MARIO MERCADO PRESENTS LECTURE ON TRAVEL AND ART AT THE CLARK ART INSTITUTE

For Immediate Release
January 3, 2020

Williamstown, Massachusetts—Mario Mercado, the former arts editor of Travel + Leisure magazine, presents a lecture on the intersections between travel, art, and design and the wanderlust they inspire at the Clark Art Institute on Saturday, January 12, at 1 pm. The talk will be held in the Clark’s auditorium, located in the Manton Research Center, and is free and open to the public.
The lecture is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Travels on Paper, now on view at the Clark through February 9. Featuring prints, drawings, and photographs by Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps, John La Farge, Robert Macpherson, Thomas Moran, Félix Teynard, and others, Travels on Paper takes visitors back to a time when the opportunity to visit renowned sites was limited to a privileged few and armchair travelers relied on drawings and photographs to see images of foreign lands.

Mercado discusses how glossy travel magazines and social media platforms today offer, through words and photography, a hint at the world’s possibilities and a key to discovery, whether across the globe or close to home. Though often treated as a commodity in contemporary life, travel, Mercado posits, can still offer a singular means of unlocking the imagination and stirring curiosity, and the arts, be they visual or performing, encompass experiences that shape and enhance travel in special ways.

ABOUT THE CLARK

The Clark Art Institute, located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, 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, 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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