Clark Art to Host "Read the Story and Picture" Lecture Sept. 20

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Clark Art Institute’s Research and Academic Program will present a lecture by Clark Fellow Olivier Bonfait entitled, "Read the Story and the Picture" at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 20 in the Clark’s auditorium in the Manton Research Center building.

In this lecture, Bonfait will discuss the interplay between the pictorial intelligence of the human history based on a left-right dynamic and the lateralization of vision which is also part of  daily experience.

Olivier Bonfait is a professor at the Université de Bourgogne and the École du Louvre and is also a member of the Institut Universitaire de France. He earned his Ph.D. from the Sorbonne with a dissertation on art and society of Baroque Bologna.

Bonfait has published, in particular on Nicolas Poussin and "Caravaggesque" painting. When he was director of the art history department at the Villa Médici—Académie de France (Rome), Bonfait curated several exhibitions spanning seventeenth- to nineteenth-century European art.

At the Clark, Bonfait is researching the history of large-format painting and considering its important role in the formation of modern nation states.

The event is free and no registration is required. Prior to the lecture, attendees are invited to join a reception in the Manton Research Center Reading Room starting at 5 p.m. 

A recorded video of this lecture releases on the Clark’s YouTube channel on September 27. For more information, visit clarkart.edu/events.

Performance Team Revived at Christmas Brook Figure Skating Club

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
07:11AM / Sunday, November 01, 2026

The Blitz regularly performs at women's college hockey games at MCLA And Williams College.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Last year, the Christmas Brook Figure Skating Club's Blitz spent the winter sharpening its skills and supporting women's hockey in North County.

 

This year, they've decided to help some men, as well.

 

The Blitz, an 11-member company of skaters aged 7 through 16, have been invited to perform during intermission of a Springfield Thunderbirds minor league men's hockey game at the Mass Mutual Center.

 

The Dec. 30 performance will come during a season that again will include shows at women's college hockey games at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams and Williams College.

 

The club's production team was a staple of the Bay State Figure Skating Show at the annual Bay State Games and the local club's own year-end show but took a hiatus after the COVID-19 pandemic, Michela Juras said.

 

"Coach Nikki [Benson] and I brought it back with a twist: hockey games," Juras said.

 

"I skated on a team when I was younger, and we practiced weekly. I just wanted to provide more opportunities to build their confidence. It helps build leadership, teamwork, sportsmanship, you name it."