Initiators
Crispina ffrench:
The well-known recycling business she started in 1987 designing, manufacturing, and wholesaling blankets, rugs, pillows and sweaters had consumed most of Crispina ffrench's time, for most of her life. While Crispina loved what she had created and the lifestyle that came with it, when March 2008 rolled around, she was ready for a change. Crispina and her husband Chris Swindlehurst, had purchased the former Notre Dame Church and adjoining rectory, in the heart of Pittsfield (Shire City), MA to house Crispina Design Workshop – her wholesale company. They were renovating the property between adding two children to their family.
At this time, Crispina ffrench was presented a choice of path, which had never been visible to her prior. While considering the countless options that presented themselves over a 6-month hiatus from production, she kept coming back to the need to develop the property to meet the lifestyle desires of her family. Crispina's vision of mission became clear when their mutual friend, Jess Rufo, introduced her to Jess Conzo. Ms. Conzo had a business plan written for a very similar project and was jazzed to morph it to fit inside the real estate on Melville Street. From that initial conversation Alchemy Initiative was born speaking directly to Crispina's passion.
Alchemy Initiative promises impact on this small, slightly downtrodden city very close to where both Crispina and her husband grew up. The project offers a healthy, empowering, nurturing home for its residents, including Crispina and her family, and offers the community an alternative to the resurgence of gang activity and a state high-record of teenage pregnancy. It is Crispina's idea to bring magical people she has met in a business-life full of adventure, here as visiting teachers, to help with the task at hand.
In addition to co-founding this initiative Crispina is a passionate maker of all wool things recycled, an internationally recognized teacher, and recent author. You can learn more about her and all that she is up to at www.crispina.com.
Jess Conzo:
Community development has always been a passion of mine and I have seen, through both my studies and my travels, how the arts can re-energize and transform a community. I studied Social Work both here and abroad and then went to graduate school at The New School for Nonprofit Management.
I did my thesis work in East Harlem, piloting a cultural asset mapping project. I spent a lot of time exploring this community- talking to residents, learning about the history (and the many sides history can have), and then meeting the movers and shakers- from artists to city officials to nonprofit managers. In an ever-changing community, there were these 'places' that really brought people, and bound them, together. Community gardens. Cafes. Art centers. These places were meeting spaces for the community. Places that everyone felt welcome. Places that spurred creativity and change. I knew that I wanted to create a space like that for my community, but at that point in my life, I didn't have a community of my own.
When I graduated, I left New York City and spent the summer in Mexico studying intentional communities and ecovillages. My vision was to create an intentional community focused on food and farming, health and healing, art and music, and sustainability and community. It wasn't until I moved to the Berkshires that I finally felt I had found 'my' community. And it wasn't until I met this wonderful group of women that it all came to be.
In addition to my work with Alchemy Initiative, I work as the program coordinator for MCLA's Berkshire Cultural Resource Center in North Adams.
Jess Rufo:
I am a born and raised Berkshire Girl, and proud of it. At the end of April, after returning to Brooklyn, New York from a solo travel mission in Mexico I put all my belongings on the sidewalk in front of the perfect brownstone apartment. I put up a sign that said, "Movin' to the Country, Pay What You Can for my STUFF." I spent the rest of the afternoon dressing up strangers in my clothes and helping load photo supplies and furniture into cabs and cars. I have always been a generous person committed to community.
I showed up May 1st, back to the Berkshires with the intention of opening the first "real" coffee shop on Pittsfield's, Main Street, better known as North Street. I came back to build community and give back to the region that raised me. Always disappointed that Pittsfield was the under dog of the Berkshires, I was committed to making Pittsfield a destination. So here I am, a young woman, business owner and somehow lucky enough to find the ladies that have since become the Alchemy Initiative. I bring with me the appreciation and hope for this city of Pittsfield, a dedication to sustainability and undying pride for the Berkshires. Dottie's Coffee Lounge
Bridget Conry:
Born and raised in Pittsfield, MA by parents who gave me a healthy appreciation for the family, garden, home-cooked meals and the woods. Opened many doors by being able to put the ball through the hoop. Graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall and Williams College. Moved to the Big Apple and managed the City Bakery and the Union Square Greenmarket. Retreated to the mountains of Woodstock, NY, got married, home-birthed two glorious girls and began studying medicinal plants and wild edibles. Came back to the Berkshires to witness Pittsfield's rebirth. Manage Haven Cafe & Bakery in Lenox. Living on the farm @ 50 Melville St. Developing an Alchemy Initiative Herbal Product Line. Glad do be here.
Diane Firtell:
I have always been attracted to “start up” enterprises and the whole idea of a sustainable cooperative in Pittsfield really got my attention. I am thrilled, inspired and extremely HAPPY to be part of the Alchemy Initiative.
Art has been part of my life as long as I can remember. My earliest memories are of coloring… (and winning a Clara Barton doll at a Saturday movie matinee coloring contest).
Then came drawing and painting.
As an adult I enrolled in art school for the pure pleasure of exploring every medium available. I bought my first 35-mm camera and immediately fell in love with photography.
A few years ago I started combining painting and photography. I'm not exactly sure why, except it pleased me to combine them and also better reflected the way I see things. Then I began playing with pique assiette where I am able to “paint” with broken plates and shards. I particularly like decorating old window frames or furniture and turning them into one-of-a-kind jewels.
I also enjoy transferring my small (4X6), beautiful photographs of flowers into large scale oils paintings, some with custom painted frames.
In a previous life (in NYC) my first entrepreneurial adventure was painting oversize t-shirts and tuxedo shirts. For many years I designed and produced jewelry. My claim to fame was having my jewelry appear on the big screen (in the movies Cocktail and Earth Girls are Easy) and purchased by celebrities. I was fortunate to have my designs chosen both by Sheeptacular and Art of the Game, two juried outdoor Pittsfield art exhibits.
My work is not intellectual. I simply love color and shape. That is what I respond to and that is, in large part, my voice. Come visit the studio or check out my work at: www.DianeFirtell.com.
