Assets for Artists is thrilled to welcome a cohort of Pittsfield-based artists to the Capacity Building Program for the second year in a row! We hope you’ll take a few minutes to read, meet and follow them as they progress through our program!
Alice hixon kirk (she/her)
Alice Hixon Kirk is a musician, educator, and industrial designer who makes fully functional and sculptural skateboards from scratch. A trained classical pianist and cellist, her original music compositions combine classical, jazz, and experimental sounds made from field recordings and cassette tape loops. Her hand-made skateboards feature experimental shapes that question traditional design and present new possible styles of skateboarding. In recent years, Alice has become engaged with her local community through teaching skateboard design and fabrication workshops to Berkshire County youth.
Kyle strack (he/him)
Kyle Strack is a ceramic artist and designer. Nature has always been important to both his life and his art. Growth, erosion, colors, forms, and patterns that occur in the natural world are great influences in the work he makes. Working with his hands to directly inform, sculpt, build, and create his work gives him a physical connection to the natural material of clay and the world that it comes from. Through his work, he seeks to create an environment that welcomes viewers to immerse themselves in the beauty and peacefulness he feels when in nature.
Maleek Adams-Powell (he/him)
Ma’Leek Adams-Powell is a contemporary street artist from Pittsfield known for his expressive large-scale canvases. Blending acrylic, oil, spray paint, and various materials, he creates captivating works that reflect his unique perspective on the world through bold tones and evocative imagery. Adams-Powell's art speaks with a passionate voice, inviting viewers to explore his creative vision.
Mark Messina is a multi-talented artist from Berkshire County known for his work as a producer under the name “THINKmark” and a rap artist under the moniker “Mako Messi.” With over a decade of experience creating music, Mark has established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the industry. His signature tag, “THINKmark,” can be heard as a producer on various projects, from hip-hop to electronic music, showcasing his versatility and skill in the studio. Mark brings a unique style as a rapper, blending introspective lyrics with catchy hooks and infectious energy. His music is a reflection of his passion for storytelling, with a focus on real-life experiences and emotions. With his wife Mark runs TheCollab, an art gallery, co-working space, and recording studio in downtown Pittsfield catered toward artists and creators of all ages who don’t have their own space to work and make. In addition to serving as the resident Sound Engineer at TheCollab, Mark is also currently a part time student at Berklee College of Music studying Music Production.
Maya rose (she/her)
Maya Rose is a craft artist who recently moved back to Pittsfield. Her work marries a deep passion for decolonization and reconnection to ancestral wisdom in the realm of spirituality. With Reflower Ritual, Maya creates handmade brooms, besoms, and other ritual tools including salts and sprays for use alongside brooms in cleanings rituals. Each broom is handcrafted with natural materials and a little bit of magic. Maya hopes that when interacting with her work, you will feel a stronger connection to the earth and the ancestors and be reminded that there is magic to be found in all that we do.
Nathan Leigh is a composer, animator, writer, and programmer. His plays include Let's Start a Zine, The Horse Thief, and the short play collection The Hyperion. His album Myths, Conspiracy Theories, and Other Stuff I Made Up To Sound Interesting was released in 2020 and the stop motion video for “The Immortan Joe Memorial Highway” won Best Music Video at the Jersey Shore Film Festival and Geek Fest Toronto. In 2020, Nathan and partner Nicole Orabona founded cirqueSaw Productions. cirqueSaw’s debut production, POV: You Are an AI Achieving Consciousness won the 2023 Young-Howze Theatre Award for Immersive Production of the Year, was listed as one of No Proscenium’s Best Immersive Experiences of 2023, given a 2024 No Pro Editor’s award for Special Recognition for Merging Technology & Immersive Performance, and was nominated for Outstanding Remote Experience and Reader’s Special Award. cirqueSaw's 2023 workshop for Void Main, presented as part of the From Home Fest, won the 2024 Young-Howze Theatre Award for Immersive Production of the Year. Nathan is currently working on his debut stop motion feature, The Golem.
Nicole Orabona is an award-winning actor, director, producer, zine maker, and committer to the bit. As an actor, they have worked on over 30 interactive productions and prestige immersive events for clients that include Netflix and MGM. On-screen you can see them opposite Claire Danes in Hulu’s “Fleishman is in Trouble” or recurring as Det. Arielle Lehane on “Law and Order.”
With their partner Nathan Leigh, they co-founded cirqueSaw. cirqueSaw’s debut digital production, POV: You Are an AI Achieving Consciousness won the 2023 Young-Howze Theatre Award for Immersive Production of the Year, was listed as one of No Proscenium’s Best Immersive Experiences of 2023, given a 2024 No Pro Editor’s award for Special Recognition for Merging Technology & Immersive Performance, and was nominated for Outstanding Remote Experience and Reader’s Special Award. After a year as co-artistic director, Nicole now serves as the marketing director of Emit Theatre. She was a member of the 2022 Moxie Arts Incubator cohort, a finalist for the 2023 R.Evolución Latina Doreen Montalvo “Do It Anyway” scholarship, and, along with Nathan Leigh, was named a 2024 Creative of the Year by the Young-Howze Theatre Journal.
Nicole is a proud member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA, and Ring of Keys.
Peter Vacchina is a sculptor working primarily in marble, mosaic, and the occasional ice sculpture. His art reflects his personal life experiences, particularly his time living and traveling abroad. Before becoming a full-time artist in Pittsfield he lived and taught science in Belgium, Brazil, Mexico, England, Italy, and California. He appreciates the challenge of working in marble and its potential to last for centuries. In his marble sculptures, Peter seeks to invoke memory in the way a scent or sound might, and in doing so inspire heartfelt stories in the viewer.
Shelsy Rodriguez is a visual artist from Colombia, a place full of color, traditions, diversity, and life. Her inspiration comes from the way that we, as human beings, relate to the environment, just as our ancestors did. Shelsy is currently studying environmental science at Berkshire Community College and learning about the beauty of the planet, as well as the environmental problems caused by humanity, which has introduced themes of extinction, pollution and deforestation into her work. Shelsy uses painting to celebrate the diversity, fertility, beauty, and spirituality of her homeland, and to call attention to the threats it faces in the form of inequality, ecosystem loss, and mismanagement of resources.
Stephanie Quetti is an artist who loves to paint! Her first love was working with oil paint in Morris Bennett's art class at Taconic High School. As a Visual Art student at Berkshire Community College she was exposed to the world of abstract expressionism, and studied color design and printmaking where her interest in color robustly emerged. From BCC Stephanie went on to receive a degree in Psychology and Fine Art from Smith College. While most of her career has been in education and social work, she never lost her love of making art. Most of her work since 2017 have been painting large community oriented, public murals. She loves to take a plain, boring hunk of metal or cement and create a new, beautiful image that she hopes uplifts and inspires people. Many of these murals, including her work with the Pittsfield Community Gardens and the Westside Mural Project, were made in collaboration with children and youth. She is currently working with a group of 6th graders on a mural under a bridge in Lanesborough.
In order to expand her creative practice she has begun taking classes at the Old Stone Mill in Adams and has been creating smaller works inspired by nature.
"The action of creating a piece of art, either alone or in coordination with others is truly a dynamic and precious experience. Life would be empty without being able to make art."
Tyler Williamson (she/her)
Tyler Williamson is an aspiring fashion designer currently working to launch a sustainable clothing brand for women later in 2024. She has shown her designs in multiple showcases in the past two years since completing her undergraduate degree. Since October 2023 she has worked out of a personal studio to perform professional fittings and work on her own designs. In an effort to pre-launch her line she is planning to host a fashion show in Pittsfield. She hopes that this initiative will be an opportunity to showcase her work while building community and opportunity with other local creatives working in hair, makeup, and fashion. Her goal is to create stylishly timeless clothing with sustainability at the forefront.