Inside the art room of Lanesborough Elementary, the sixth grade class sits proudly behind their work as fellow students and community members examine their creative depictions of historical sites in the rural Central Berkshire town of around 3,000.
“This idea came to mind because I saw our Lanesborough map – I think it's from 2015, something like that – and it has some locations that are not active anymore, and it doesn't really highlight the town buildings, the natural and historical sites," said town resident Kristin Tool, who helped secure Mass Cultural Council grant funding for the project. “So, I thought this would be a great way for the sixth graders to learn a little bit about these locations in their town, create some of their own artwork, and then have that artwork highlighted in the form of a map. So, the kids have each drawn a different historical site or a town building in Lanesborough. Their artwork will be turned into little icons for the map itself.”
Emily Cooper, 12, was tasked with artistically interpreting two Lanesborough locations. The first is the town’s post office.
“Well, I learned that the first ever post office was made in 1806, which I thought was really interesting, and it was there for 24 years," she told WAMC. "That's like pretty much what I learned about that.”
The other is local celebrity King Elmer.
“It's the biggest elm tree in Berkshire County, and I think it also is the biggest elm tree in Massachusetts," the student artist continued. "And it's right down the street from here.”
Cooper walked WAMC through her creative process.
“When I heard of 'king elm,' I just thought in my head, oh, it's a king," she explained. "So, I drew it with a crown and a cape, and it's also a tree, like, as a king, because I thought that's what would represent it most as King Elmer. And for the post office, I kind of just made like the post office symbol, because I thought there was something classic to make about the post office.”
Gibson Welton of neighboring Pittsfield, also 12, was assigned the state park around Balance Rock, the 165-ton boulder and geological oddity that delicately rests atop bedrock in the nearby, sprawling Pittsfield State Forest.
WELTON: It was very unique, because I recently learned about glaciers and how they move rocks and materials, but I kind of got excited, because I thought I was getting the rock, but I didn't get the actual rock. But I was a little disappointed, but I was still happy with what I got.
WAMC: Who got the actual rock?
WELTON: The person right next to me, Margaret.
Welton assured WAMC he bore no ill will towards his classmate for missing out on the rock itself.
“I approached it by just, like, what do you first see when you before the actual rock?" he said. "What's the most important thing? So, I actually thought, the gateway and the sign that tells you where to go. So, I kind of depicted the road that goes to the rock and a rock that says Balance Rock. And I'm like, it's a rock. So, I might do something that shows that.”
Caydan Renzi, 12, got Bridge Street Park.
“I would describe it as a beautiful place," she told WAMC. "There was a lot of flowers in the pictures, green grass, and a playground there.”
The park, replete with playing field and basketball court, abuts the town brook and sits behind the town offices just off Route 7.
“I picked a tree because there are a lot of trees, and then there are a few benches in there, so I added a bench with a little boy sitting on it,” said Renzi.
Hunter Philips, who turns 12 on the 13th, was pleasantly surprised by Berkshire Pond, the locality he randomly drew for the project.
“It was a lot more different than I expected it to be," Philips said. "When you say pond, I thought it would just be this small, little cliche oval-shaped body of water. But it was actually a lot bigger than that, and there was a lot more stuff going on there.”
He told WAMC it was a trip sharing his art with the wider world.
“Most of these little art projects are just something you take home and show to your parents or your siblings and say, hey, look at this cool drawing of a bee I made in art class or something, but actually having elected officials and, you know, the big wigs, as someone once told me, coming in and viewing them- I think that was a lot more interesting and probably exciting to me, because I didn't expect it to be this big of a deal,” said Philips.
Settled in 1753 and incorporated in 1765 under the name New Framingham, the Lanesborough town motto is “Liberté Toute Entière,” or "Liberty Unfettered."
Philips, originally from Nyack, reflected on what it meant to contribute something to the town’s long history.
“I was very, very shocked that this was actually going to be like a big part of the town's history, and I wondered, how far would this travel?" the sixth grader mused. "Would just be a fun little thing that people see in the town hall in Lanesborough, or would it like be something bigger, like something posted on social media- Like, hey, this town just redid their map with a bunch of sixth graders, and it looks awesome. I wasn't sure how big it was going to get.”
