ABOUT HAYMAN
HAYMAN! was a community art project designed and funded by the Berkshire Bank Foundation to decorate downtown Pittsfield, Massachusetts with homemade hay sculptures in fall 2007. The goal was to use a public arts project to provide an attraction that would bring people downtown and help generate business for downtown merchants. The project became a hit with residents and tourists alike and brought thousands of people downtown who walked around, viewed the creative scarecrows, shopped and ate in downtown restaurants. The project was such a success that the Bank decided to sponsor the project again in 2008.
Berkshire Bank teamed up with the Storefront Artist Project, an association of local artists dedicated to promoting art and artists, to carry out the project. They recruited local scarecrow artist, Michael Melle of Plainfield, Massachusetts, to provide the artistic direction for the project. The plan was to construct life-size hay sculptures with a wood frame made of small tree branches wrapped with hay. Melle had been successfully building and giving classes on building such sculptures for nearly 10 years. Through a large cadre of volunteers, the organizers spent the summer months gathering and cutting and preparing the wood and wrapping it into bundles to be ready for each team. On a Saturday in late September, more than 260 people from all walks of life assembled and teamed up to build 90 scarecrows. Builders included artists, families, students, businesses and non-profit organizations. The next day the scarecrows were installed on downtown lightposts, signs, in trees and on buildings by volunteers from Carpenters Union Local 108. They gave downtown a fun and festive atmosphere during the day and a sometimes eerie feeling at night.
Due to the popularity and success of the first HAYMAN! Project, Berkshire Bank decided to sponsor the program again in 2008 with the Storefront Artist Project. HAYMAN 2 will be launched with a Community Building Day on September 27, 2008 on the Pittsfield Common, a large downtown public park. Once again participation in the project will be free but builders must register in advance and the project will be limited to 100 teams. The Carpenters Union volunteers will assist on Building Day and will install the scarecrows on September 28th.
Pittsfield, Massachusetts is a city of 45,000 people located in Berkshire County, one of the top cultural destinations in the United States. The City is currently rebounding from the loss of thousands of jobs when its major employer closed up or sold its operations. The City is now transitioning from an industrial job base to service sector and tourism jobs. An important component of this rebirth is the revitalization of its downtown into an arts and entertainment district populated by new performing arts theatres, restaurants, cafes, art galleries, shops, artist studios and market rate housing. A new 6 screen stadium seating movie theatre/ restaurant/ retail and office complex is under construction and scheduled to open in late 2009. New art shows, festivals ands street sculptures have helped give the downtown a new vibrancy, supported by a strong working relationship between the City, arts groups and the business community.
It was in this atmosphere of change and excitement that Berkshire Bank decided to spearhead an arts project itself instead of simply supporting other cultural initiatives. It was the first time a private business envisioned, planned and carried out a cultural project of such magnitude. Its success is a testimonial to the hard work of the staff of the Berkshire Bank Foundation, project coordinator Michael Rousseau, artist Michael Melle graphic artist Mark Tomasi and the large group of volunteers who helped carry out the project. HAYMAN 2 taking place in 2008 promises to be even bigger and better.