MILITARY PERSONNEL ENJOY FREE ADMISSION TO THE CLARK THIS SUMMER

For Immediate Release

May 21, 2013

Williamstown, MA—The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute will offer free admission to active duty military personnel and their families through Labor Day this summer in collaboration with the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, and the Department of Defense.

“Through this distinctive collaboration, service members and their families can connect with our national treasures with this unparalleled opportunity to visit some of the country’s finest museums for free,” said Blue Star Families CEO Kathy Roth-Douquet.

More than 1,800 museums across the United States participate in the Blue Star program, including fine arts museums, science museums, history museums, nature centers, and children’s museums. The program runs from Memorial Day, May 27, 2013, through Labor Day, September 2, 2013. For a complete list of participating museums, visit www.arts.gov/bluestarmuseums.

Two major exhibitions are on view at the Clark this summer:

Winslow Homer: Making Art, Making History

Robert Sterling Clark declared that Winslow Homer (American, 1836–1910) was one of the greatest artists of the nineteenth century. After purchasing his first Homer painting in 1915, Clark began a passion that would last for decades and would become the greatest collection of works of Winslow Homer ever assembled by one person after the artist's death—and one of the leading collections of any art museum in the United States. This exhibition showcases some sixty oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, and etchings, as well as approximately 120 rarely seen wood engravings.

George Inness: Gifts from Frank and Katherine Martucci

This exhibition celebrates the most significant contribution to the Clark’s American art collection since the museum’s founding. Eight paintings by American landscape painter George Inness are presented with two additional works by Inness which were purchased by Sterling Clark and have been a part of the museum’s collection since 1955. The canvases represent an excellent survey of the artist’s late work when Inness moved from the open-air painting and naturalism of his early career toward a more conceptual approach to capturing mood and the play of light and shadow.

About the Clark

Set amidst 140 acres in the Berkshires, the Clark is one of the few major art museums that also serves as a leading international center for research and scholarship. The Clark presents public and education programs and organizes groundbreaking exhibitions that advance new scholarship. The Clark’s research and academic programs include an international fellowship program and conferences. Together with Williams College, the Clark sponsors one of the nation’s leading master’s programs in art history. The Clark receives support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

The Clark is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The galleries are open daily in July and August (open Tuesday through Sunday from September through June), 10 am to 5 pm. Admission is $15 June 1 through October 31; free November through May; and free year-round for Clark members, children 18 and younger, and students with valid ID. For more information, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303. The Clark’s library will be closed for renovation June 1 through September 3, 2013.

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