MCLA Lecture to Celebrate Legacy of Center for Resourceful Living

NORTH ADAMS — MCLA’s fall 2025 Elizabeth and Lawrence Vadnais Environmental Issues Lecture will be held on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. in MCLA’s Murdock Hall, Room 218. This year’s event will celebrate the creation of the Center for Resourceful Living, started 50 years ago by MCLA Professor Emeritus Lawrence Vadnais.

The evening will feature the debut screening of filmmaker Sharon Wyrrick’s documentary, Did You Put Milk in the Bucket?: A Tribute to the Center for Resourceful Living. The filmmaker will be in attendance at the screening.

This event coincides with “Scenes from the Center for Resourceful Living,” an exhibition of photographs of the center curated by Wyrrick and on view at MCLA’s MOSAIC EventSpace (49 Main St.) from Oct. 3 to Nov. 2. The exhibit features photographs from the Randy Trabold collection, donated to MCLA by Ida Trabold; images from MCLA’s Freel Library archives; and additional photographs from center participants during its existence, from 1975 to 1980. The exhibit opens with a reception on Friday, Oct. 3 from 5 to 7 p.m.

“The Environmental Studies Department is excited to celebrate the Center for Resourceful Living and its legacy,” said Elena Traister, professor of Environmental Studies at MCLA. “This forward-thinking sustainability program remains important, not only to the alumni who participated in it, but also to the hands-on approach MCLA’s environmental studies program continues to take in preparing students to address the environmental challenges of our time. We are pleased to be able to share the story of this impactful program with the broader community.”

These events are free and open to the public. To directly support the Vadnais Lecture Series through “Pathways, the Campaign for MCLA,” visit lnk.mcla.edu/pathways.