NORTH ADAMS, MA. -- Berkshire County touts itself as America's cultural resort. The latest tagline from the Berkshire Visitors Bureau reads, "Nature. Culture. Harmony." With dozens of world-renowned museums, theater companies, dance troupes and concert venues to choose from, who's to say it's not? One of the most recognized and a celebrated achievement of the past decade is the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art or MoCA in North Adams.

“Santa Fe, New Mexico to some extent. Maybe Napa Valley. There are a few other places in the country that have this combination of nature and culture side-by-side. We're lucky here in the Berkshires,” said Joseph Thompson, the museum’s director.

The idea for MoCA began in 1986. The City of North Adams was looking for a little economic stimulation following the closure of its largest employer, Sprague Electric, the year before.

“North Adams was clearly looking to do something with this vast site. It's a third of the downtown business district. Sixteen acres. 28 buildings. Nearly one million square feet of space that was sitting abandoned in the late 1980's. We finally got buildings, land, art and money all in the same place at the same time in 1996. We began construction and opened in 1999,” Thompson said.

The transformation has been nothing short of spectacular. The campus has retained its rugged, industrial appearance while providing for some of the largest exhibition space in the country. Some of the galleries are as long as football fields and as high as three story buildings.

“Unlike most museums in which there are things that stay up for a very long time, here it's all new every year. Artists not only get to make new work, they get to make it again and again. It's an unusual opportunity for experimentation and change,“ Thompson said.

One of the most successful endeavors at MoCA has been Kidspace. Appropriately named it's geared toward the youngest artistes among us. Classes are offered year round and weekdays during the school year are reserved for school groups. The current exhibition at Kidspace is a visual wonder.

“Some 15 or 20,000 people a year visit Kidspace. Right now there's a particularly beautiful exhibition that you just have to see to believe. Spools of thread are displayed on the wall in designs that look utterly abstract. You kneel down, squint a little bit and look through optical viewing devices and a total miracle happens before your eye,” said Thompson.

MoCA takes advantage of its seemingly endless array of courtyards as well. Outdoor film and concert series round out the experience. As the museum turns ten next year, Thompson says they will be throwing a birthday party, MoCA will continue to showcase the present within the halls of the past.