When looking through a camera lens, photographer and photojournalist Jay Santangelo is able to slow down and focus on clear, bright moments in everyday life, finding light, shadows, and highlights. When Santangelo and their wife and daughter moved from Austin, Texas, to the Berkshires two years ago, they wanted to provide a gathering space that was welcoming for all, and that would allow others to experience similar moments of creation and introspection.

Enter Wander Berkshires, a combination coffee shop, art space, and venue—with a darkroom on the way. The light-filled 3,000-square-foot space in Pittsfield can host a dance party or quiet talks in the café. As a trans owner, Santangelo imagines Wander as a safe space for queer and LGBTQ folk and the whole community. They offer nonalcoholic beverages, mocktails, teas, and tinctures. Events on tap: pop-up dinners, film screenings, storytelling, breathwork, sound journeys, and sober dance parties.

The darkroom is scheduled for this spring and Santangelo plans to host photography workshops for local teens. When they taught similar classes in Hunts Point in the Bronx, they cherished the sense of power their students felt in choosing how to see and reveal the world around them, and how they wanted to see themselves. “They would bring in their film and develop it,” Santangelo said, “and they would say ‘It’s beautiful,’ and I’d say ‘That’s your life.’” —Kate Abbott””

wanderberkshires.com