The art fair circuit has become synonymous with stale convention centers and echoing auditoriums. This summer in the Berkshires, a new fair aims to offer something different. Arrival, an invitational event landing at North Adams’s Tourists hotel, will add some commercial verve to a scenic region that is already crawling with art-loving pilgrims.
Conceived by three art-world insiders with deep ties to the area—artist Crystalle Lacouture, gallerist Yng-Ru Chen, and advisor Sarah Galender Meyer—the fair, running June 12 through 15, offers local “Williams art mafia” and Tanglewood acolytes the opportunity to brush shoulders with power collectors and museum machers from across the U.S.
The Aldrich’s Amy Smith-Stewart, the Portland Museum of Art’s Sayantan Mukhopadhyay, and Art Omi’s Natalie Diaz are just a few of the curatorial ambassadors who selected the three dozen exhibitors. (Participants include Upstate New York’s Wassaic Project, San Francisco’s Jonathan Carver Moore, and Los Angeles’s Abigail Ogilvy Gallery.) Beyond the “booths,” more awaits: A series of Lodge Talks will tackle everything from the future of university museums to alternative funding models for artists. Plus, local artists Jenny Holzer, Mary Lum, and Willie Binnie will let a chosen few into their creative sanctuaries for studio visits.
Ahead of Arrival’s debut, CULTURED sat down with its masterminds to discuss why the Berkshires represents such fertile ground for a fair—and to gather their tips for how to make the most of a visit. Legendary fries, free outdoor dance, and a Bauhaus-inspired bed and breakfast are just a few of the offerings to look forward to.
When did you start coming to the Berkshires?
Crystalle Lacouture: We started going to my husband’s parents’ house in Great Barrington from New York about 15 years ago. We were married in West Stockbridge.
Yng-Ru Chen: I went to college at Williams, which is next door to North Adams. Arrival coincides with my 25th college reunion, so that’s how long I’ve been spending time there.
Sarah Galender Meyer: I used to attend performances at Jacob’s Pillow in college, which is legendary in the dance world. I hadn’t actually been to North Adams until Yng, Crystalle, and I went exploring for potential fair locations, and I fell in love. Growing up in Upstate New York, it felt so familiar, and, given the area’s deep cultural roots, establishing Arrival there felt like an ideal and obvious choice.
How did the fair come about?
Chen: We weren’t scouting for a location for an art fair, it really was more of a “eureka” moment when we realized that we had something special forming that brought together folks who trained at Williams in art history—aka the Williams art mafia—three world-class museums, and the deep cultural history with other artistic disciplines in the Berkshires, such as Tanglewood, Jacob’s Pillow, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Shakespeare and Company, to name just a few. The fact that it’s nearly an equidistant drive from Boston and New York made it all the more appealing to us.
Which artist—past or present—do you feel truly embodies the spirit of the Berkshires?
Lacouture: I think the obvious answer is Norman Rockwell. He famously had a studio for years in Stockbridge, one of those quintessential New England small towns and still an historic jewel of the Berkshires. Coming from a contemporary art perspective, it’s easy to write off his work as merely illustrative and nostalgic for an idealized view of mid 20th-century America. However if you visit the Norman Rockwell Museum you’ll be surprised by his masterful craftsmanship, layered narrative considerations, and surprisingly modern messages—anti-war, pro civil-rights, pro-diversity. His works were a barometer for the times year by year.
James Turrell, C.A.V.U., 2021. Image courtesy of MASS MoCA.
Is there a piece of art, public installation, or architectural detail in the area that you find yourself returning to again and again?
Meyer: I love the James Turrell works at MASS MoCA, especially C.A.V.U., the Skyspace installation. You can enter it anytime, but I highly recommend booking a slot at dawn or dusk for a particularly impressive experience.
Chen: I pay an annual (sometimes more than once a year) homage to the Clark to see my favorite painting, John Singer Sargent’s Fumée d’Ambre Gris from 1880. It’s now on view in the Met’s Sargent show, which is great, but I’m sad that this summer will be the first time I will miss it at the Clark. I also return every time to Louise Bourgeois’s Eyes on the Williams campus.
Can you share a little-known art history fact or anecdote about the region that you love?
Chen: There is a beautiful Bauhaus-inspired bed and breakfast in Williamstown, the Guest House at Field Farm. Following the passing of the original owners of the house, Lawrence and Eleanor Bloedel, their art collection was divided and bequeathed to the Williams College Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum, and all initiated by a coin toss! (WCMA won and got to pick first.)
Who are your favorite artists in the community?
Chen: Mike Glier is an incredible artist and educator who has inspired so many people. His legacy is important.
Lacouture: Mary Lum, based in North Adams, taught for years at nearby Bennington College. She inspires my own work. We’re so honored that she is participating in Arrival and opening her studio to a limited group.
Thomas Schutte, Crystal, 2015. Image courtesy of the Clark Art Institute.
What's your ideal Berkshires art itinerary?
Lacouture: This will ideally have to be a weekend in 2027, after the new Williams College Museum of Art opens. Though two years away, I can’t wait to experience WCMA’s world-class collection in its new SO-IL-designed building and campus. From renderings, it looks like a cloud.
Until then, a morning hike up Stone Hill behind the Clark, with a water break in Thomas Schütte’s Crystal. Then back down to visit the Clark’s permanent collection, the rotating exhibitions in the main building, and the contemporary exhibitions in the Lunder Center. Robert Wiesenberger, the contemporary curator at the Clark, has brought some of the most brilliant shows to that ethereal hillside space.
Then, a leisurely late lunch at Casita before heading into MASS MoCA to see some magic. My order is usually the current shows, followed by the Sol Lewitt Wall drawings, Louise Bourgeois, Joe Wardwell, James Turrell, Mary Lum… If you have kids, the Kidspace is delightful. My three energetic children could always let loose and make something there while I walked the galleries.
What’s your favorite work in a local collection that deserves more love?
Lacouture: The Allan Sekula Library at the Clark’s Manton Reading Room. A 15,000-volume library belonging to the late artist, gifted by his wife, Sally Stein, in 2015. These were Sekula’s books, still in an order that’s representative of all the varied interests an artist follows on their way to their work. In a library setting, they just fit, but as they are installed in a high balcony space, they are contained and unreachable to prospective readers. It is the most subtle and poetic memorial, a profound honoring of a beloved.
Where do you recommend shopping for art gifts—or a treat for yourself?
Chen: The museum gift shops at the Clark and MASS MoCA are both excellent in their own ways.
Lacouture: Tourists’s gift shop. They’ll have an expanded version at Arrival, curated by design genius Julie Pearson. Expect to find Japanese robes, soaps by Mater, beautiful branded Tourists merch. Julie and several of the Tourists staff are cool girls from Austin so the vibe has always been high quality and small batch mixed with a dash of rock-n-roll.
Best place for antiques?
Lacouture: Great Barrington Antiques Center on Route 7. Each seller’s booth display is a little vignette. Along the way to finding the perfect entry bench (ours is an old church pew), you’ll travel through dozens of micro-worlds describing mid-century modern party parlors, Yankee New England dressing rooms, or turn-of-the-century men’s clubs.
Where do you love to go for morning coffee before diving into a day of art?
Chen: The Store at Five Corners in Williamstown is a historic site, and a great spot for coffee, pastries, and bucolic scenery.
Where do you go when you’re in search of a treat? A favorite bakery or ice cream shop, perhaps?
Chen: Jack’s Hot Dog Stand in downtown North Adams is a tiny diner, and yes, primarily for hot dogs. The most affordable, simple stop for a bite to eat. It’s been in operation since 1917, through many economic downturns. Bring five bucks, sit at the counter, and enjoy your hot dog and fries.
Lacouture: There’s a real north vs south battle about ice cream in my house: SoCo in Great Barrington and Lickety Split in Williamstown. Your choice.
What’s your favorite restaurant to stop by after a full day of taking in art?
Chen: Mezze is one of my favorite restaurants, period.
Lacouture: The Airport Rooms at Tourists. Everything is delicious but the super crispy, slightly vinegary french fries are legendary.
What's the most underrated thing to do in the Berkshires? Overrated?
Lacouture: Underrated: Seeing free outdoor dance at Jacob’s Pillow on a warm summer evening. Bring a picnic. A life highlight. Overrated: En masse leaf-peeping.