WCMA Celebrates Fall With Weekend of Programs

Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) will kick off the fall semester with a weekend of celebrations on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 27 and 28.

On Friday, Sept. 27, from 5 to 7 p.m. visit WCMA to view fall exhibitions, including Teddy Sandoval and the Butch Gardens School of Art, curated by C. Ondine Chavoya and David Evans Frantz; Cracking the Cosmic Code: Numerology in Medieval Art, curated by WCMA Assistant Curator Elizabeth Sandoval; SO-IL/WCMA: Building a New Museum, organized by WCMA and SO-IL, the architects designing the new museum building; Pallavi Sen: Colour Theory, curated by former WCMA Mellon Curatorial Fellow Nicholas Liou and Roz Crews, Associate Curator of Programs; Object Lab; and Remixing the Hall, featuring the museum's collection "remixed" in new ways by the entire curatorial team.

Curators and artists will be visiting from near and far to join in the festivities, which will include refreshments, music, and more.

The following day, on Saturday, Sept. 28, take a deeper dive into Teddy Sandoval and the Butch Gardens School of Art with "Play and Inquiry: Celebrating Latinx and Queer Art Communities." This daylong celebration of Latinx and queer art includes a tour of the exhibition with the curators at 11 a.m.; a Spice Root lunch buffet at noon with short presentations by representatives from the Queer Men of the Berkshires and the Berkshire Queer History Project (BQH), information from Latinx and LGBTQIA+ student groups, as well as students collecting very brief oral histories of queer folks on behalf of BQH (all are welcome, reservation required); a hands-on mail art workshop led by Erick Ramos-Jacobo, Program Research Assistant and Workshop Leader from 1 to 3 p.m.; and a panel discussion moderated by Associate Professor of Art Mari Rodriguez Binnie featuring short presentations by exhibition artists, Joey Terrill, Troy Montes-Michie, and Moises Salazar Tlatenchi, followed by a dialogue delving into the topics of experimental graphics, queerness, and Latinx and Chicanx identities from 3:30 to 5 p.m.

"It's our absolute pleasure to welcome WCMA's many communities to the museum for a day of ‘play and inquiry' inspired by Teddy Sandoval and the Butch Gardens School of Art," said Roz Crews, Associate Curator of Programs. "In addition to learning from and with the local artists, students, activists, and scholars who make the Berkshires so vibrant, audiences will have a special opportunity to hear directly from the exhibition's visiting curators, David Evans Frantz and C. Ondine Chavoya, as well as artists in the show. 

"This event is a sharing platform for folks who do the daily work of honoring the queer and Latinx stories of our society."

Programs are free and open to the public. Registration is required for the lunch on Sept. 28. For more information, visit artmuseum.williams.edu.


Tags: WCMA,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Williamstown Planners Eye Consultant Help on Mixed-Use Proposal

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Planning Board has decided to seek more input before moving ahead with a proposal that would encourage more mixed-use development in the town's business zones.
 
For months, the board had acknowledged that a lot of work needed to go into putting a full-fledged zoning overlay district proposal before town meeting but was optimistic the task could be completed in time for May's annual meeting.
 
But last Tuesday, the town planner suggested that the board could benefit from the work of consultants which the town could hire if it receives a couple of grants from the commonwealth.
 
One of those grants could help fund a study to look at what sorts of business development might be possible if the town code is changed to encourage the construction of buildings that combine commercial and residential uses in its Limited Business and Planned Business zoning districts.
 
"[The town has] done housing needs assessments a couple of times, what about a market needs assessment?" Community Development Director Andrew Groff asked the board rhetorically at its monthly meeting. "That undergirds the whole rezoning program. And then you build the form-based [zoning] on top of that."
 
Groff told the board that he started thinking about the need for studies to support the mixed-use zoning initiative after conversations with officials from the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission and preliminary talks with the type of consultant who might be able to help the town get the data it could use.
 
The planner also suggested that the creation of overlay districts could be done in phases.
 
View Full Story

More Williamstown Stories