Each second Saturday of the month , the Western Massachusetts I-91 bordering town
of Easthampton celebrates its artists and artisans with a comprehensive, town -wide fiesta with virtually every business in town jumping on
the bandwagon. The art walk Easthampton falls on the heels of its richer neighbor, Northampton, which holds its
Arts Night Out on the Friday of those same weekends . Easthampton is the Soho of Noho, where the rents are cheaper, the digs grittier,
the people friendlier and the cohesive harmony of spirit among the artist community is palpable.
Easthampton is reinventing itself as a Renaissance village of great promise. Three leviathan brick edifices, vestiges of an abandoned textile industry,
have been rehabbed and reworked into hives of alternative use. Populated with artists, artisans, writers and a diversity of start-up businesses, these
buildings now hum with activity and ideas. Eastworks, the largest of the three, has over 200 individual spaces and studios of various dimensions. When he
was an aspiring furniture maker, Will Bundy rented his personal studio space in Northampton’s Arts and Industry building, a similarly rehabbed factory.
Utilizing his experience and knowledge gained from being an artisan/renter, he purchased the hull of Eastworks and created a haven for artists and young
entrepreneurs.
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