Sandisfield Arts & Restoration Committee

CONTACT:

5 Hammertown Road PO Box 31
Sandisfield, MA 01255
413-258-4100
sandisfieldartscenter.org

Tina Sotis, President

DESCRIPTION:

Sandisfield is a small town in Berkshire County, population 1,500. But that doesn’t stop it from thinking big. The mission of the Sandisfield Arts and Restoration Committee (SARC) is to maintain and restore its historic 1839 building for use as a community arts center, and to provide cultural and educational programming for the town and its neighboring communities. With its classic Greek Revival style, it is the only building of its kind in the town on Sandisfield. It served as a Baptist meeting house for 75 years, and another 75 years as an Orthodox synagogue (the only known rural Orthodox synagogue on record in the state of Massachusetts.) The restoration project is bringing the community together in new ways: full time residents work side by side with weekenders, seniors attend youth performances, and old- and new-timers are banding together to preserve history for future generations. The project has won support from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and The Massachusetts Historical Commission, among others, and has raised more than $150,000 in individual supporters. This all volunteer organization has done much to date, creating an architectural master plan, successfully completing two major renovations that saved the building from collapse and made it handicapped accessible, and increased membership to 500. When a small town thinks big, everyone wins. Please help.

(2003: CULTURE: Arts: Community)