Last Updated: July 2017
Western Massachusetts doesn’t get the attention it deserves. The Berkshires — a range of low forested hills running along the state’s western edge — quietly house three world-class cultural institutions within a short drive of each other: a living museum of Shaker communal life, one of the finest small art museums in America, and the permanent home of Norman Rockwell’s original canvases. We made a day of all three, and left genuinely impressed by each.
Hancock Shaker Village
Hancock Shaker Village was established in 1791 in Hancock, Massachusetts, and operated as a working Shaker community for nearly 170 years before closing in 1960. The property was purchased by a local preservation group and opened as a living history museum, giving visitors a rare look inside one of America’s most distinctive religious communities.
The Shaker religion began in Manchester, England in 1747. Followers believed that renouncing sexual relations was necessary for entrance into heaven, and their worship incorporated singing, ecstatic dance, and the physical trembling that gave them their name. Fleeing persecution, a group emigrated to America in 1774. At the movement’s peak there were roughly 5,000 Shakers across the United States. Today, only two remain. Their principles — celibacy, communal living, gender equality, and pacifism — shaped every aspect of daily life, and their commitment to honest craftsmanship produced a style of furniture still celebrated for its spare elegance.
Though primarily dairy farmers, the Shakers also earned significant income from the sale of packaged garden seeds — a commercial innovation they pioneered. Celibacy inevitably limited the community’s growth, but historians believe urban migration was equally responsible for the village’s declining population through the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The centerpiece of the property is the iconic round stone barn, built in 1826. Its circular design was entirely practical: the layout promoted natural ventilation for stored hay, made unloading hay wagons dramatically more efficient, and allowed a single farmhand to milk the entire dairy herd by moving around the central mow rather than walking back and forth between stalls. It’s a perfect example of Shaker design philosophy — beauty emerging from function.
The large brick dwelling house has been meticulously restored and offers a fascinating look at how Shaker men and women shared a building while living almost entirely separate lives — separate staircases, separate dining times, separate sleeping quarters. The level of preservation throughout the village makes it easy to imagine the rhythms of daily communal life.
Clark Art Institute
What a find. The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown sits at the foot of the Berkshire hills and punches well above its weight for a regional museum. Founded in 1955, it holds the private collection of Robert Sterling Clark, whose family fortune traced back to his grandfather’s role as a principal in the Singer Sewing Machine Company. Clark and his wife traveled the world for decades, amassing a largely European collection they eventually stored in Massachusetts — partly out of concern that wartime Europe threatened their artwork’s safety. The result is a museum with a remarkably coherent vision.
The Clark’s collection is best known for its French Impressionism, with a particular strength in Renoir — more than 30 of his paintings hang here, one of the largest concentrations outside France. We also saw works by Botticelli, Monet, Degas, and Toulouse-Lautrec, along with American masters including Remington and Gilbert Stuart. During our visit, a Picasso exhibition filled several galleries and was genuinely worth the extra time.
Norman Rockwell Museum
The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge holds the world’s largest collection of Rockwell’s original art, and seeing his paintings in person changes the way you think about them. Rockwell produced more than 300 cover illustrations for the Saturday Evening Post over a 47-year career, along with major contributions to Look and Boys’ Life. His work is often described as sentimentalized — idealized portraits of American life — but up close, the technical mastery and psychological detail in each canvas is undeniable.
Rockwell’s original studio has been relocated to the museum grounds and preserved exactly as he left it — easel, paint-encrusted surfaces, reference photographs, and all. It’s a small space that somehow held enormous output.
James Warhola
The museum was hosting a joint exhibition comparing the work of Rockwell and Andy Warhol — an unexpectedly compelling pairing. On display was work by James Warhola, Andy’s older brother and a distinguished illustrator in his own right. Warhola has contributed cover art for more than 300 books, worked for Interview magazine, and was a longtime illustrator for Mad magazine. The family resemblance in draftsmanship is striking.
Andy Warhol
The Warhol portion of the exhibition was thought-provoking. He stood at the forefront of the pop art movement in the 1960s, and whatever one makes of the celebrity-obsessed New York scene he inhabited, his visual language was genuinely innovative. The exhibition’s thesis — that Rockwell and Warhol were more connected than they appear, both obsessed with American iconography and mass reproduction — actually holds up. We had a great time here and left with a higher opinion of both artists than we arrived with. Warhol died at 58 following gallbladder surgery; despite the excesses of his social world, the art itself endures.
Visitor Information
All three institutions are in western Massachusetts within roughly 20 miles of each other. Hancock Shaker Village is in Hancock, MA, just west of Pittsfield; check hancockshakervillage.org for seasonal hours and admission. The Clark Art Institute is in Williamstown, MA at the northern end of the Berkshires; see clarkart.edu for current exhibitions. Norman Rockwell Museum is in Stockbridge, MA; visit nrm.org for hours and upcoming exhibitions. All three are worth at least half a day each — plan for a multi-day Berkshires visit if you want to do them justice.
Practical Tips
The Clark is free for visitors under 21 and has reduced rates for Massachusetts residents. Hancock Shaker Village is most rewarding with a guided tour — the guides bring the history to life in a way that self-guided walking doesn’t. At the Norman Rockwell Museum, allow extra time for Rockwell’s studio on the grounds; it’s easy to skip and worth not skipping. The Berkshires are well-developed for tourism — Tanglewood (summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra) and several summer theater companies also operate in the region if you’re planning a longer stay.
