Digital Editions
Newsletters
Subscribe
Digital Editions
Newsletters
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Museums & Heritage
news

A Berkshire aesthetic: artist Jonathan Prince establishes a collaborative arts hub in western Massachusetts

"Berkshire House" aims to be a cross-disciplinary creative centre in the region

Jacoba Urist
26 August 2021
Share
Artist Jonathan Prince turned a five-acre dairy farm in the Berkshire Mountains into a creative hub

Artist Jonathan Prince turned a five-acre dairy farm in the Berkshire Mountains into a creative hub

The American artist Jonathan Prince, known for his monumental steel sculptures, has created a unique hybrid studio-travel destination in the Berkshire Mountains in Southfield in western Massachusetts.

Over the course of the pandemic, Prince transformed a five-acre property and former dairy farm in which artists work and live into an intimate venue for creative collaborations, musical events and the culinary arts. The site’s two barns, comprising 23,000 sq. ft. of exhibition and programming space, lend a contemporary rustic Berkshire aesthetic. Prince’s industrial machinery and workspace in a former hay loft and a gallery of his works of art remain open for visitors by appointment.

“Berkshire House is about art, yes. But it’s about much more than art too,” Prince says. “If a fashion designer, or a collector, or a musician, or a scientist wants to come and perform or install something, this place is about all kinds of creative cross-conversations.”

Prince, whose work is in collections such at the Eli and Edyth Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University, comes to the art world circuitously. He began as a maxillofacial surgeon in New York, before producing films such as The Plague with William Hurt and Robert Duvall, and a career in computer animation, winning an Emmy for virtual set design.

Price says the idea for Berkshire House came during a studio visit about three years ago from the art advisor and curator Stephanie Manasseh. “She asked me if I would ever consider opening the property for art events,” Prince says. “With Stephanie’s expertise and management, we decided to create Berkshire House as a hub of creative collaboration across disciplines.”

Museums & HeritageMassachusetts
Share
Subscribe to The Art Newspaper’s digital newsletter for your daily digest of essential news, views and analysis from the international art world delivered directly to your inbox.
Newsletter sign-up
Information
About
Contact
Cookie policy
Data protection
Privacy policy
Frequently Asked Questions
Subscription T&Cs
Terms and conditions
Advertise
Sister Papers
Sponsorship policy
Follow us
Instagram
Bluesky
LinkedIn
Facebook
TikTok
YouTube
© The Art Newspaper

Related content

Building projectsnews
30 June 2015

Richard Prince’s retail therapy in Beirut

The US artist creates site-specific works for the fashion chain founded by Tony Salamé

Gareth Harris
Museums & Heritagenews
17 January 2025

New art trail for pedestrians and cyclists to connect museums in the Berkshires

The 9.3-mile bike and pedestrian path will connect the Clark Art Institute, Williams College Museum of Art, Mass Moca and other cultural and historical sites in western Massachusetts

Barbara Reina
Building projectsnews
27 March 2018

George Lucas tells a new story at the Museum of Narrative Art

Construction has launched on the $1bn non-profit project, built to be “the world’s most inclusive and accessible art museum”

Victoria Stapley-Brown