Instagram story viewer> @milltownfoundation> Tagged

milltownfoundation

@milltownfoundation

762

followers

149

following

Investing in people, places, and possibilities in the Berkshires.

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

The new mural at the Pittsfield Bus Station is officially unveiled!

Today, we celebrated local artist Laura Barrios and her beautiful work, Making the Berkshires Home, “Hacer tu hogar en Los Berkshires”.

Through her mural, Laura reflects on what the Berkshires means to her: a place that welcomed her with open arms and became home. The piece features the Yellow Warbler and American Robin, birds found in the Berkshires that help tell a larger story of migration, movement, and belonging.

Just as birds travel, arrive, and find a place within this landscape, Laura’s work reflects the experience of making a home in a new place, and the warmth of a community that welcomes you.

We’re so excited to celebrate Laura and see her story become part of Pittsfield’s public landscape. 🐦❤️🎨

240

19

“Every semester, for the past six years… just because he believes all kids deserve to know what this feels like.” — Sarah Trudgeon, @themastheads

I’m honored to teach songwriting in Pittsfield schools with the @blackwingfoundation and The Mastheads. We write the songs together and the kids draw the album art. Then every year we close it out with a party in Kellogg Park, where they sing the songs they wrote. Watching them make something out of nothing is one of the most rewarding parts of my life.

6 years. 11 songs. Hundreds of kids. Stream The Fireside Poets — link in bio.

#musiceducation #artsineducation #extracurricular #themastheads #blackwingfoundation

138

23

Pittsfield has a new place to play! ⚽

We celebrated the opening of the new mini pitch at Crane Park alongside local players, community leaders and project partners. This new space gives local youth a safe, accessible place to play soccer, build friendships and enjoy the game.

Thank you to the U.S. Soccer Foundation, the City of Pittsfield and Mill Town Foundation for helping make this project possible, and to everyone who joined us to celebrate.

Check out a few highlights from the opening!

#MassYouthSoccer #SoccerForAll #PittsfieldMA #ussoccerfoundation

29

2

The Let It Shine Public Art Partnership will unveil a new mural by Laura Barrios on Thursday, October 22 at 4 pm on the train platform at the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority Intermodal Center located at 1 Columbus Avenue, Pittsfield. This project is part of the “Emerging Artist Program” which is now in its third year.

Laura worked alongside mentor artist, Jesse Tobin McCauley, to develop and execute a 20’w x 6’h mural on the train platform alongside three other existing murals.

Laura Barrios is a Colombian visual artist who has built her career through drawing, painting, tattooing, and muralism. Her artistic training and experiences in different cities and countries have enriched her visual language, characterized by realism, attention to detail, and a deep connection with nature.

As an immigrant artist who has continued to develop her career in Massachusetts, Laura finds in art a way to tell stories, create connections, and build new bonds with the communities around her.

Her mural in Pittsfield features a setting inspired by the forests of the Berkshires, where three migratory birds take center stage in a composition that celebrates the beauty of nature and the journeys that connect different territories. Through these birds, the work also evokes the human experience of migration: leaving behind a familiar place, crossing borders, and adapting to a new environment without losing the connection to one’s origin. The mural invites reflection on belonging, empathy, and respect for each person’s right to seek opportunities and build a home of their own, wherever life takes them. Through this work, Laura celebrates the diversity of the paths that unite us and the importance of recognizing that we all deserve a place to call home.

"The Emerging Artist Program is all about cultivating the next generation of mural artists in Pittsfield,” says Tobin McCauley. “It was wonderful to mentor Laura as our third emerging artist and have her contribute her talent and creativity to the BRTA mural wall!"

83

3

I absolutely loved the Leadership Retreat I just attended courtesy of @milltownfoundation and hosted at the legendary @kripalucenter. 🧘‍♀️

I wasn't sure what to expect when I got there, but I figured it'd basically be a crash course explaining that screaming at your employees is wrong, even when they're totally asking for it. I certainly didn't expect circle time with impromptu dancing, talking to Mother Nature, guided meditations and being forced to sing if you were even a minute late to a session.

But as we did those things, we learned that leadership starts with you, not with those you lead.

But also - don't yell at your employees. It's not cool. 🙅‍♀️

#berkshires #leadershipdevelopment #guidedmeditations #mothernaturerocks #lenox

142

9

Downtown Pittsfield, Inc.'s inaugural Local Love Arts Festival will take place on Sunday, September 27, 2026, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at The Common in Downtown Pittsfield.

#heartoftheberkshires #intheberkshires #pittsfieldproud #pittsfieldma

12

0

The Josh Billings is just around the corner! You can donate now to Andy, Joe & Sam to support Strong Little Souls. 🩵🎗️

Mill Town Foundation is also giving the top 5 teams with the most individual donors an extra $500! Every donor counts, and no contribution is too small. Help Andy, Joe & Sam get that extra $500 for Strong Little Souls!

Donate by September 20th!

Good luck, Andy, Joe & Sam!🏃🛶🚴

https://www.pledgereg.com/5888/Team/32624?fbclid=IwVERFWAUaYXRwZG9mAWZkaWQWUOqVY3NuFsA73DAskzzUmNRCyxOlcWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR4QkJ1mu6Ron8lSSHFF0DpnqiwvldO6hiThStrfSVOnWBDdvPUbQsG15IWerg_aem_R_MNsMSBnFjyWGa4eGBDWA

#stronglittlesouls #joshbillings #berkshirecounty #theberkshires #westernmass

22

2

Next Wednesday, September 23, from 7:00–9:00 p.m. @wanderberkshires in Pittsfield. Wander Dance Community Mixer

The evening is designed as an informal opportunity for dance artists, educators, enthusiasts, and community members from across the region to meet, connect, and spend time together. There’s no formal agenda - just a chance to build relationships, share conversation, and enjoy the evening. @djbengey will also be joining us, so there will be plenty of music and room to move! Join us next Wednesday 🎵🕺🏿🧑🏿‍🩰👯🪩🩰

16

2

The music for this piece was originally part of a techno album which @jessica.shand approached me about creating a music video for. It morphed in a completely wonderful (and so inspirational way only Jess would go) into a project in partnership with @nasa considering Saturns moons. The music brought this wonderful feeling of suspension, mystery, and tenderness combined with timeless insurmountable distance, which felt very beautiful and sincere.

I composed parts of this solo phrase within the piece after emerging from @aimbykyleabraham Summer Intensive 2025 where I’d deepened an already profound sense of breath, power, and sensuality within ballet, and my first New York Pride. Ballet has always included folk dance, and I see techno as a really significant contemporary folk dance right now—from Detroit, but now also as an international way people come together to dance (one of the few instances people really gladly turn off their phones and be with each other). These qualities within techno as well as aspects central to what it is as a form in its own way—repetition, timelessness, an originally queer BIPOC art form which uses joy as resistance—were aspects I wanted within this piece.

My sister hilariously said someone in front of her in the audience said I looked ‘mythic’ haha.

PC: Marina Domínguez, @maru.studio.art

46

5

I’m honored to share that myself, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and the Wagner Foundation have been selected to receive Philanthropy Massachusetts’ 2026 Partnering LEAP Award for our partnership advancing AI Small Business Readiness and addressing racial wealth inequities across Massachusetts.

Join us on September 29 at Philanthropy Massachusetts’ 57th Annual Conference, “In a Commonwealth of Firsts: Shaping What Comes Next.”

Register to join us: https://philanthropyma.org/news/PMA2026awardhonorees

37

4

Highlights from the August 1-6 portion of @yoyoma’s residency at @tanglewoodmusiccenter.

7

0

Three new murals were created this summer adding to the 2 dozen throughout Pittsfield!

Download the free Downtown Pittsfield App to take a digital walking tour!

Photo credits: @maru.studio.art, @janthevoyager, and Kim Gritman

#heartoftheberkshires #pittsfieldma #intheberkshires #mural

62

5