“GLORY OF THE BERKSHIRES” IS DETERIORATING AND THERE ARE NO FUNDS TO REPAIR IT

PITTSFIELD — Just over a year after its installation, Glory of the Berkshires , Charles Jefferson's mural dedicated to the historic 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, is showing visible deterioration on Pittsfield's West Side. Several sections of the artwork have detached from the wall along College Way, while others are beginning to peel away from the surface.

Tony Jackson, president of Westside Legends, one of the organizations behind the project, confirmed to Somos Berkshires that the group is aware of the problem. However, he explained that the repair costs are so high that restoring the artwork to its current state is not feasible .The original cost of the mural according to Tony Jackson was around $5,000, while repairing the current mural is now estimated to cost almost double that amount.

According to Jackson, the first detachments began just one month after installation.

The company responsible for installing the mural was RSI SIGNS. According to Jackson, the problem arose when rainwater began to seep behind the material used to adhere the artwork to the wall, gradually weakening the adhesive .

“The first mural we put up was a figure of a girl, and it wasn’t very wide or long, so when it rained, it didn’t affect the image. With this one, we didn’t take into account the size of the entire image, and when the rain gets behind the vinyl, it loosens the glue, and that’s when those pieces start to fall off,” he explained.

The mural, measuring 18 by 36 feet , was unveiled in July 2025 and replaced Rainbow Ruby , a work by “Pops” Peterson that had stood in the same spot for approximately three years. Jackson noted that, in that case, the problems were minor and the only thing that kept peeling off was the light.

That experience led Westside Legends to believe that Glory of the Berkshires could also remain intact for several years, even in the face of the Berkshires' weather conditions.

During installation, the main concerns were related to temperature, as conditions that were too cold or too hot could affect the adhesion process. The possibility of water seeping behind a piece of that size had not been considered a major risk.

At first, the installation seemed to work. But after the first panel came loose, the company try to replaced the affected panel but shortly afterward, other sections began to show the same problem.

“I think two or three more have fallen since then. It was disappointing. We're not happy,” he said.

The project was developed by Westside Legends in collaboration with the Berkshire County NAACP, Rites of Passage Empowerment (ROPE), the Samuel Harrison Society and the City of Pittsfield , and received a $23,000 grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) through its Public Art for Spatial Justice (PASJ) program for Celebration – The 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment .

The initiative included two public murals and educational programming dedicated to the history and legacy of the 54th Regiment , one of the most recognized African American units of the American Civil War.

Now, just over a year after the inauguration, only one of the two works remains in acceptable condition and the future of Glory of the Berkshires is uncertain .

Jackson noted that fully repairing the installation's problems could end up costing almost twice what it originally cost to install the artwork.

“It costs more to fix it than it cost to install it,” he said.

Given the continued detachment of the mural, Westside Legends is considering removing it and developing a new project to occupy the same space .

Jackson explained that the organization convenes community members approximately every two years to discuss the future of the College Way wall. This time, the deterioration of Glory of the Berkshires could expedite that process.

“We’ll probably do it this year because we don’t want to leave it there any longer,” he said.

The intention, however, is not to remove the remains of the structure and leave the concrete exposed. Westside Legends plans to begin discussions during the winter about a possible replacement and hopes to have a project ready by spring , provided it can secure the necessary funding.

For now, those resources are not guaranteed.

“We want to have something ready so that when we go, we can take the old one out and put in a new one,” Jackson explained.

One alternative would be to completely change the technique used. Instead of reinstalling a printed artwork on a material adhered to the wall, Jackson is considering hiring an artist to paint a new depiction of the 54th Regiment directly onto the structure .

The proposal is still in a preliminary stage, but it could become a large-format work that keeps the soldiers of the regiment as protagonists.

“But all of that is really preliminary at this point,” he clarified.

Despite the missing sections and the exposed concrete, Jackson believes that Glory of the Berkshires still retains some of the purpose and value for which it was conceived.

“Obviously it’s not in the condition it should be, but it still represents the neighborhood. It still has meaning for the community,” he said.

For Jackson, the questions about what happened to Glory of the Berkshires are legitimate, but he believes the conversation should also take into account the work done by community organizations to preserve and recover the history of the West Side, as well as efforts to find a solution to the deterioration of the artwork.

“It’s good for people to question things,” he said, “but it’s also good for people to understand and help solve the problem.”

For now, the soldiers of the mural are waging a second battle, this time against the elements. Some figures of the soldiers still remain on College Way, while other sections have disappeared completely, once again exposing the concrete and raising the possibility that, just over a year after its inauguration, a new work will end up taking its place.