Clark Art Blockchain and the Arts System

08:09AM / Friday, November 15, 2024Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Friday, Nov. 22 from 1:30 to 6:00 pm, the Clark Art Institute hosts a one-day symposium on the new connections between blockchain and the arts system.

This free event takes place in the Clark's Michael Conforti Pavilion.

According to a press release:

Blockchain—defined as a shared, immutable ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets in a network—stands to offer solutions to long-standing inequities in the arts and culture sector. This symposium explores the potential of blockchain to create greater equity within arts' systems by bringing together practitioners at the forefront of these developments to discuss their work, assess new possibilities for blockchain's use throughout the art market, and to engage with community members interested in understanding blockchain and its applications.

Participants include Frances Liddell (University of Edinburgh), Amy Whitaker (New York University), Destinee Filmore (Metropolitan Museum of Art), Rhea Myers (artist), Tina Rivers Ryan (Artforum), Yayoi Shionoiri (Powerhouse Arts), Kelani Nichole (TRANSFER), Cheryl Finley (Cornell University), Lauren van Haaften-Schick (Teachers College, Columbia University), and christian reeder (Mariane Ibrahim Gallery). Following the presentations, Filmore and van Haaften-Schick moderate an open forum for community members to pose questions, offer comments, and to further discuss projects and initiatives led by the convening participants.

Free. Visit clarkart.edu/Research-Academic for the full program schedule. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. This event will not be recorded or livestreamed.

Tags: Clark Art,

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Williamstown Select Board Evaluates Town Manager

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:39AM / Wednesday, October 28, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — In 2022, the town still was recovering from the twin blows of a global pandemic and a lawsuit that exposed disturbing allegations against the town's police department.

The latter ultimately led to the resignation of the police chief and the town manager. To replace the manager, the Select Board at the time turned to Robert Menicocci.

Menicocci represented a break in style from his immediate predecessor, who was a more prominent voice in town government. That prominence, in part, was a product of the times: When town boards and committees were not meeting in-person and access to town hall itself was limited at the height of the pandemic, the manager's voice in Zoom meetings was more front and center.

In his four years in the corner office, Menicocci has helped shepherd the police department on its path to certification and helped the town weather the fiscal storm of skyrocketing costs linked to inflation – particularly sharp increases in the cost of health insurance that hit hard for a labor-intensive endeavor like municipal government. All the while, he has been a little more taciturn, while always willing to participate, when appropriate, with responsive answers in discussions of the Select Board and Finance Committee.

On Monday, the current Select Board – completely turned over from the 2022 edition – pushed Menicocci to be more of a cheerleader for the town.

"Do you see your role more as a behind-the-scenes guy and our role is to be out in public?" board member Matthew Neely asked Menicocci during the board's review of the manager's job performance. "Or is there more of a role for you in that? So many people, if I say your name, they're like, ‘Who?'

"I would have assumed your role would be more public facing as well, and more, for lack of a better word, leading the charge as opposed to running day-to-day operations. I feel you're strong running day-to-day. But something we all wish is we had a little more of a proactive [manager] …. Since we need development, need all these things in town so much. … I'd love to see more outward energy, I guess.

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