Topic: Northampton MA

Urban sprawl and the building of people-friendly communities

By Christine Anne Piesyk | December 28, 2007 |

On the Road in America is an occasional column of thoughts, ideas and observations from my travels.

When I first moved to Clarksville four years ago, I was initially fascinated with the immense geographic area of the city. It was an “urban sprawl” that included an explosion of multiple housing developments. It looked, for the most part, like the bedroom communities of exploding around New England’s major cities. Sort of. But less well planned.

In fact, the photo of downtown Northampton (above left) looks a lot like Franklin Street with the exception of the width of the Main Street, which is large enough for multiple lanes of traffic, angle parking on both side of the street, and in the winter, mountains of snow plowed into the middle of the road until the bucket loaders roll in and haul it all to the river. Just around the corner is Smith College, perhaps a tad larger than APSU, but not much. Crosswalks are located on every block and motorist beware: you will be ticketed for failing to yield to pedestrian right of way everywhere in the city. People walk, bike and bus everywhere in this city.

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Sections: Issues, Opinion | 1 Comment »

Exuberance, kinetic energy, beauty, magic mark Devries bronzes

By Christine Anne Piesyk | October 18, 2007 |

Andrew Devries holds magic in his hands, magic that unfolds with each gentle movement of his fingertips as he sculpts the figures he is famous for: dancers. Though a number of his works include renditions of the male body, Devries loves women, particularly women dancers, and the ebb and flow of their movements inspires this Western Massachusetts artist’s body of work, on display through October 2008 on the grounds of the Northampton (Massachusetts) courthouse lawns.

While On the Road in America, I took the opportunity of visiting an outdoor exhibit of art by an old friend. The exhibit encompasses a variety of Devries’ work: the expected selection of dancers,a sampling of early work (Other Side of Eden, Madonna), and newer pieces including The Bather and The Wave.

I met Andrew eighteen years ago, when he was on the brink of his now global reputation for excellence. I traveled over frost-heaved potholed road over winding roads to the fields at river’s edge where he lives and works amid some of New England’s most beautiful landscapes. At his studio in the Berkshire hills, he casts and pours the bronze figures, keeps up a steady chatter and laughs often and wildly, his laughter as much a celebration of life as his art. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Arts and Leisure | No Comments