Known as MAC, the arts council also nurtures a writers group, publishing three volumes of short fiction set in Berkeley Springs, and producing local plays as staged readings and full-scale productions. The Ice House, just two blocks from the famed warm springs, is a permanent home for MAC concerts, theater productions, gallery shows and art workshops . When MAC collected its arts community under one cover in a 1994 Directory of Artists and Artisans, there were more than 50 people listed. Some of the artists have studios and galleries routinely open to the public, others like Glenn Horr's metalwork shop , Kim Potter's weaving studio and Sandy Kay's pottery invite the public in during an August artists' tour. The Critton Hollow String Band and New World Theater Company can be seen, along with scores of local craftspeople, during the town's annual Apple Butter Festival in October.
Art rubs off on other areas of life in Berkeley Springs.
Clark's Home Center suggests stained glass panels by a local artist in the kitchen cabinets they sell. The Morgan County Humane Society commissioned work from various local artists as special fundraising products. The travel council guarantees that a group of journalists sipping countless glasses of water during the world famous Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting and Competition in February is high drama by contracting production of the event to the New World Theater Company. And the prizes for winning waters are glass slump bowls produced by Amingo Glass in nearby Hedgesville. Whether it's the dancing star windows in the STAR Theatre or the standing-room only production of the high school English teacher's play, the art scene in Berkeley Springs is a treasure for residents and visitors alike.