Letter: Bilal for Williamstown Select Board

To the Editor:

I am writing to urge Williamstown voters to elect Bilal Ansari to the Williamstown Select Board on Tuesday, May 10. Dr. Ansari has dedicated himself to a life of service, to helping people resolve difficult situations. He listens intently and responds carefully with compassion. He appeals to our best nature. These are essential skills needed at this moment in our town.

Dr. Ansari does not believe that he alone has the solutions to all of the challenges facing our town. Instead, he wants to hear from those comfortable speaking up and also those who, until now, have not felt comfortable nor heard at all. He believes it will take a village to share concerns and work together to make Williamstown a better place for everyone to live and work and grow. But making that happen takes a special type of skilled leadership.

Bilal Ansari is the candidate blessed with that skilled leadership and a stake in our town's quality of life. He has deep roots in this town: his ancestors lived and worked here. He is committed to an approach based in kindness and inclusion. He is the candidate who can and will help us reach a new, inclusive and more equitable chapter in our town's history.

I ask for your vote on May 10 for Bilal Ansari for the Williamstown Select Board. Thank you.

Hugh L Guilderson, Ph.D.
Williamstown, Mass.

Williamstown Art Museums Move Through Town Permitting Processes

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
06:38AM / Saturday, October 17, 2026

The new wing will replace the bridge between the Manton Research Center and the original Clark Art building. The giant oak, at left, will be 'well protected' officials said at the unveiling of the plans in July.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The town's two art museums were, collectively, before three town land-use boards over the last two weeks for approvals of an expansion and signage.

 

The Clark Art Institute on South Street was before the Conservation Commission, Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals for permits to enable a 14,725 addition that will complete the connection between the museum's original building and its Manton Research Center to the south.

 

Officials from the Williams College Museum of Art, meanwhile, also went to the ZBA for an OK for the signage planned for is new museum on Main Street across from Field Park.

 

The new WCMA is well underway with announced plans to open during the 2027-28 academic year.

 

It cleared most town regulatory steps before a shovel went in the ground, but the last piece, the exterior signage, required signoff from the Zoning Board, which last year took the place of the defunct Sign Commission.

 

WCMA Deputy Director Devon Nowlin presented the signage plan at a Thursday hearing of the ZBA.

 

"The new visual identity is based on the concept of reflection, connection and interaction," Nowlin told the board. "As seen in this rendering, we have a complement of the different signage types that include a building marker. The building marker states the full name of the museum for clarity, and its position as a bench at the bus stop in front of the museum welcomes interaction and promotes public transportation to the museum."