Events

Conversation With Susana Martinez-Conde

Dr. Martinez-Conde will use paintings from the exhibition Splendor, Myth, and Vision: Nudes from the Prado to talk about behavioral insights developed by Old Masters and how they used or challenged perceptual cues in their work. The program is hosted by the Clark and Williams College Program in Neuroscience… Continue reading »

A Clark Symposium: Whose Nudes?

“Whose Nudes? Painting, Collecting, Displaying the Body in Early Modern Europe” is a scholarly symposium held in conjunction with the Clark’s exhibition, Splendor, Myth and Vision: Nudes from the Prado. This event brings together a group of international scholars, specializing in Italian, Spanish, and Netherlandish art, to create an engaging… Continue reading »

Sensing Place Symposium

This symposium will explore the question of place in art, literature, philosophy, cultural geography, and environmentalism. Participants will engage in a cross-disciplinary dialogue that will explore the importance of place for personal and social identity, and consider the local, national, and international implications of the loss of place. Saturday,… Continue reading »

Violence in the Air: Painting for King Philip IV’s Hunting Lodge

Between 1636 and 1638 Rubens designed over sixty paintings of mythological subjects for the Torre de la Parada, the Royal Hunting Lodge outside of Madrid. In this lecture Margaret D. Carroll, Professor of Art at Wellesley College, argues that Rubens conceived of a number of these works as pairs—for example, the Rape of Hippodamia and the Marriage of Peleus and Thetis in the present exhibition—that served to provoke dialectical reflection on such themes as passion and restraint, order and chaos, chance and reason, and violence and tranquility.  Continue reading »

WCMA 121: Labeling: A History Lesson

Join Katarzyna Pieprzak, Chair and Professor of Francophone Literature, French Language, and Comparative Literature at Williams College, for a discussion of the implications of museum classification systems and a shake-up of the WCMA taxonomies. Thursday, July 21 from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Williams College Museum of Art. Continue reading »

WCMA 114: Museum: The Gathering

Join David Gurçay-Morris, Assistant Professor of Theatre at Williams College, for an immersive performance about the nature of cultural evolution and the possibility for art to be democratic. Thursday, July 14, 2016 from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Williams College Museum of Art. Continue reading »

WCMA 107: Enlivening Texture & Textile in Art

Join Deborah Brothers, Costume Designer and Lecturer in Theatre at Williams College for a mini-course on artists’ renderings of texture, form, and movement  and how they beckon the viewer to respond with the body. Thursday, July 7, 2016 from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Williams College Museum of Art. Continue reading »

Creating “Sensing Place”

Join curators Mark C. Taylor, Professor of Religion at Columbia University, and Henry W. Art, Robert F. Rosenburg Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies at Williams College, for the opening lecture of Sensing Place: Reflecting on Stone Hill. Sunday, July 10, 2016, 3:00 pm-4:30 pm. Hunter Studio, Lunder Center at Stone Hill. Image: Old… Continue reading »

THE ART OF FLAMENCO–performance and lecture

One of Spain’s greatest flamenco dancers, Belén Maya, presents a lecture and demonstration of the art of flamenco with guitarist José Luis Rodríguez and cantaor (singer) Alfonso Cid.   MEMBER22.00 per GENERAL ADMISSION25.00 per STUDENT5.00 per SUNDAY JUNE 12, 2016 3:00 pm-4:30 pm MICHAEL CONFORTI… Continue reading »

Judith M. Lenett Memorial Lecture

Julia Silverman, Judith M. Lenett Memorial Fellow, Williams College M.A. Class of 2016, presents the results of her year-long conservation work in the 22nd Annual Lenett Lecture. Her project at the Williamstown Art Conservation Center (WACC) involves the research and conservation of three eighteenth-century engraved powder horns from the… Continue reading »

WCMA at Night: Cheryl Pope

Through interactive installations, performance, and sculpture Cheryl Pope drills into relationships between language, power, identity, and expression. This WCMA at Night features a series of interactive performances, drawn from an extended pen-pal correspondence between Pope and a group of Williams students, that challenge and encourage our ability to… Continue reading »

Objects of Orientalism: A Symposium

Convened by Mary Roberts and Marc Gotlieb, Objects of Orientalism is designed to open a new dialogue around orientalist visual practice in the second half of the nineteenth century, and to continue the methodological conversation around contemporary valences of the term. Saturday, April 30, 2016 9:00-5:30 Conforti Pavilion, 225… Continue reading »

Objects of Orientalism: A Symposium

Convened by Mary Roberts and Marc Gotlieb, Objects of Orientalism is designed to open a new dialogue around orientalist visual practice in the second half of the nineteenth century, and to continue the methodological conversation around contemporary valences of the term. Friday, April 29, 2016 1:00 PM-5:30 PM Conforti… Continue reading »

Artist talk: Vitaly Komar

Vitaly Komar, conceptual artist, will talk about his artistic path, his works and his evolving concept of artistic collaboration. His talk is entitled “Word and Image: My experience of being an artist in Soviet Russia and in the West.” Thursday, March 10 4:15pm to 5:30pm Lawrence Hall, Rm. 231… Continue reading »

Nick Cave

Get acquainted with the art of Nick Cave as he shares his vision of how objects can provoke vital exchanges about class, race, and identity. This discussion will offer a preview of Cave’s most ambitious installation to date: Until, an exhibition and performance space scheduled to open at MASS MoCA in October 2016. Nick Cave… Continue reading »

Sew-In with Lexa and Dan Walsh

Both Sides Now is a first-time creative collaboration by sibling artists Lexa and Dan Walsh. Dan, a minimalist abstract painter, and Lexa, a socially engaged artist, come together to merge their practices around a shared interest in perception and encounters among objects and people. Drop by to join Lexa and Dan in… Continue reading »

“Eleven Museums, Eleven Directors: Conversations on Art and Leadership” – A Conversation with Michael Shapiro, sponsored by the Graduate Program in the History of Art

Michael Shapiro

“’Eleven Museums, Eleven Directors’ provides an intimate view into the minds of some of the most prominent museum directors of the early 21st century,” said Elizabeth W. Easton, Director, Center for Curatorial Leadership. “Their instructive tales may well come to be seen as a marker of this cultural moment. As readers, we stand… Continue reading »

Faculty Lecture Series / Laylah Ali

Professor of Art, Laylah Ali, will deliver a talk titled “Relieving the Tedium: On my Attempts to Overthrow a Small Government and More Reflections from my Time as an Artist.” Reception in Schow Atrium to follow. Thursday, March 3 at 4:15pm to 5:30pm Thompson Chemistry, 123 (Wege Auditorium)… Continue reading »

Opening Celebration: Both Sides Now

Both Sides Now is a first-time creative collaboration by sibling artists Lexa and Dan Walsh. Dan, a minimalist abstract painter, and Lexa, a socially engaged artist, come together to merge their practices around a shared interest in perception and encounters among objects and people. Kick off the exhibition with… Continue reading »

Opening Celebration: African Art Against the State

Raise a glass with exhibition curator Michelle Apotsos and artist Fabrice Monteiro. Monteiro will speak about his photo series, The Prophecy, which explores the environmental devastation of the artist’s native Senegal. Three of the ten photographs in this series are included in the exhibition. Tuesday, February 2 at 4:00pm… Continue reading »

African Art Against the State

African Art Against the State highlights the long and extraordinary history of activism, intervention, and resistance that has characterized a great deal of African art-making from prehistory to the present. WCMA January 29-August 28… Continue reading »

Object Lab

Object Lab makes visible how works of art are used in courses across the curriculum. Professors deeply embed art into their teaching, students get extended access to the art, and the public gets a glimpse into liberal arts learning. Williams College Museum of Art January 22, 2016 – August… Continue reading »

WCMA at Night: Lexa Walsh

The winter study class, Mapping the Museum, culminates in an evening of “petite interventions.” Curated by socially engaged artist and class leader Lexa Walsh, these student developed projects engage WCMA, its collections, and staff in unconventional ways. Thursday, January 28 5-8 pm Williams College Museum of Art  … Continue reading »

Collecting: An Afternoon with Jon Landau

Noted private collector Jon Landau, art dealer Andrew Butterfield, and former Clark Senior Curator Richard Rand discuss the collection of Renaissance and nineteenth-century painting and sculpture Landau has assembled over many years. Saturday, February 27, 2016 3-4:00 pm  Conforti Pavilion… Continue reading »

Art Department Faculty Colloquium: Heeryoon Shin

Painting the Town Jain: Re-imagining Sacred Space in Nineteenth-century India The city of Banaras is best known as an ancient Hindu pilgrimage center, praised for its holy temples built along the Ganges River. This talk, however, will explore an extensive mural painting that complicates the popular notion of Banaras as… Continue reading »

Art Department 1960’s Scholars Event: Jason and Shirley

There will be a screening of the 2015 docudrama Jason and Shirley by Stephen Winter. His film critically reimagines the 12-hour-long making of the 1967 documentary Portrait of Jason, in which the black, gay hustler and cabaret artist Jason Holliday narrates his life stories of racism, homophobia, and prostitution… Continue reading »

Visiting Artist Lecture: Kenny Rivero

Kenny Rivero will present a lecture on his work. He is an artist who works across mediums, including painting, drawing, and sculpture, to explore his personal narrative and the convoluted histories of New York City and the Dominican Republic. Sponsored by the Art Department. Wednesday, November 18, 6:30pm to… Continue reading »

Elle Perez–Art Department Faculty Colloquium

Excerpts and discussion of “Genesis,” a short film in which the title character attempts desperately to connect to her body and to the body of her girlfriend. The film is shot in black and white with interjections of digital color—blending both the characters’ computer screen and her physical world. (Currently… Continue reading »

The Challenge of Surrealism

Christian Thorne moderates a panel discussion to mark the publication of The Challenge of Surrealism: The Correspondence of Theodor W. Adorno and Elisabeth Lenk, edited and translated by Susan H. Gillespie. Saturday, November 21  3-4pm Conforti Pavilion, The Clark Center… Continue reading »

Visiting artist: Sarah Tortora

Sarah’s recent artist statement describes her current work as consisting of fabricated sculptures and structures that are in-between. Opening reception Monday evening, Oct. 19th, 7:30-9 pm   Wilde Gallery, Spencer Art Building, Williams College  35 Driscoll Hall Dr  … Continue reading »

Jack Whitten: Beyond Abstraction

Jack Whitten will present a lecture on his work entitled, “Jack Whitten: beyond Abstraction.” Jack Whitten (b. 1939) began his earliest experiments in painting during the 1960s by creating dynamic works inspired by Abstract Expressionism. His work of this period manifests emotionally complex meditations on sociopolitical events that shaped… Continue reading »

Collecting for the Clark–Lecture and Exhibition Opening

Collecting for the Clark: Twenty Years of Acquisitions tells the stories of collectors who have donated objects to the museum and how these new objects enhance the existing collection. Lecture: Sunday September 25th 11:00am Clark Center, West Pavilion In the lecture, Clark curators provide an overview of how these… Continue reading »

A Clark Conversation with Mieke Bal

The Clark’s Research and Academic Program presents a conversation with Cultural theorist and critic Mieke Bal. Her film, “Madame B,” airs at the Clark on Wednesday, September 23 at 5:30 pm. Thursday, September 24th, 5:30pm, Hunter Studio, Lunder Center at Stone Hill… Continue reading »

Art / The Law: A Clark Colloquium

Taking as its premise the fundamental incongruence between the epistemologies on which art and law depend, this colloquium explores the possibilities generated when thinking of the two in parallel, conflict, and convergence. By Invitation Only. Friday and Saturday, September 18th & 19th, Clark Center, Carswell Room… Continue reading »

Object Workshop with Kevin Murphy

Students meet at the Lunder Center at Stone Hill at 4 pm, then move to WCMA to view Kevin’s show of Whistler prints. Plan to bike or car-pool from Lunder Center to WCMA for the second part of the workshop, which ends at 6pm. Continue reading »

Faculty Off the Cuff: Labeltalk 2015

Mix eight works of art, add a group of Williams faculty and what you get is a brand new approach to the Labeltalk exhibition series. Faculty Off the Cuff, the tenth in the series, brings interdisciplinary and unexpected dialogues about art to light. Opening Celebration  Thursday, Sept 10, 4… Continue reading »

RAP Film Screening

The Clark’s Research and Academic program will be screening Madame B. at 5:30pm, Wednesday, September 23rd in the Hunter Studio at the Lunder Center at Stone Hill. Directed by Clark Fellow Mieke Bal and Michelle Williams Gamaker, the film explores the role of women in a society driven by masculine impulses. Continue reading »

Thomas Schütte: Crystal

Exhibition Opening Thomas Schutte: Crystal Sunday, June 14, 2015 Thomas Schütte: Crystal, a new contemporary installation conceived specifically for its location on the Clark’s Stone Hill trails, opens Sunday, June 14. Crystal’s unusual design does not clearly communicate its purpose, allowing visitors to construct their own meanings… Continue reading »

Plead the Fifth: Senior Studio Art Exhibition

May 15, 2015 – June 7, 2015 Plead the Fifth features the work of five Williams College studio art majors: Parmalier Arrington, Quinn Griffin, Sara Muñoz, Cary Wade and Madison Weist. The senior studio exhibition celebrates the culmination of each artist’s senior project. The exhibition opens with a free, public… Continue reading »

Senior Studio Exhibition Reception

Friday, May 15 at 7:00pm to 9:00pm Williams College Museum of Art 15 Lawrence Hall Dr, Williams College, Williamstown, MA 01267, USA As contemporary as it gets. Senior studio art students design and produce an exhibition of their work in the final semester of their college… Continue reading »

Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America

Tuesday, May 5 at 4:30pm to 6:00pm Lawrence Hall, 231 15 Lawrence Hall Dr, Williamstown, MA 01267 Matika Wilbur, one of the Pacific Northwest’s leading photographers and a member of the Swinomish and Tulalip Tribes, has exhibited extensively in regional, national, and international venues such as… Continue reading »

Patrick Dougherty Lecture

Friday, May 1 at 7:00pm to 8:15pm Lawrence Hall, 231 15 Lawrence Hall Dr, Williamstown, MA 01267 Patrick Dougherty, a sculptor who specializes in site specific installations, will be coming to campus on Friday, May 1.  Dougherty combines his carpentry skills with his love of nature as a… Continue reading »

Warhol & the 1950s

Thursday, July 23, 2015 WCMA 4 pm Drinks and mingling on the patio to follow Nina Schleif, Terra Foundation Senior Fellow, Smithsonian American Art Museum Blake Gopnik, Warhol biographer and New York Times contributor… Continue reading »

Warhol and Pop

Thursday, July 9, 2015  WCMA 4 pm Drinks and mingling on the patio to follow C. Ondine Chavoya, Professor of Art and Schumann Faculty Fellow in Democratic Studies, Williams College Thomas Crow, Rosalie Solow Professor of Modern Art, and Associate Provost for the Arts, New York University… Continue reading »

Warhol & Infiltrated Publishing

Tuesday, Apr 28, 6 pm–WCMA Drinks and mingling to follow Lucy Mulroney, Interim Senior Director and Curator of Special Collections at Syracuse University Libraries Christopher Cerf, Author, composer, producer, and former Warhol collaborator… Continue reading »