Mass MoCA

The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art is a museum in a converted factory building complex  in North Adams, Massachusetts. It is one of the largest centers for contemporary visual art and performing arts in the United States.  The buildings that MASS MoCA now occupies were originally built between 1870 and 1900 by the company Arnold Print Works. At its peak in 1905, Arnold print works employed more than 3,000 workers and was one of the world's leading producers of printed textiles. In 1942 Arnold Print Works was forced to close its doors and leave North Adams due to the low prices of cloth produced in the South and abroad. Sprague Electric Company was a local North Adams company, and it purchased the Marshall Street complex to produce capacitors. During World War II Sprague operated around the clock and employed a large female workforce—not only due to the lack of men, but also because it took small hands and manual dexterity to construct the small, hand-rolled capacitors. In the 1980's Sprague began to face difficulties with global changes in the electronics industry. Cheaper electronic components were being produced in Asia combined with changes in high-tech electronics forced Sprague to sell and shutdown its factory in 1985.  A year later the development of Mass MoCA began and it took until 1999 until the museum opened its doors.