Clark Art Lecture on Alvin Baltrop

08:11AM / Friday, January 31, 2025Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — On Tuesday, Feb. 4, the Clark Art Institute's Research and Academic Program presents a talk by Darius Bost (University of Illinois Chicago / Clark/Oakley Fellow) exploring the work of Black, gay photographer Alvin Baltrop.

This free event takes place at 5:30 pm in the Manton Research Center auditorium.

According to a press release:

Since the 2019 solo exhibition?The Life and Times of Alvin Baltrop?at the Bronx Museum, Baltrop, known for his photographs of the gay sexual subcultures and abandoned warehouses at New?York's West Side piers, has received increased scholarly and popular attention. However, Baltrop has been primarily discussed as a gay artist who focused on gay subcultures. Though?Baltrop's race, class, gender, and sexuality shaped his artistry, few scholars have analyzed how these identity markers shaped his life and times. Bost discusses how Baltrop's identification as a Black, gay voyeur shaped his artistic practice and life experiences in the 1970s. Since Baltrop viewed his photography as historical documentation of a fleeting gay subculture, the talk also considers how his voyeuristic approach to photography might intervene in the practice of queer history.?

Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. A reception at 5 pm in the Manton Research Center reading room precedes the event.

Tags: Clark Art,

iBerkshires.com Text Ads

rk MILES Blding Materials

Are You Ready to Update Your Home? Start With rk MILES. 4 Locations (800)670-7433

www.rkmiles.com

Save & Earn with Greylock

3.30% APY 6-month certificate. Click to learn more! Insured by NCUA.

www.greylock.org

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

Williamstown's Milne Library Opens Makerspace on Thursday

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
08:12AM / Sunday, October 25, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The David and Joyce Milne Public Library still is the best place in town to borrow a book.

But it is getting to the point where the word library itself is inadequate to describe all the Milne has to offer.

On Thursday, the Main Street library will hold a grand opening for Studio 1095, the Milne's new makerspace, where patrons will have access to creative tools ranging from sewing machines to soldering tools to jewelry-making supplies to creative software like Photoshop and Illustrator to green screen capability to a podcast studio.

It marks the latest step in the evolution of the town's library into a full-service community center.

"I think Studio1095 is very much part of that broader evolution," Milne Director Angela Zimmermann said last week. "Libraries are continuing to provide those core services people have always relied on — books, information, technology, research help, and a place for learning — while also becoming places where people can create, connect, explore, and participate in their community, a sort of community creative and learning space.

"The Thingdom and Sensory Space are good examples of that same evolution — both of which just happened at the Milne in the last couple of years. They recognize that a library can meet community needs in ways that go beyond traditional collections. And Studio1095 builds on that idea by giving people access to equipment, technology, creative tools, and opportunities they might not otherwise have access to."

The Thingdom is the Milne's lending center where cardholders can check out such "non-book" items as a fondue pot, a leaf blower, a paper shredder, a snow sled or an electric drum kit.

View Full Story