HAWLEY — Mary Kay Hoffman, longtime executive director of the Artspace Community Arts Center and the driving force behind the creation of the Pioneer Valley Symphony Youth Orchestra, died on Feb. 21 of vascular dementia. She was 78 years old.

“She was absolutely dedicated to furthering the arts in the community,” said Earl Pope, Hoffman’s husband.

Hoffman arrived in Franklin County from Canton, Ohio in 1974 and was first hired to lead the newly created Franklin County Arts Council. Over the years, her influence bloomed far beyond the organization, including through realizing her goal of starting a local youth orchestra.

Hoffman left the arts council in 1985 after growing disenchanted in the wake of state budget cuts, then worked with renowned Shelburne Falls glassblower Josh Simpson and at Stoneleigh-Burnham School. She returned to the Franklin County Arts Council part-time in the late 1980s after working to develop a Franklin Community Music School in conjunction with Greenfield Community College. The arts council and music school merged to create Artspace in 2000.

The Hawley resident did all this while raising her two children, Rachel and Nate. According to Nate Hoffman, as early as he can remember, he and his sister would accompany their mother to events she was organizing, like Hawley Day and pottery sales.

“‘If people were making art they would not be making war’ is something she always used to say,” Pope recalled.

In her time at Artspace, she started a summer intensive program for children learning instruments. She would pick up kids who could not get transportation and provide scholarships for children who could not afford the program.

During the fundraising period for Artspace, Hoffman gave up two years’ worth of salaries to have enough money to buy instruments for children’s programs, according to Pope.

“If she wasn’t raising enough money, she wouldn’t pay herself,” Pope said.

Her mentee, Ellen Villani, described how Hoffman would take any child in distress at Artspace to the kitchen and give them pickles to help them calm down.

“She was a pickler and kept vats of pickles in the fridge for the children,” Villani said.

Hoffman felt that to have a youth orchestra in Franklin County, there needed to be string programs in the schools to get children to start playing. Villani noted Hoffman believed that children need to start playing music at a young age to inspire them to stick with the practice.

“Children playing music would put her to tears,” Pope said as he spoke about why it was important for Hoffman to start a youth orchestra.

So, Hoffman set off to make a local youth orchestra a reality. During her time in Ohio, she had managed Canton’s symphony orchestra and its youth orchestra.

After receiving a bequest of $15,000, Hoffman helped create a string program at Deerfield Elementary School. The first year of the program was so successful the school picked up the tab for running the program after that. Hoffman also set up mentoring programs where high school students would teach younger kids how to play string instruments to keep older youths engaged in the program.

Years after Deerfield Elementary had its string program, Hoffman brought the idea to Greenfield’s elementary schools with help from a $20,000 donation. With the string programs in schools, she was able to start the Pioneer Valley Symphony Youth Orchestra. Hoffman retired in 2014 having accomplished her longtime goal.

“She was able to retire fulfilled that she met her goal from 40 years ago,” said Villani, who attended art shows and concerts and visited museums with Hoffman in her retirement.

As Hoffman’s health declined due to her vascular dementia over the past year, her family members say people she impacted made her videos and visitors came pouring in, often with their musical instruments, to see her.

“She had a way she communicated with kids to make them feel special, loved, and like what they were doing with art was important,” Nate Hoffman said. “People loved her because her heart was always in the right place.”

Bella Levavi can be reached at 413-930-4579 or blevavi@recorder.com.

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