In addition to our ongoing Scholarship Program, HVAL organizes numerous events each year which are advertised to the general public. The response we continually get lets us know that our community is benefitting from our outreach. All our workshops, lectures, slide shows, demonstrations, etc. are attended by residents of our area, including artists, teachers and community organizers.
Mary Sipp-Green showed slides of her work to a large audience in January 06
Our community project Housatonic River Summer 2004 brought together arts, environmental, educational and religious organizations in a 7 month schedule of events which received attention far beyond the geographic region known as the Berkshires. While HVAL is no longer the lead organization in what is becoming an annual celebration, we continue to cooperate with other cultural institutions in an ongoing basis. The possibilities for exploration in the Upper Housatonic Heritage Area are extraordinary. See the above page for more about this year's project.
HVAL is cooking up other means of reaching out into the world, artistically and culturally. We are building on our successful collaborations with the Sheffield Land Trust and Sheffield farming community to raise artistic and regional awareness throughout the area. One project still in the formative stage, for instance, is creating an artistic liason with the other "Sheffields" in the world, possibly exchanging artwork for shows and even supporting visiting artists.