For Immediate Release
September 5, 2023
CLARK ART INSTITUTE FIRST SUNDAYS FREE PROGRAM RETURNS ON OCTOBER 1 WITH FREE ADMISSION
AND GROUNDING-THEMED ACTIVITIES
Williamstown, Massachusetts—The Clark Art Institute’s popular First Sundays Free program returns on Sunday, October 1. Offering free admission to the galleries and special exhibitions from 10 am–5 pm, the day also features a series of special activities from 1–4 pm, and a pop-up display of works on paper on view from 11 am–1 pm. October’s theme is “Grounding.”
Explore what it means to be grounded both inside and outside of the galleries. Engage your senses through a guided forest bathing experience—the Japanese practice of consciously connecting with nature in order to slow down and be present in the natural world around you. Learn about the geologies depicted in artworks in the Clark’s collection, and play with the ideas of foreground, middle ground, and background (all used to create the illusion of depth or perspective in artworks). Then, design a take-home terrarium so you can stay “grounded” throughout the week!
In conjunction with other grounded-themed activities, the Clark’s Manton Study Center for Works on Paper hosts a pop-up exhibition. The selected prints, drawings, and photographs showcase forests, geology, and the natural world more broadly, as well as how artists experimented with foreground, middle ground, and background to evoke a lifelike sense of illusion and depth in such works.
Visitors can see Edvard Munch: Trembling Earth, on view in the Clark Center galleries through October 15; Humane Ecology: Eight Positions, on view in the Lunder Center at Stone Hill galleries and the Michael Conforti Pavilion through October 29; and Printed Renaissance, on view in the Eugene V. Thaw Gallery for Works on Paper in the Manton Research Center through October 22. Also on view through January 21, 2024 is Elizabeth Atterbury: Oracle Bones, a special installation in public areas at the Clark.
Free. For more information, visit clarkart.edu/events.
Family programs are generously supported by Allen & Company.
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 some 300,000 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. Its 140-acre campus includes miles of hiking and walking trails through woodlands and meadows, providing an exceptional experience of art in nature. Galleries are open 10 am to 5 pm Tuesday through Sunday, from September through June, and daily in July and August. Admission is free January through March and is $20 from March through December; admission is free year-round for Clark members, all visitors age 21 and under, and students with a valid student ID. Free admission is also available through several programs, including First Sundays Free; a local library pass program; and EBT Card to Culture. For information on these programs and more, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303.
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