NORTH ADAMS - As part of DownStreet Art Thursdays, artist Katie Baker will open a site-specific installation of drawings in "The Artery" at 26 Holden St., on Thursday, Aug. 25, 6 to 9 p.m., during an opening reception that is free and open to the public. In addition to considering the history of The Artery, Baker's drawings that are a reflection of her family?s history, her past and present interactions with loved ones and the multiple places she has called home.

Baker was one of the artists selected by the DownStreet Art curatorial committee. Com mittee members include Susan Cross, curator at MASS MoCA; Berkshire Creative Board Mem ber Stuart Chase, former director of the Berkshire Mu seum and newly appointed dir ector of Berkshire One; Leslie Ferrin, director of the Ferrin Gallery; Tom Loughman, assistant deputy director at The Clark Art; John Stomberg, deputy director and chief curator at WCMA; Ven Voisey, gal lery manager of MCLA Gallery 51; as well as Secor, Valeria Federici and Martina Caruso from MCLA's Berkshire Cul tural Resource Center.

Baker expressed a significant in terest in engaging with the community of North Adams and responding to a site in the City.

"North Adams is a city that has lived two key lives, that of an industrial manufacturing site and now a revitalized center of the arts," she said. "I will bring in the sights from the surrounding city, bringing the visual history of the location into context with my experience."

Baker is a master


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of fine arts candidate at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. She is from Kentucky, where she received her bachelor's degree in the fine arts and English writing from Northern Ken tucky University. She is based in Amherst, where she teaches drawing and photography.

DownStreet Art Thursday is a city-wide celebration of the arts that happens every last Thurs day of the month, through out the summer. Events include gallery exhibition openings, street musicians and specials at local businesses. The event is free and open to the public.