Current and Upcoming Projects!

Welcome to what is currently happening or about to happen! These are the projects we are seeking funding for, so if you donate to MAPS you know exactly where the funds are going. MAPS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so any donation is tax-deductible. We also offer artwork for sale, all proceeds go directly to supporting our work!

Crosby Academy Community Mural Project:

Crosby Academy is a therapeutic day school for students across Pittsfield Public Schools who need additional behavioral and social/emotional support. See video for more info on our upcoming project!

Literature Garden at the Mason Library in Great Barrington

MAPS is working with the community to create a literature garden at the Mason Library, and if we get enough funding, at the Ramsdell Library too! MAPS is programming with all ages (school groups, seniors, etc) leading exciting art-workshops using the library’s collection. These workshops are all funneling into a culminating project: A Literature Garden! The garden is based on literary quotations about nature and vegetation contributed by the community. This project brings a ton together! We are teaching about native plants and the local ecology, along with bringing in visual art and music workshops, all while encouraging the community to use the best resource in town—the library!

Brooklyn Community Housing and Services Garden and Art Project

In 2020, in the darkest days of the covid-19 pandemic, MAPS began offering virtual arts workshops to residents of Brooklyn Community Housing and Services, specifically to adults living with mental illness. We have continued these workshops at BCHS, expanding them to include formerly homeless mothers and children who are domestic abuse survivors.  

In early 2023, BCH&S staff and residents informed us that they would like to see their gardens revitalized after having fallen into disrepair during the COVID-19 emergency. Residents are interested in learning horticultural techniques (seed-starting, sustainable garden design) in the interest of creating gardens with beautiful flowers to beautify outdoor common spaces.  We have been incorporating gardening into our arts workshops, using collage and painting to design the garden, along with beginning to plant and clear garden beds.  

We are looking for funding to transform the gardens into a beautiful, serene community space.  This project will benefit over 1,000 brooklyn residents living at BCHS.