“HARD LOOKS” PROGRAM AT THE CLARK ART INSTITUTE EXPLORES COMPLEX ISSUES THROUGH ART

For Immediate Release
January 6, 2020
[Digital images available upon request]

Williamstown, Massachusetts—This winter, the Clark Art Institute launches a new program entitled Hard Looks, which employs art as a way of working through sensitive and complicated conversations. Each hour-long session explores a single topic, using one work of art from the Clark’s permanent collection as a starting point to help museumgoers think critically about art, their own lived experience, and society at large. The first of these sessions will be held Wednesday, January 15, at 3 pm.

This month, Ronna Tulgan Ostheimer, director of education at the Clark, leads a discussion on the dynamics of renegotiating interpersonal boundaries through Francois Lemoyne’s c. 1725 painting The Amorous Proposal. The next session takes place on February 19 and explores the nature of violent conflict—in classical mythology and current events—through Pio Fedi’s nineteenth-century sculpture The Abduction of Polyxena. On March 18, reflect on people’s need for connection—what they will do to maintain it and what happens when it is lost—through George Grey Barnard’s 1886–87 sculpture Brotherly Love.

These sessions are free with museum admission. Space is limited, and reservations are required. Visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 0524 to register or to learn more.

ABOUT THE CLARK

The Clark Art Institute, located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, is one of a small number of institutions internationally 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, consisting of more than 275,000 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, which has a three-star rating in the Michelin Green Guide, is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Galleries are open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm; open daily in July and August. Admission is $20; free year-round for Clark members, children 18 and younger, and students with valid ID. Free admission is available through several programs, including First Sundays Free; a local library pass program; EBT Card to Culture; and Blue Star Museums. For more information on these programs and more, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303.

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