In this episode of That Berkshire Podcast, Brendan Mathews, a local author and educator, and Margaret Keller, Executive Director of Community Access to the Arts, delve into the Berkshire creative economy. Lindsey Schmid, 1Berkshire Vice President of Tourism and Marketing, co-hosts with Erica Allison, and leads a lively discussion about building careers and raising children in the Berkshires. Plus, keep listening for this episode’s “Berkshire Moment,” an insider’s look into all the charming town of Lenox has to offer. That Berkshire Podcast is a project of 1Berkshire.
Margaret Keller is Executive Director of Community Access to the Arts (CATA), an arts organization that nurtures and celebrates the creativity of people with disabilities. Since joining CATA in 2014, Margaret has led the organization through a period of dramatic growth, increasing the number of CATA artists by 70% while also expanding community partnerships and forging collaborations with major cultural organizations. Under her leadership, CATA has been recognized with the Arts and Humanities Award from New England Public Radio, the Nonprofit Excellence Award from Mass Nonprofit Network, and the Berkshire Trendsetter Award. This past year, Margaret was recognized as the Visionary/Entrepreneur of the Year by 1Berkshire.
Brendan Mathews is the author of This is Not a Love Song and The World of Tomorrow, both published by Little, Brown. The World of Tomorrow was chosen as an Honor Book by the Massachusetts Book Awards, longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and named an Editors Choice by the New York Times Book Review. His stories have twice appeared in The Best American Short Stories and in Virginia Quarterly Review, Salon, and other magazines in the US and UK. A Fulbright Scholar to Ireland, he lives in Lenox and teaches at Bard College at Simon’s Rock.