
The bedrock is deep, about 200 feet, so more wells may be needed as the bedrock has a higher conductivity of heat. This will be clearer within a week or so, once all the data is reviewed. 
 
"Just understanding that conductivity will really either confirm our design and assumptions to date, it may just modify them slightly, or it's still possible that it could be a big change," Saylor said. 
 
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