Encouraging Connection: New Managing Creativity Class Aims to Share Ideas with MASS MoCA, BIC Works
September 13, 2025
The College’s inaugural Managing Creativity class presented three final projects this December. Three teams of students offered concepts, developed over the course of the semester, to address the need for greater connectivity and exchange between the College, MASS MoCA, and BIC Works @ MoCA (the North County branch of Pittsfield’s Berkshire Innovation Center), with the goal of benefitting a broad swath of community members and creating lasting and meaningful discourse.
Managing Creativity, which is offered as part of MCLA’s Arts Management major, is co-led by professors Dr. Lisa Donovan and Lisa Chamberlain, founder of The Chamberlain Group, a Massachusetts-based studio specializing in the design and manufacture of high-fidelity anatomical models for surgical and interventional training. Chamberlain has decades of experience in special effects creation for films, including “The Matrix,” for which the visual effects team won an Academy Award.
“It’s a natural fit for our students to engage with these organizations,” said Chamberlain. “MCLA is an essential part of the North Adams ecosystem, as are our neighbors in the city. The class has provided opportunities for students to meet people at these institutions and learn about internships and employment opportunities. We see these vital and vibrant community partners as resources, not only for our students and our campus but for each other.”
In return, said Donovan, MCLA students are “informing the field as to what arts management can bring to the workforce across sectors, inviting and harnessing the power of our students, their diverse interests, and the unique lens they bring to North Adams.”
The three projects presented at the December 5 event are below.
Steeple City Summit
This two-day science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) learning
summit would expand on the shared missions of the three institutions: education, creativity,
innovation, and community. Speakers would be drawn from the three institutions and
events would be held at each location.
Teams and Talents
This online platform would be used by all three institutions to promote events, support
career development, and share resources and employment opportunities.
Creative Campus Day
This annual event would encourage MCLA students to engage with the MASS MoCA campus
and its tenants via guided museum tours, a live podcast recording at BIC Works, and
an open mic at MASS MoCA’s Research & Development Store.
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