Tom Goldscheider, the education coordinator for the David Ruggles Center for History and Education, leads a group from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and MassDevelopment on a historic tour of Florence, Wednesday. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS
Cassandra Holden, executive director of the BomByx Center in Florence, talks to a group from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and MassDevelopment on Wednesday morning. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS
Cassandra Holden, the executive director of the BomByx Center, talks to a group from the Mass Cultural Council and MassDevelopment on Wednesday morning, September, 14, 2022. —STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS
Tom Goldscheider, the education coordinator for the David Ruggles Center for History and Education, stands in front of the former home of Sojourner Truth while leading a group from the Mass Cultural Council and MassDevelopment on a historic tour of Florence. —STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS
Cassandra Holden, the executive director of the BomByx Center, talks to a group from the Mass Cultural Council and MassDevelopment on Wednesday morning, September, 14, 2022. —STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS
Tom Goldscheider, the education coordinator for the David Ruggles Center for History and Education, leads a group from the Mass Cultural Council and MassDevelopment on a historic tour of Florence. —STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS
NORTHAMPTON — City leaders and state officials met in Florence Center on Wednesday morning to tour the village’s arts offerings and historic sites, and to announce a round of grant awards to major projects and nonprofit organizations benefiting the cultural economy throughout western Massachusetts.
The heads of the Massachusetts Cultural Council and MassDevelopment joined Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra, a handful of city councilors and several state lawmakers for a walk from the commercial building at 30 North Maple St. to Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity at 130 Pine St., where this year’s Cultural Facilities Fund recipients were revealed.
“I’m a western Mass. sycophant. I am just obsessed,” Michael Bobbitt, executive director of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, said during the tour.
Bombyx was awarded $169,000 for the acquisition of its building and needed renovations, while Historic Northampton received $106,000 for its Shepherd Barn restoration project. The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst was awarded $90,000 for improvements including new entrance doors and outdoor lighting, and Holyoke Community Media received $200,000 for the completion of its Community Media and Education Center.
Other grants include $200,000 for accessibility and mechanical upgrades in the Jones Library’s Burnett Art Gallery in Amherst; $150,000 for Northampton Community Arts Trust to build a box office, concession area and art gallery, and make renovations to its lobby; and $22,000 for The Performance Project in Northampton to conduct a feasibility study for a permanent facility.
According to the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the 31 awards total $3.328 million for projects and programs in western Massachusetts. Bobbitt said the agency is also seeking applications to give away $5,000 awards to 3,000 artists, arts workers and gig workers in the state, and five unrestricted $75,000 awards are available to organizations.
Sciarra said Florence is seeing “amazing cultural and economic development activity,” and the city is “grateful for (the state’s) interest and support as we promote Northampton as an important cultural center of western Massachusetts.”
State Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, and state Rep. Dan Carey, D-Easthampton, were present for the Florence tour, along with MassDevelopment president & CEO Dan Rivera. When the delegation traveled to Amherst in the afternoon, state Rep. Mindy Domb, D-Amherst, joined them at the Eric Carle Museum for a roundtable discussion with people working in the cultural and creative fields.
“Northampton and Amherst are home to dynamic arts and culture communities that create high-quality jobs, drive equitable growth and enrich local neighborhoods,” Rivera said in a statement, adding that MassDevelopment is “proud to support these institutions” by administering the grants.
At 9 a.m., officials met with artist Donnabelle Casis in her North Maple Street studio to hear the history of Florence Night Out, which she started in 2013, and the organizing efforts for the Sept. 24 event, planned for 4-7 p.m. in Florence Center.
“I kind of think of it as a MassMOCA in downtown Florence,” Casis said, adding that the goal is to take art out of the “white walls” of museums and bring it right to the people. “The purpose, also, of this festival is to democratize art. … It is a free festival. Anyone can go. No one is pressured to buy anything.”
Local businesses and restaurants are planning to participate. Children can make chalk art in the street in front of Friendly’s, she said.
“This, in essence, is also a Taste of Florence,” Casis said. “We decided to close the streets because my vision is I want to see dancing in the streets.”
Tom Goldscheider, the education coordinator for the David Ruggles Center for History and Education, led a section of the walking tour from the Florence Civic Center to Bombyx, regaling the delegation with stories of 19th-century abolitionists. Standing outside the home of Sojourner Truth and then the nearby statue in her honor, he spoke of her travels around the country to speak for justice.
“Sojourner Truth had a very remarkable life. She survived unspeakable cruelty as a young person and then went on to become an itinerant preacher” before making her way to Florence and settling in with other abolitionists, Goldscheider explained. “She took one look and said, ‘Maybe I’ll spend the night.’ … She ended up staying here for 14 years.”
Goldscheider also recalled Basil Dorsey, a self-emancipated former slave who rallied other Black residents against the federal Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Showing officials Dorsey’s gravestone in Park Street Cemetery, he said every other Black resident ultimately left Florence to stay ahead of possible slave catchers from the South, but the community pooled their money with Dorsey’s to formally buy his freedom.
“We tell the story of these people. We try to recreate their lives,” he said, pointing to a nearby maple tree under which Henry Anthony, the first known African-American resident of Florence, is buried.
Another figure of the abolition movement was the Florence Congregational Church, which is still standing and serving as a house of worship in addition to housing the Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity.
Cassandra Holden, executive director of Bombyx, said the performance, art exhibition and rehearsal space now features a seven-foot, handcrafted grand piano that attracts renowned musicians who want to play it. She said that in “a contemporary, secular society, we still need” places to come together to enjoy art, learn from each other and reflect.
“We also host rites of passage here. We have had weddings for members of the community. Last weekend, we had a beautiful memorial service,” Holden said, and an event is planned for Sunday, Sept. 18, at 3 p.m. to celebrate the life of local activist Dr. Marty Nathan, who died last year.
Holden told officials that she is interested in establishing a cultural district around Bombyx that would encompass similar attractions in the area. The designation, she said, would serve as “connective tissue” for artists, historians and other creatives.
“In many ways, we are a community center,” Holden said. “It’s really exciting to activate all these spaces, and these types of religious structures were really built for fellowship. They’re built for gathering.”
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