An interesting read in this week's Valley Advocate...
Jean-Pierre Pasche, owner of Easthampton's Eastmont Custom Framing, in his monthly arts newsletter about all things Easthampton arts, addressed in April a notion that keeps bubbling to the surface in the burg next to Noho/Hamp: Does Easthampton have the potential to become the next Northampton? It's shorthand for the real question: will Easthampton become a mecca for arts, music and "culture"? Read on...
My favorite quote from the piece, from JP Paschue, "Easthampton is having a great time becoming the next Easthampton instead of Northampton."
...If Easthamptonites tread carefully, the place could become a viable, unique destination in the Valley's seemingly unstoppable artistic spread. And, just as Pasche claims, the more its identity is its own, the better. The Valley doesn't need Eho—it needs a vital Easthampton that incorporates old character and new energy.
And with Open Studios coming in a few weekends, and the much anticipated Bear Fest public art extravaganza right on its, dare I say, paws, Easthampton is getting set to show off what a cool mecca for arts, music, and culture it's already become. And you can still buy a tombstone downtown.
What more could you ask for in a small New England town?
2 comments:
while i applaud easthampton for everything it is doing arts-wise, the problem with it, seems to me, has to do with the physical layout of the town.
its too spread out. if you park near the little rotary to check out elusie, its not really a comfortable easy walk to nashwanatuck gallery. its too much like a highway down near the pond.
Plus when you are up by the art store facing toward mt tom its a pain trying to get back toward downtown. If you take a left its easy to get lost and end up some place near arcadia.
if there was a way to connect the two ends of the town i think it would be more of a destination rather than a one-off.
that said, i do think there is a lot of interesting things happening there and i hope it continues!
And with the proposed Green Mill project coming to the old DyeWorks factory, we may have a theatre and arts complex right in downtown... fingers crossed.
Post a Comment