WCMA to Host Symposium Inspired by Mary Ann Unger
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williams College Museum of Art is pleased to announce the symposium Women Shaping Space: Feminism and Materiality, held in conjunction with the exhibition Mary Ann Unger: To Shape a Moon from Bone.
This series of talks and discussions on Oct. 6 and 7 looks outward from the work of pioneering artist Mary Ann Unger (1945–1998) to the contemporary landscape of curators and femme artists working at the intersections of large-scale sculpture, public art, material experimentation, and feminist practice.
The symposium opens with a keynote address by interdisciplinary artist Heather Hart on Thursday, Oct. 6, at 5:30 p.m. at the Williams College Museum of Art. A reception follows the talk and the galleries will remain open until 8 p.m.
"I focus on the translation between space and the public, the public and my work, and the slippage, construction and communication that happens in between these. I want my interdisciplinary work to act as a translator in a language between architectures and the public eye."
On Friday, Oct. 7, Women Shaping Space continues at the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. A morning panel moderated by Horace D. Ballard, curator of Mary Ann Unger: To Shape a Moon from Bone, invites noted contemporary curators of sculpture and multidisciplinary practice to reflect on where they see alignment between feminist practices and ambitious forms; how the enduring legacy of Mary Ann Unger and other artists of her generation are inspiring a range of artists working today; and what questions and imperatives remain for the field.
An afternoon session facilitated by Unger’s daughter Eve Biddle, artist and Founding Co-Director of Wassaic Project, brings together artists Heather Hart and Lisa Iglesias with Nora Lawrence, Artistic Director and Chief Curator of Storm King Art Center, for a conversation about materials that artists use in public art; why material choices matter for meaning, context, ephemerality, and longevity; and how we make curatorial and artistic choices around material and public art.
A full schedule for the symposium is available at artmuseum.williams.edu. All events are free and open to the public. Registration is not required.
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