The Kaleidoscope Project names 2022 BIPOC designers

Pittsfield, MA The Kaleidoscope Project, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to providing multi-platform opportunities to designers and artists in the black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) communities, announced the 2022 designer showhouse and preservation of the 1906 Tyler Street Firehouse in Pittsfield. Four accomplished BIPOC designers/design teams will reimagine four market-rate residential units within the firehouse, with a focus on sustainability. Local developer David Carver, owner of Scarafoni Associates, has a long history of reimagining structures built in the early 1900s, giving them a new purpose, while maintaining their historic integrity.

Now in its second Showhouse year, The Kaleidoscope Project (TKP) is taking their design mission to Pittsfield, located among the artistic landscape of the Berkshire Mountains with its thriving theater scene, farm-to-table cuisine, and the legendary Tanglewood Music Center. For their inaugural project of 2022, TKP has engaged celebrated BIPOC designers and artists, including Everick and Lisa Walker Brown, Everick Brown Design; Denise Gordon, Tanya Lewis and Marilyn Lavergne, The Austin Gray Design Group; Virginia Toledo, Partner in Toledo Geller; and Rasheeda Gray, Gray Space Interiors. Each space will include original art works from a BIPOC artist.

TKP exemplifies its prioritization of sustainability through the reimagination of historic structures, sources products based on the materials they are made of, where they are produced, how they are produced and by whom they are made. Using local trade services within communities where they do work, TKP promotes indigenous sustainability, that emphasizes locality, quality of life, and socioeconomic equality.

“We are proud to be a part of a new era in Pittsfield, and to introduce our mission, designs and sourced products, which will remain intact in these spaces for future residents, long after these creations are closed to the public,” said founder of The Kaleidoscope Project, Amy Lynn Schwartzbard. “This further aligns with our mission of sustainability and is unique to the Showhouse paradigm.”

This year’s Showhouse builds on the success of last year’s Inn restoration, when the design industry and sponsors rallied around our 23 designers who repurposed 21 spaces at the Inn, These industry professionals and companies provide invaluable information and resources. They are the backbone of our mission.

Opening night for the Pittsfield, MA Firehouse Showhouse will be held on Thursday, August 4, from 5:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Tickets are $150 and can be purchased by visiting: https://www.thekaleidoscopeproject.com/events. Direct ticketing link: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/thekaleidoscopeproject/652907

General admission to Showhouse will be available daily from Friday, August 5, 2022, though Monday, August 15th during the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased by https://www.tickettailor.com/events/thekaleidoscopeproject/654925/

Proceeds from ticket sales will be earmarked to advance TKP’s objectives of providing scholarships and inspiring internships to those in the BIPOC community interested in careers in a creative field, through partnerships with educational programs and other 501(c)(3) organizations.

Designer David Santiago, Casa Santi, co-leads TKP into the future, supported by a dedicated board of directors, Lisa Walker Brown, Tanya Lewis, Nancy Fire, and Ken Mulligan. Sponsors for this year’s Showhouse include The Shade Store, Diamond Sponsor, Benjamin Moore, Fisher and Paykel, Cosentino, Kravet, Sunpan, Circa, Emtek, Anne Selke, and many more, whose products will be utilized exclusively throughout the Showhouse.