BERNAY FINE ART’ S UNIQUE APPROACH TO CURATING LIVING SPACES
B y S a m a n t h a A n d e r s o n
BERNAY FINE ART’ S UNIQUE APPROACH TO CURATING LIVING SPACES
Walk through the doors of Bernay Fine
Art on the corner of Main Street and Railroad Street in Great Barrington, and you’ ll notice that this is not just a gallery but a living, breathing extension of the community it serves. The walls are alive with color and texture, and the air is charged with creativity. Brother and sister gallery owners Lou Friedman and Paula Bernay are united with their artists and clients by a shared belief that art is not just for looking at, but for living with. Their approach goes beyond exhibiting artwork; they specialize in helping clients curate art for their homes, working closely with individuals to select, place, and install pieces that transform living spaces into personal expressions of style and meaning.
Paula and Lou’ s journey to becoming gallerists is a story of return and reinvention. Raised in the Berkshires by artist parents, their father, Warner Friedman, lives in Great Barrington and still paints daily in his studio in Sheffield at age 90; their mother, who died in 2012, was a potter and arts advocate. The two siblings grew up surrounded by creativity, but their careers took divergent paths. Lou spent decades as a foreign currency trader on Wall Street, and Paula became a molecular biologist in Chicago. After long careers in their respective fields, both were considering their next steps when they decided to open Bernay Fine Art in 2019— a choice that was both a homecoming and a leap of faith. For Lou, it was a chance to get back to his roots and build something lasting.“ When you work for a big bank, you don’ t really have much control over your life,” he says.“ I wanted to have some sort of business I could really shape." Paula, with her deep love of art, brought a creative vision to match her brother’ s business acumen. They have different but perfectly matched strengths to their partnership. Lou’ s analytical, client-focused approach, shaped by his years in finance, blends seamlessly with Paula’ s intuitive, artist-centered sensibility. Together, they have built a gallery that feels both cosmopolitan and very local, and a place where New York quality art meets Berkshire warmth and accessibility.
July 2025 BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE // 33