NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art's new executive director is looking forward to partnering with the city to revitalize the downtown postpandemic. 

 

Kristy Edmunds, speaking from the West Coast at last week's Mass MoCA Commission meeting, said she's been meeting with stakeholders — business owners, city officials, community members, educators — while getting to know the museum's cultural structure, physical plant and mission.  

 

"I feel like I've really been able to get around quite a lot and understand more of the dynamics going on, with both the aspirations of North Adams as a community, but also structurally with the city, like some of the things that we really want to be able to move forward together," she said. "I've been super appreciative of the time the mayor has spent with me in meetings and walking me around so that I also get a sense of where things are for the city and the City Council."

 

Edmunds was executive and artistic director of the Center for the Art of Performance at the University of California at Los Angeles for a decade before being named as the museum's second director last fall.

 

She said the board will be revisiting the long-term strategic plan developed under former director, Joseph Thompson, "in light of a pretty changed world."

 

"We're coming out of the pandemic impacts we're coming back into a community wanting to gather. We've had a lot of resource hit because of it as has the city," she said. "So it's really about looking and resetting where we want to take those aspirational vantage points forward."

 

A big focus for her is educational access and how it will be migrated into the after-school zone, as well as the museum's digital strategy.

 

"We don't have a lot of infrastructure for anything like that," Edmunds said. "And we're about to embark on a plan for how we can build that into a position, which I also think will have a major interface with the community and the town."

 

The museum is also considering climate change and sustainability, how the campus might be greener, and how it can be a leader for the larger community, she said. "The concern about climate and sustainability is big in North Adams, mixed with you know, obviously jobs and growth and economic rejuvenation strategies."

 

One opportunity, she said, might be to look at how to provide "safe harbor" for artistic startups and popups and then work with local landlords to find them space off-campus as they grow. 

 

"[Popup eatery] Door Prize a good example that may over time grow, they establish then a following and it helps them bridge into what might become a longer-term lease," she said.

 

Nothing is fixed in stone, Edmunds added, but she feels she has a grasp on "minds and imagination of the community at large" and the direction it would like to see the museum take within the community. 

 

"Kristy and I and her team have pledged that we are going to work together on all aspects of getting MoCA into the community and working on getting traffic from Mass MoCA to downtown," said Mayor Jennifer Macksey. "The key is we have to have things in our downtown to attract Mass MoCA visitors."

 

She thought the incubator idea had potential and said she would be happy to facilitate conversations with landlords. 

 

"I think it's an important transitional moment, and one that isn't quite the same narrative that we've had, perhaps in the past, and how we help channel I think it's going to matter greatly," Edmunds said. 

 

The campus itself will be open for business almost as usual with the return of Solid Sound (canceled last year because of the pandemic) and FreshGrass (which was held last fall). Performances that were being held outside will know be going back inside. 

 

The museum's COVID-19 task force will be reviewing masking and vaccine requirements; masking and social distancing are "encouraged" and vaccine proof is no longer needed for the museum as of March 21 but is still a requirement for performances. This is likely to change over the coming weeks. 

 

Deputy Director Tracy Moore said the museum is finalizing plans for Courtyard A — the main entrance — to continue as more of a pedestrian experience. 

 

While it will still be used for some parking and a fire lane, the "big tent" will make a return for its third summer. 

 

"We've really kind of gotten used to, and I think the community has as well, that sort of shaded tent area for food and drink," she said.

 

But this year it will not be used by Bright Ideas Brewing, which will be contained to its indoor space and small outdoor footprint. The brewery had been allowed to use it during the pandemic but Moore noted the museum has its own liquor license and if alcohol is served for special events, it would be under the museum's purview. 

 

"It's really a nod towards probably the future evolution of that space, which is to be more piazza like than a sea of either asphalt or parked cars. So we're excited," she said. "We'll have a food truck back ... and look forward to welcoming the community back into that space. I think it was vibrant and lively and many, many people enjoyed that."

 

The tent will open after Memorial Day weekend, during which Solid Sound will take place.

 

The commission also approved extending Door Prize's operations through May and adding a second night, Wednesday. The popup eatery offers sandwiches, salads and sides inspired by different regions of the country each Thursday. It is closed this week but opens on March 31.