MCLA President Dr. Jamie Birge broke the news at a welcome breakfast for the new semester in January.
“Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld, a California artist and poet, discovered MCLA as a place with a mission that she supports and values," said Birge. "More recently, Carolyn's representatives visited campus and met with faculty, staff, trustees, and community members about how MCLA can further contribute to the creative economy, expand on our successful arts and arts management program, and develop new programs around creativity.”
Kleefeld is the daughter of real estate developer, financier, and philanthropist Mark Taper.
“These conversations led to an agreement with Carolyn to fund the construction of a new facility on the corner of Porter and Church Streets, and to provide three years of operating costs for that facility," Birge continued. "This morning, I'm happy to announce that construction and development of the Campagna Kleefeld Center for Creativity in the Arts will begin immediately.”
As proposed, the art center will feature Kleefeld’s own work among the permanent collection. She made the same demand of California State University, Long Beach when she donated $10 million for a similar art center in 2019. The move brought stinging criticism from the LA Times, students, and Long Beach locals.
Now, a prominent Northern Berkshire voice is raising concerns about the MCLA donation.
“When I found out the name of the individual which making this donation to the college, I found out the name, and I looked it up, and I Googled it, and there really were articles that had great concern on my part at what took place out in California when she made a donation there. And I wanted to make sure that I understood it and that that we wouldn't be in that same position. When I say we, MCLA,” said Democratic State Representative John Barrett, the former mayor of North Adams and a member of MCLA’s board of trustees. “I'm not for the project, I'm not against it- I just don't know that much about it. We haven't been shared or given much information about what it will entail, what the cost will be, what the exhibits will be in it, and I think that that's very important to have before you make a decision. As they say, the devil's in the details.”
Barrett says state law dictates the board of trustees approve the donation, and that Birge and MCLA leadership has failed to include the North Adams community in the conversation.
“I do know that I raised the question at the December meeting of the board of trustees, I believe that was the date on it, and they talked about this donation that was coming in, and it had to do with art and everything else," the state rep told WAMC. "And I asked the question of the president, I said, has the mayor been spoken to yet about this? And he said no. And I suggested that maybe he should have a discussion with her. It is happening in her community, and it is going to have an impact somewhere or other, and there should be some communication.”
WAMC has requested comment from North Adams Mayor Jennifer Macksey.
While Birge declined to comment on this story, he addressed criticism of Kleefeld’s gift when speaking with WAMC after the announcement last month.
“This positions the role that we have here – and it's a very different project here than it was at Long Beach – but it positions our students to be able to engage the difficult questions sometimes about artwork, as I said, provocative or controversial or different kinds of art," Birge told WAMC. "But that's what we want our students doing. We want them to have the opportunity to wrestle with those things. We like to do it here in a lab, in a controlled environment, before they get out into MASS MoCA or the Clark or the Berkshire Museum, where they have to manage those things. Where better to learn about that than at MCLA? And so, this art that Carolyn will be rotating for us, as well as other artists, gives our students the opportunity to experiment with those kinds of things.”
WAMC reached out to Kleefeld for comment on this story.
