FERRIN CONTEMPORARY | at PROJECT ART
54 Main Street, Cummington, MA
Specializing in contemporary ceramic art and sculpture, Ferrin Contemporary offers selected works for sale by represented artists, masterworks from private collections, and curated exhibitions.
Recently housed in Building 13 on MASS MoCA’s 16-acre campus in North Adams, Massachusetts, Ferrin Contemporary has now moved to Project Art in Cummington, Massachusetts.
Click through to read more about Ferrin Contemporary’s exhibition history through the Berkshires and beyond.
FERRIN CONTEMPORARY | TIMELINE
Click through to learn more about our history…

- 1979
PINCH POTTERY | Northampton, MA
PINCH POTTERY | Northampton, MA
January 18, 19791979
PINCH POTTERY was founded in Northampton in 1979 by local artists Leslie Ferrin, Mara Superior, and Barbara Walch. Established as a studio and store, Pinch Pottery grew to include the work of numerous artists, potters and craftspeople.
“It was an incubator,” says Ferrin. It was also the first of many manifestations of Ferrin’s entrepreneurial and community spirit which, coupled with her love of ceramics, became her guiding principles. “We were artists who wanted to sell our own work and [the work of] others who worked in clay in our community,” she says of her goals at the time. “We were exploring what people were doing in the field.”
-Leslie Ferrin, Rural Intelligence, 2023
Pinch Pottery continued to show a wide variety of locally made functional pottery and decorative ceramic art as well as objects for the home by selected artists from throughout the country. A broad collection of contemporary jewelry by over fifty nationally known jewelers continually changed. During the course of a year, over three hundred artists and craftspeople became represented, some with established reputations, others introduced as emerging talents.
- 1987
PINCH MOVES TO MAIN STREET | Northampton, MA
PINCH MOVES TO MAIN STREET | Northampton, MA
January 1, 19871987
FERRIN GALLERY was formed in 1987 when the gallery moved from Thornes Marketplace to bustling Main street, Northampton. The move to Main Street made possible a connected, but separate space. This move also came at a time when Leslie Ferrin became more interested in the realm of curation and sales.
In early 1991, the gallery presented a series of one person shows and theme exhibits both on and off the premises. Later that spring, Pinch Pottery introduced its first collection of limited edition hand made objects available through mail order. A second selection was planned for the holiday season and featured a selection of handcrafted ornaments.
The Ferrin Gallery began the year with two one person shows. The first featured Ikebana containers by ANGELA FINA, a local artist. Flower arrangements were provided by local arrangers.
The second exhibit included the work of another local artist, DONNA MCGEE, who exhibited paintings on tile murals, thrown earthenware platters and vessels. Her imagery focused on four areas; domestic scenes, still lives, landscapes, and female nudes.
- 2002
FERRIN GALLERY | Lenox, MA
FERRIN GALLERY | Lenox, MA
January 1, 20022002
In 2002, Leslie Ferrin and business partner, Donald Clark, moved Ferrin Gallery to 69 Church Street in Lenox, MA. This move allowed the gallery to thrive along with the ever-growing cultural tourism in the Berkshires:
“The brick-and-mortar gallery allowed the duo to invest not just in their business, but in community initiatives as well as the bourgeoning careers of local arts professionals. “[Lenox-based artist] Maggie Mailer was our first gallery associate,” she says. Others came to work for Ferrin through the Berkshire Hills Internship Program (BHIP), a now-defunct program of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. BHIP lured dozens of young, international arts administrators to the region at a time when student retention was low and the county was hemorrhaging young adults. Cities and towns across the Berkshires were leveraging the arts for downtown revitalization in the 2000s, and Ferrin played an important role in this movement — particularly in Pittsfield, where the gallery was located from 2007 to 2013.”
- 2007
FERRIN GALLERY | Pittsfield, MA
FERRIN GALLERY | Pittsfield, MA
June 1, 20072007
With the city of Pittsfield revitalizing steadily, Ferrin Gallery found their new home in a 2600 sq ft space at 437 North St, Pittsfield, MA. Ceramics remained a focus, but Ferrin Gallery also featured shows with painting, photography, and sculpture.“It was serendipitous that one of the strongest ceramic gallery programs existed in Pittsfield, my hometown,” says Michael Boroniec, who is currently represented by Kasper Contemporary. “I would frequent the gallery openings, seeing some of the most important contemporary ceramics. It was soon after that Leslie added me to her roster of artists. She gave me opportunities that most young artists would have to work at for several years.”In addition to dozens of solo and group exhibitions, Ferrin Gallery also continued to participate in art fairs in major cities across the country.In 2013, Ferrin Gallery departed Pittsfield and moved to the MASS MoCA campus in North Adams, MA. The moved marked yet another milestone to nurture the gallery and its artists in an bustling, budding arts community. - 2014
FERRIN CONTEMPORARY | North Adams, MA
FERRIN CONTEMPORARY | North Adams, MA
May 1, 20142014
In 2014, Ferrin Contemporary opened on the MASS MoCA campus in Building 13. At the time, MASS MoCA was expanding rapidly, the local economy was growing, and the tourism stream to Northern Berkshire County was about to BOOM. Ferrin Gallery became Ferrin Contemporary, and once again, the business adapted to meet the demands of the local and national art worlds.
- 2023
ARE WE THERE YET? 2023 and Beyond…
ARE WE THERE YET? 2023 and Beyond…
May 18, 20232023
Now, for more than 40 years, Ferrin Contemporary has been a leading source for contemporary and modern ceramic art. This summer, as we enter our fifth decade, we are taking time to reflect on the past forty years. This celebration is taking many forms over the coming months but our primary focus is presenting new work from some of our core artists in a survey titled ARE WE THERE YET? The title is after our 2007 pair of summer exhibitions titled WE ARE HERE / WE WERE THERE when the gallery opened on North Street in Pittsfield. In 2014 the gallery moved to the MASS MoCA campus in North Adams, MA. The exhibition asks us and the artists we represent to reflect on the road we’ve taken and invites the public to join the dialog while we speculate about the future.
“Consistent over the past 40 years is Ferrin’s unwavering commitment to artistic production and career development. “The role that we play is to connect artists with the public and create an opportunity for them to make new work through sales,” she says. What a thing to celebrate!”
In September, 2023, Ferrin Contemporary will leave the MASS MoCA campus. The gallery will still function as a leader in ceramics, presenting work and facilitating sales, however now from Project Art in Cummington, MA.
The Ferrin Team Today:
Leslie Ferrin (1978-present)
Alexandra Jelleberg (2014- present)
Isabel Twanmo (2021-present)
Becky Waterhouse (2020-present)
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