By Jim Shulman
I had a great childhood. I grew up in Pittsfield post WW II when our parents didn’t have much money. A friend once said we were all poor but never knew it as our parents had post war optimism, jobs, opportunities, young families, knew their neighbors, never locked their doors, and wanted to give us what they never had. The community was thriving. I loved growing up in “the best of places at the best of times.”
I always wanted to give back for such a great place to have as a hometown.
Rationale for a gift
In 1999 I attended my nephew’s graduation at Williams College. The commencement address was delivered by wheelchair-bound Christopher Reeve. From this amazing guy I heard I was supposed to remember my roots which to me was my hometown. As a new retiree, I realized if I was going to do something meaningful in the community, I had to 1.) bring people together and 2.) initiate an art project.
Driving between New Haven and Pittsfield, we ended up in Bristol CT at a carousel museum. Touring the museum, we were overwhelmed with the history and incredible art of carousels and learned that out of 3,000 of them carved and created between 1880 and 1930 (the Golden Age of Carousels) only 170 of these classics operate today.
The Dream
In 2005 I met with a total of 65 individuals in Pittsfield including the Mayor, Councilors, bankers, business people, Downtown, Inc, and got a lot of support for the project. We also visited the three carousel makers in Ohio, saw a dozen carousels (including one that was an inspiration for us 11 hours away in Northbay Ontario), ead scores of publications/books and then spending five months three days a weak, an hour away at a carousel workshop where I carved a carousel horse (I never carved anything more than a bar of soap as a kid)……. we embarked on building the carousel with the hope of exhibit space for the collections. We bought the only vacant property in the art district which was available after the city failed to get support for a ballpark there. We hired a Maria who between 2007 and 2016 recruited several hundred volunteers whom we trained and they worked together. They completed the only carousel in the world to have the three different carousel styles and 33 figures (plus 7 spares) modeled after the works of the 18 major carousel builders and carvers in the Golden Age of Carousels. Jackie and I financed the building. Two thirds of our dream was met in 2016. 1). We brought people together to do a community project and 2.) we made the largest permanent work of art in New England ever created by volunteers. For the third goal if providing a family recreational activity we needed the community to embrace the carousel and see that it operates ongoing.. This has been the biggest challenge. We continue to work to see the Berkshire Carousel to be the source of great memories for generations to come and keep recruiting local people take on the role of sustainability.
Editor’s note: Jim shared that he was always a collector and…interested in displaying collections. “This was my original dream that was why I was so struck by your efforts to fix up the Allen House…I could fill it with things.” He was referring to my efforts in Pittsfield. Jim, you are so kind. Thank you, Carole
Jim added, “There was not enough funding to add the exhibit hall, but I have begun the process of donating collections and the museum and historical society are now interested.
SU would like to dedicate space to dreamers. Folks like Matt and Jim who had a dream and saw it through. Send us yours and we will share ours in the next issue.
