The 3,000-square-foot exhibition space in Berkshire County’s oldest museum is explicitly devoted to local innovators.

The hall was created with a $1.2 million donation from Armand and Donald Feigenbaum, brothers who have international reputations for their business philosophy of “total quality management.”

Different sections have titles like “Overcoming Obstacles,” “Unexpected Outcomes” and “Innovation Process.”

“When I began to visit the museum more than 25 years ago,” writes Edward Rothstein in The New York Times, “I felt as if I were venturing into an enormous attic in which a wealthy collector was showing off his treasures.”

Exotic fish are part of the coral reef exhibit in the aquarium at the Berkshire Museum.

An Egyptian mummy named Pahat dates back to 330 BC. The museum has about 30,000 objects, only a fraction of which are on display.

“The natural history display cases,” writes Mr. Rothstein, “which will remain for at least a few years, are so quaintly old-fashioned that they have more impact than the more discursive and graphic displays dating from the last renovation.”

A taxidermy exhibit features local wetland birds.

Herman Melville's quill pen and walking stick are on display in the section called “Overcoming Obstacles.” Melville wrote “Moby-Dick” not far from the institution.

Photos: Nancy Palmieri for The New York Times

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