Curtain's Up For Visions Of The Stage Exhibition At The Clark

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WILLIAMSTOWN - The relationships between theater, visual art, and performance in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century France will be explored this fall at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. An exhibition, Visions of the Stage: Prints and Drawings, 1600-1800, will open to the public on August 23, held in conjunction with the two-day symposium "Visions of the Stage: Theater, Art, and Performance in France, 1600-1800" on September 12 and 13. Renowned harpsichordist and musicologist Mark Kroll will perform works by French composers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries on September 13 at 8 pm at Williams College.

Visions of the Stage: Prints and Drawings, 1600-1800, an exhibition of 20 works, draws from the collections of the Clark and Chapin Library of Rare Books at Williams College, and includes drawings, prints, and books relating to theater and performance. Included will be drawings by Jean-Antoine Watteau, illustrations by Francois Boucher and many others, as well as costume designs, portraits of actors, and designs for theaters.

The symposium, "Visions of the Stage: Theater, Art, and Performance in France, 1600-1800," held September 12 and 13 and convened in association with the Calendrier Électronique des Spectacles sous l'Ancien Régime et sous la Revolution (CESAR), brings together historians of art, literature, theater, and culture to explore the complex relationships between the visual and theatrical arts in Ancien Régime and Revolutionary France. Cost to attend is $25 for adults, $15 for students, and free for Williams students and faculty. Register online at www.clarkart.edu <http://www.clarkart.edu> or by calling 413-458-0524.

Symposium participants include: Mark Bannister, Oxford Brookes University; Kathryn A. Hoffmann, University of Hawaii; Jeanne Bovet, Université de Montréal; Véronique Lochert, Université de Haute-Alsace; Jan Clarke, Durham University; Sabine Chaouche, Oxford Brookes University; Anne L. Schroder, Nasher Museum of Art, Duke University; Christian Biet, Institut Universitaire de France, Université de Paris X (Nanterre); Nathalie Rizzoni, CELLF 17e-18e, Université de Paris (Sorbonne); Françoise Rubellin, Université de Nantes; Daniel Smith, Northwestern University; Georgia Cowart, Case Western Reserve University; Sarah Cohen, University at Albany, State University of New York; and Nicholas Paige, University of California, Berkeley. Funding for the symposium has been provided by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and the Florence Gould Foundation.

In association with the symposium, renowned harpsichordist and musicologist Mark Kroll will play a free program of music by Couperin and other French composers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries on September 13 at 8 pm at Williams College. He will focus on music that paints musical "portraits" of people, places, and things, which reflects seventeenth- and eighteenth-century French society and culture. Kroll is a world-renowned harpsichordist, fortepianist, and scholar, described by the Washington Post as "the ideal performing artist." He has recorded extensively and toured widely, and has written books on Hummel and Beethoven, and has published extensively in early music journals. Held at in the Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall at Williams College.

The Clark is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The galleries are open daily in July and August from 10 am to 5 pm (closed Mondays September through June). Admission June 1 through October 31 is $12.50 for adults, free for children 18 and younger, members, and students with valid ID. Admission is free November through May. For more information, call 413-458-2303 or visit www.clarkart.edu.
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Williamstown Board Opts to Negotiate with College on Water St. Lot

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff

Newly elected board member Nate Budington, far left, participates in his first in-person meeting along with, from left, Matt Neely, Stephanie Boyd, Peter Beck, Shana Dixon and Town Manager Robert Menicocci.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Select Board on Monday decided to enter into negotiations with Williams College on the sale of the vacant town-owned lot at 59 Water St.
 
But the board members made it clear that the college's proposal to acquire the lot is a starting point, not a final deal that the elected officials would accept.
 
"For the sake of continued conversation, I'm in favor of [awarding Williams the site], but if this process wasn't continued with the opportunity for further negotiation, I wouldn't vote to continue this," Peter Beck said. "I think that next step is necessary for us to get to a yes on this."
 
"I think there's wide agreement on that," Matthew Neely said just before the 5-0 vote to enter talks with the college.
 
Williams was the sole respondent to a town-issued request for proposals to develop the former town garage site, currently a dirt lot.
 
The college's stated intent is to build a new Facilities office and create up to 170 parking spaces at 59 Water Street. That use will allow the college to redevelop the current Facilities building site and parking lot as part of a reconception of the school's indoor athletic and recreation facilities.
 
Under the terms of the RFP, the college's proposal was subjected to review by an ad hoc advisory committee to the town manager, who brought the question to the Select Board. That board will have the final say on any purchase and sales agreement.
 
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