The Mastheads summer lecture series serves as gathering events for the community. Image courtesy of Westside Riverway.
Founded in 2016, The Mastheads offers a range of programs to support its mission. These include a lecture series, a writers residency, mobile writing studios, public educational programming, and the publication of anthologies filled with writings from around the region. In 2019, support from the NEH and Mass Humanities, the NEH’s state affiliate, helped the Mastheads connect local residents to the Berkshires’ literary, artistic, and urban history through a four-part public lecture series. Two programs were focused on work produced through the writers residency and two focused on the Gilded Age and late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century cultural figures who spent time in the Berkshires. This public programming serves as a catalyst for community-wide engagement with Pittsfield and Berkshire County’s shared history and cultural heritage, and helps to cultivate pride in place and community.
“Pittsfield struggles with severe poverty and helplessness/hopelessness. Having real working writers come through is inspiring to the writers and dreamers we have here. It makes art seem reasonable and possible.”
–Survey respondent
Read More
The summer lecture series provides the local Pittsfield community with opportunities to engage in the literary heritage of their area. Image courtesy of Westside Riverway.
The Mastheads Reader is published every summer and features writing from the writer residents and local community members. Image courtesy of Westside Riverway.
Through robust partnerships with a range of organizations, The Mastheads weaves together diverse programming for local audiences. The Mastheads established meaningful relationships across community organizations–from the library, to the farmers market, to groups looking to support and improve the life of their neighborhoods. In an interview, one of The Mastheads’ visiting writers described the program as a “symbiotic interchange,” a site at which otherwise disparate groups come together to celebrate Pittsfield as a site of cultural and artistic production. Another writer resident explained: “A lot of these artists residencies can tend to feel super siloed. This program was pretty much continually surrounded by people in the community.”
Facts & Figures
100%
of respondents agreed they take pride in the fact that this program is being held in Pittsfield.
Facts & Figures
100%
of respondents agreed they take pride in writers from around the country coming to Pittsfield.
Facts & Figures
97%
of respondents felt that participating in this event enhanced their sense of connection to Pittsfield.
Ninety-seven percent of community members responding to surveys distributed at the summer lectures indicated that the program enhanced their appreciation for Pittsfield’s history and their sense of connection to the area, and 92% felt motivated to learn more. Moreover, 100% of respondents indicated a sense of pride in the fact that the program is held in Pittsfield and that writers from around the country come to and celebrate this area. When asked to describe the impact they believe The Mastheads has on Pittsfield, one respondent stated: “The program creates a through-line from writers dating to the 19th and 20th centuries to today’s (young and excellent) writers.”
