MCLA INSTITUTE FOR THE ARTS + HUMANITIES
The arts and humanities provide strategies for bringing people together.
The MCLA Institute for the Arts and Humanities (MCLA-IAH) is a three-year grant initiative, supported with funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion by increasing access to Berkshire County’s cultural assets and deepening engagements with area arts and humanities resources.
In alignment with the College’s 2017 - 2022 Strategic Goal 3,
the Institute serves as an interdisciplinary catalyst to address
and investigate historical and contemporary issues
on campus and in the community.
WHAT WE DO
We create experiential spaces for dialogue and action.
We promote possibilities for innovative teaching and learning.
We support the development of high-impact practices
for MCLA faculty and students.
We believe tapping into the wide-ranging artistic, cultural,
and historical legacies of the Berkshires will build strategies for bringing people together across difference.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS
Learn about student employment and internship positions, attend community engagement workshops and events, apply to receive funding through our student mini-grant program, and more.
STUDENT INTERNSHIPS
There are currently no internship available.
WORKSHOPS & EVENTS
View our Spring 2022 Timeline.
STUDENT MINI-GRANTS
We are currently accepting student mini-grant applications on a rolling basis from January 28th - March 18th, 2022. All accepted mini-grant projects must be completed by the end of the spring semester.
View IAH Student Mini-Grant Application Criteria & Guidelines.
“Interning at IAH has not only allowed me to gain experience in my major of English and Communications, but I have been able to gain more knowledge about Arts Management and the role it plays in the community, specifically Berkshire County.”
Brianna Christie
COMMUNITY EVENTS
Featured events, created by students for students.
SILENT DISCO
The MCLA Institute for the Arts and Humanities x The Black Student Union x The First 8 Weeks Program all collaborated to host a Welcome Back Silent Disco at MASS MoCA featuring MCLA student and alumni performers. MCLA senior Mike Simmons played a variety of today’s rap and R&B, while MCLA alums DJ iamsam and DJ Elixir returned to spin some popular electronic music. The event was FREE for MCLA students and for alums who were in town for MCLA’s Homecoming Weekend! Photographs were taken by MCLA Student Quray Clarke (@okayclarkee on IG)
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT POP UP
The Community Engagement in Arts & Culture Class held a pop-up event in the Quad with lawn games such as Corn Hole, Can Jam, Ladder Ball, and Giant Jenga to celebrate community and connection within MCLA. At this event, there was a “Cool Down Station” where students could enjoy FREE hot chocolate, snacks, and learn about INSCAPES: a collaboration with The Mastheads and The MCLA Institute for Arts and Humanities where students were invited to write poetry in the form of a couplet (a 2-line poem) about a place in the Berkshires. Select poems will be featured on posters around campus later in the semester and early spring!
GHOST TOURS
The MCLA Institute for the Arts & Humanities and The First 8 Weeks Program hosted Ghost Tours at The Mount in Lenox, MA. Students were invited to join us for a spooky night where tour guides led the group through the darkened halls of The Mount, sharing tales of the many eerie encounters that have been reported there for years.
PHOTOS
OUR STORIES
February 2022
The Mastheads and the Institute for the Arts and Humanities partnered to create INSCAPES, a creative campaign that invited people across the county to reflect and write about What defines the Berkshires for those who live here?
October 2021
In the INSCAPES Project, students will celebrate their favorite places around campus and Berkshire county in the form of couplets which can then be submitted to be featured around campus.
October 2021
Hosted by MCLA’s Institute for the Arts and Humanities, students and North Adams community members were able to attend a silent disco, a recent trend where attendees are given headphones and have the ability to individually choose the kind of music they wish to dance to.
July 2021
As the ILC presented their first six months of work at MCLA’s IAH summer symposium, the whole virtual room became “Accountability Buddies.” In the panel conversation with MCLA, they gathered to share their progress and next steps, and VanSant asked the audience to consider their own place in the story of anti-racism.
June 2021
“Why are these green beans so hard?
That’s because they are edamame."
Declan McDermott reflected on the Korean Garden in North Adams.
May 2021
NORTH ADAMS, MASS.— The MCLA Institute for the Arts and Humanities (IAH) will host its annual Summer Symposium from Tuesday, June 1–Thursday, June 17, 2021. The four-part Zoom event is produced in collaboration with BRIDGE Inc.’s Inclusive Leadership Cohort (ILC), Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation (BTCF), Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC), and the Berkshire Cultural Assets Network (BCAN), and is free and open to the public.
July 2020
“At first I wondered if I was qualified,” said Thomas, “but I did find that I did have experiences and was able to help people talk about those experiences too. That really meant a lot to me.”
March 2020
"I’m excited about this new Arts and Humanity Institute which will center equity, access, inclusion, and diversity for and with its surrounding community. Also, this work is deeply relational. As we continue to do this work, I want to invite folks to keep having enthusiastic conversations filled with optimism for a collective movement and vision towards safety for all of us. We should all be able to thrive here in our Berkshire home."
July 2019
“We can find places of belonging here,” Barreto said. “That’s what I’m excited about.” From the beginning, finding cultural resources has felt central to her work here to create a network among local arts organizations that share the institute’s concerns.
June 2019
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts is partnering with the area's myriad cultural entities to further its mission as an inclusive educational institution.