CLARK ART INSTITUTE RECEIVES MAJOR GIFT

Institute’s directorship is named in recognition of $15 million gift

For Immediate Release
March 12, 2015

Williamstown, Massachusetts––The Clark Art Institute today announced a major gift from Felda and Dena Hardymon that is one of the largest donations in the Clark’s history. The Hardymons, residents of Berkshire County and Cambridge, Massachusetts, have watched the Clark’s evolution over the last two decades. While the gift was made to support the Clark’s campus expansion program and ongoing activities, the Institute’s Board of Trustees recently voted to name the director’s position in recognition of their generosity. The newly established Felda and Dena Hardymon Director position is held by Michael Conforti.

“It has been a joy to watch the growth of the Institute over the last twenty-plus years,” said Dena Hardymon. “Felda and I are excited by what the staff, the Board of Trustees, and the Clark’s many supporters have accomplished. Most compelling to us is the potential the recent campus expansion has created, which we know will support the Clark’s expanding programs and reinforce its place as a twenty-first-century institution of global stature.”

Following a recent Board of Trustees meeting, Board Chair O. Andreas Halvorsen noted that “Felda and Dena Hardymon’s vision and generous gift will have an important impact on the Clark’s future. We chose to honor them by naming the directorship in recognition of their emphasis on leadership and its importance in securing the Institute’s success. We are deeply grateful that they have chosen to make such a lasting contribution to the Clark.”

Dena Hardymon, who joined the Clark’s Board of Trustees as an honorary trustee in 2013, said, “We’re delighted that the Trustees have recognized our deep interest in the importance of leadership at the Clark. As wonderful as the new and renovated buildings are, in the end the Clark’s international standing is based on the strength of its staff, who work with the Institute’s extraordinary art and library collections to advance its exhibition and educational outreach programs as well as its important scholarly activities. We’re proud to know that our gift will be perpetually affiliated with those responsible for ensuring that the Clark remains one of the most important arts institutions in the country.”

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ABOUT THE CLARK

The Clark Art Institute is one of a small number of institutions globally that is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. Opened in 1955, the Clark houses exceptional European and American paintings and sculpture, extensive collections of master prints and drawings, English silver, and early photography. Acting as convener through its Research and Academic Program, the Clark gathers an international community of scholars to participate in a lively program of conferences, colloquia, and workshops on topics of vital importance to the visual arts. The Clark library, open to the public with more than 240,000 volumes, is one of the nation’s premier art history libraries. The Clark also houses and co-sponsors the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art.

The Clark opened its expanded facilities on July 4, 2014, unveiling new and enhanced spaces that accommodate the continued growth of the Institute’s programs. Included in this final stage of the project are the new 42,600-square-foot Clark Center designed by Tadao Ando Architect & Associates, expansion and renovation of the original Museum Building and the ongoing renovation of the Manton Research Center by Selldorf Architects, and a sweeping redesign of the grounds by Reed Hilderbrand Landscape Architecture. The first phase of the campus expansion project was completed in 2008 with the opening of the Lunder Center at Stone Hill, a striking conservation and exhibition facility also designed by Tadao Ando.

The Clark is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Galleries are open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm. Admission is $20; 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.

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