NORTH ADAMS — A year ago, Kurt Kolok had a dream of helping to bridge a gap between artists, the community at large and Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art with his fledgling gallery in the Windsor Mill.With the links he’s made with local galleries, restaurants and residents, Kolok is confident that he’s well on his way to that goal.
The Kolok Gallery celebrated the beginning of its second year Saturday with about 150 guests. Its first show of the season, “Second Coming,” features dozen or so artists — from as close as Berkshire County and as far away as Paris.
“I think we’re doing it more and more all of the time,” Kolok said Monday afternoon at the gallery of making connections. “It’s difficult to get anyone into a retail shop that’s off the beaten path. Union Street is Route 2, but it’s not Main Street. I’ve had a number of people — who are going to pick something up at Beck’s Printing or to Skyboro Studio — get led in by a child. The kids sort of crane their necks in because they are drawn in by the colors. I had a father and his child in here the other day for about 10 minutes.”
But a few drop-ins won’t keep a gallery in business
— so Kolok has been busy networking during its first year, forging partnerships with restaurants and other galleries.
“This area has become an ‘Arts Mile,’ starting with the Beaver Mill, and then there is the Eclipse Mill Gallery, the Brill Gallery at the Eclipse Mill, us, Widgets on Eagle Street, (MCLA’s) Gallery 51 and MoCA,” he said. “There’s a lot of art going on in this single corridor. It just kind of naturally happened.”
It’s also an opportunity for creating the critical mass needed to develop a sustainable creative economy, he said
“People are always amazed to see all of the galleries working together,” Kolok said. “People get this sense that galleries don’t want to work together. We understand that in order to develop critical mass, you have to get people to go to the galleries, eat in the restaurants and shop in the downtown.”
Coordinated openings
To do that, he’s coordinated his gallery openings with those at the Eclipse Mill, in hopes that two gallery openings will be an even bigger draw for visitors.
“People will drive out here for an opening,” he said. “On Saturday, two of my friends from Boston, who I haven’t seen in a long time, saw an invitation for the opening. They rented a car and drove out here. They stayed in town for two hours. People will definitely drive out more frequently if we give them a reason to spend the day or the weekend. They’ll come for the galleries, do dinner, shop and take in a show at MoCA. It creates a whole event.”
As part of his mission to create that critical mass, Kolok is on several local arts and events boards, including the steering committee of Open Studios Weekend.
“Last year, a small group of people spearheaded the organization of the show and pulled it together in about two months,” he said. “There was a huge turnout — we had about 400 people in the gallery that weekend. The restaurants went crazy. I don’t think we were really ready for what hit. We planned ahead this year.”
A “rack card” advertising the October event is headed to the printers in the next week and will be on the local brochure stands all summer.
“As a business person who is completely reliant on the creative economy, I feel I must be involved whether with Open Studios, as a board member for the Northern Berkshire Creative Arts or for the Storefront Artist Project in Pittsfield,” he said.
Kolok is also spreading his gallery’s artwork around the area, curating shows at Mezze Restaurant in Williamstown, Cafe Latino in North Adams and Allium, which recently opened in Great Barrington.
“The response in just the last two weeks from the Great Barrington crowd is just amazing,” he said. “They love the art and are surprised that the stuff this contemporary and edgy is actually happening in North Adams.”
He said the partnership with Nancy Thomas, who owns all three restaurants, not only gets the paintings seen, but also allows for people to find his gallery.
“The first few years of any new business, you have to brand an identity and let people know you exist,” Kolok said. “It’s all about communication and consistency. You need to make sure that everything you show is of quality, interesting and remains true to your identity.”
Juried show
Two of the artists he’s featured in shows are coming to North Adams to create new art, he said, and there’s also an international juried show coming up this summer at the gallery.
“We’ve received inquiries and submissions from India, all over Europe, Japan and throughout the United States,” Kolok said.
Parisian artist Jean Noelle Chazelle, who is featured in “Second Coming,” will visit the city to create new pieces out of Plexiglas and ink for a show in September. Shuli Sade, who was in two of the gallery’s shows last year, will feature the city in an upcoming exhibition in New Jersey. The Israeli-born artist creates “tar-works” — silver gelatin photographic images unveiled by the removal of tar applications — which feature abandoned or decaying industrial sites from around the world.
“She’s coming next month to shoot some of the industrial spaces in North Adams,” Kolok said. “The work will go to a museum show in New Jersey and then it will be shown here at the gallery next summer. I think that’s another way I’m bridging the gap — bringing in artists, learning from them. It’s exciting for me; I’m helping to bring a more international flair to the area.”
The Kolok Gallery is at 121 Union St., in the historic Windsor Mill. Hours are Wednesday through Friday noon to 6, Saturday noon to 5, and Sunday noon to 4. For more information: www.kolokgallery.com or (413) 664-7381.






Afterwards, stay for MoCA’s NL Opening Party, a dance party where Dutch DJ/VJ Micah Klein will spin the night away in celebration of the opening of the Berkshires-wide, season-long examination of Dutch art and culture everyone here is calling “NL: A Season of Dutch Arts in the Berkshires.”


Photo by Catherine Fahy, 2007.
“Ephemeral” one of the works by artist Debi Pendell that will be part of the Second Coming exhibition at Kolok Gallery.
“Elephants,” by Limor Gasko.