The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown has appointed Anthony G. King to the new position of deputy director. King, of Pittsfield, has been director of operations and finance at the Clark since 1998. As deputy director, King will be second-in-command at the Institute, and will oversee the implementation of the Clark’s master plan for the expansion and enhancement of its campus.
“As we enter a new period of activity in anticipation of our new building and landscape enhancements, I am delighted that Tony’s experience and leadership will help make this exciting project happen,†said Clark Director Michael Conforti.
Before joining the Clark’s staff in 1998, King was deputy director of the Worcester Art Museum. He has been director of the Washington State Historical Society and from 1979 to 1983 was executive director of the Berkshire County Historical Society, leading that organization’s successful fund-raising campaigns to preserve historic structures at Arrowhead, Herman Melville’s 19th-century home in Pittsfield. King currently teaches a course in museum administration at the Harvard University Graduate Extension School. He has been vice president of the Williamstown Chamber of Commerce and has also served on the boards of the New England Museum Association and the American Association of Museums.
The Clark recently selected Pritzker Prize-winning architect Tadao Ando to design its new facility, part of a master plan for the expansion and enhancement of its campus. The 85,000-square-foot building will include new gallery space, improved exhibition galleries and visitor services.
In an interview earlier this week, King talked about the new position. The change, he said, designates him as “first among equals†on the senior management team, representing the museum’s four divisions — finance and operations, curatorial, academics and research, and external affairs and development.
“It’s meant to ensure that core programs developed by other divisions are carried out in a cohesive manner,†said King, “integrated not just up and down but across.â€
“I’ve been the typical chief administrative operations person,†said King. “Since the mid-1990s, when Michael Conforti came, the Clark has seen great growth. It’s almost doubled its number of employees, from 40 to 80, which changes the organization drastically.â€
“I enjoy being a facilitator,†said King. “I’ve worked in museums my entire career. I’m an idealist. I think institutions can have an impact on people, on communities.
“I facilitate programs, and worked with people who are trained in various disciplines, and make sure what they’re doing contributes to the mission of the organization.â€
King, who began his professional career at the Museum of the American Indian in New York City, had started out on a different track.
He had graduated from Springfield College with a history major in 1976 expecting to be a teacher and coach.
“Now I guess I am, but in a different way, one that I didn’t expect,†said King.
After graduation, teaching and coaching jobs were scarce, so he joined a brother, then at Fordham University, and sent his resume to “every history museum in New York City,†he recalled.
His first job was counting artifacts at the Museum of the American Indian for $3 an hour. When he landed the job, he said, he had “no clue†that the museum had attracted the attention of the state attorney general’s office for unauthorized sales of artifacts.
“I was the 12th guy hired,†he said, for the job counting artifacts to see what was, and was not, in the collection. As curatorial assistant, he assisted curators with inventory, conservation and display of collections.
Although he had by then worked up to $3.50 an hour, he began volunteering at the Bronx County Historical Society, which, when they landed a grant, hired him as assistant chief executive officer. He also put himself through New York University graduate school, where he earned a master’s degree in American Civilization in 1978.
King grew up the eighth of 15 children in Spring Lake on the Jersey shore, a location he calls the Irish Riviera. He and his wife, the former Debbie Harte of Pittsfield, have four children, three girls and a boy, ranging in age from 10 to 18. He is involved with their soccer teams, and with religious education at Sacred Heart.
A former rugby player, King tried snowboarding last winter for the first time, and is a lunchtime runner. “Springfield College emphasizes a healthy lifestyle,†he said.
He enjoys teaching spring semester classes in museum administration at Harvard graduate extension school.
“It keeps me connected,†he said. By reading students’ assignments he stays tuned to developments at Boston-area museums. Also, he said, “nearly half the students are international.â€
King enjoys being back in the Berkshires, which, he said, seem to have changed relatively little during his years away. He particularly enjoys the increased coordination and cooperation among the county’s cultural institutions.
“Institutions like the Clark have ambitious goals,†he said. “To use a sports analogy, we need to stay in the field of play.
“The Clark is moving from reliance on investments to fund-raising,†he said. “All fixed costs have grown at a rate higher than inflation. When 85 percent of its funds are from the investment base, we need to keep to a prudent, conservative approach. We’re growing, taking a long-term view.
“The discipline and challenge for the administration is that the staff is always ambitious, but it’s very important to keep to the financial parameters.
“The secret is surrounding yourself with dedicated people,†said King.
“There’s great satisfaction in seeing an institution become financially and programmatically more stable.â€
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North Adams Double Murder Case Continued to March
By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The case of a city man charged with killing his parents was continued to March on Monday.
Darius Hazard, 44, was scheduled for a detention hearing on Monday in Northern Berkshire District Court.
Prior to the start of the court's business, the clerk announced that Hazard's case was continued to Monday, March 2.
Hazard is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of arson in connection with the Nov. 24 fire that claimed the lives of Donald Hazard, 83, and Venture Hazard, 76.
Police say Hazard confessed to the killings and starting the fire and fled the Francis Street home where he lived with his parents.
Samuel Currence served his country in the Air Force with distinction, professionalism and unparalleled humility from 1962 to 1985, retiring as a technical sergeant. click for more
Many homeowners are showing their holiday spirit by decorating their houses. We asked for submissions so those in the community can check out these fanciful lights and decor when they're out.
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