WCMA to Host 'Art & Beer' Summer Program

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williams College Museum of Art will present the first program in the "Construct Your Own Meaning" summer series—an exploration of the museum's permanent collection through the lens of local craft beer—on Thursday, July 6, at 5 p.m. 

Oregon-based artist and seasoned beer industry expert Eric Steen has invited three local brewers to interact with the art collection, dialogue with museum staff about the collection, select one or more artworks for inspiration, and brew new beers inspired by the artwork. Visitors will have the opportunity to drink the beers, mingle with the brewers, and learn how beer can also be a type of artform.

Brewers and beers include:

Bright Ideas Brewing (North Adams, Mass.): Triumph of Dionysus, an experimental lager in which the ingredients and process was inspired by three distinct artworks: a large abstract painting Three Weeks by Larry Rivers, an ancient sarcophagus fragment, and a three-dimensional still life Little Still Life #2 by Tom Wesselmann. The beer is brewed with Triumph hops and New Zealand Phantasm grape skins and is fermented with Omega Yeast's thiolized lager strain. 

Hot Plate Brewing (Pittsfield, Mass.): Before the Common Era, a pale ale with local honey, local grains, and malted millet inspired by the Egyptian Statuette of a Falcon, Standing with Double Crown (c. 310 BC -30 BC).

Rare Form Brewing (Troy, N.Y.): Situation VI Saison, a 5.2 percent ABV Saison inspired by the airy, fieldlike quality of Sam Gilliam's 1972 artwork Situation VI - Pisces 4.

During the public event, Steen will give an abbreviated artist talk and open up the conversation with the participating brewers before a 6 p.m. reception where the new art-inspired beers will be served to visitors with special glassware. The event is free and open to the public. Valid ID is required for tasting beer.

WCMA is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.


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Williams College Addressing New Bias Incidents

iBerkshires.com Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Saying the college has to “resist hatred in all its forms,” the president of Williams Monday informed the campus community of recent bias incidents at the school.
 
Maud Mandel sent a college-wide email to provide details on the incidents, talk about how affected students are being supported and point out that the college’s code of conduct will be brought to bear on any members of the student body found to be responsible.
 
The recent incidents appear to be targeting both Jewish and Black students at the school.
 
“In one case, a table painted with the U.S. and Israeli flags was placed outside on the Frosh Quad,” Mandel said, referring to an area bounded by two residence halls that abut Park Street . “Over several days the table was repeatedly flipped over and damaged. It was eventually defaced with graffiti that read, ‘Free Palestine,’ ‘I love Hamas,’ ‘F— Zionists,’ ‘Colonizers,’ ‘F— AmeriKKKa’ and ‘Don't claim rednecks.’ “
 
The Star of David was crossed out on an Israeli flag at the table, and the table itself was repeatedly damaged by vandals, Mandel wrote.
 
Her email also referenced a series of reports earlier this semester involving the harassment of Black students on Main Street (Route 2), which runs through the middle of campus.
 
“[On] several occasions this semester, people in cars have yelled the N-word and other racial slurs at Black and other students crossing Route 2,” Mandel wrote. “During one of those incidents a person in the car also threw an empty plastic bottle at the students. Route 2, the main public thoroughfare through campus, has been a site of similar incidents in past years.”
 
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