April 2, 2025
CLARK ART INSTITUTE PRESENTS FILM SCREENING
AND POETRY EVENT WITH COMPAGNIA DE’ COLOMBARI AND TUPELO PRESS
Williamstown, Massachusetts—On Saturday, May 3 at 4 pm, the Clark Art Institute presents “Walt Whitman Comes to the Clark,” a combination film screening and poetry event centering around Whitman’s most famous poem, “Song of Myself.” This free event takes place in the Clark’s Manton Research Center auditorium.
Whitman’s “barbaric yawp,” “Song of Myself” celebrates freedom, inclusion, and democracy. Working with this iconic piece, theater collective Compagnia de’ Colombari has created seven short films with actors and musicians around the globe bringing Whitman’s words to life in startling and beautiful new ways. These films are screened as part of their nationwide Whitman on Walls! (WoW!) tour. After each film, a poet published by Tupelo Press offers an original piece of work written in response to the film—conversing with, talking back to, and wrestling with Walt Whitman.
Compagnia de' Colombari is a New York City theater group founded in Orvieto, Italy, in 2004. Springing from the vision of director Karin Coonrod, it involves an international collective of performing artists, generating theater in surprising places.
Tupelo Press, located in North Adams, Massachusetts, is an independent non-profit press discovering and publishing works of poetry, literary fiction, and creative nonfiction by emerging and established writers.
Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. For more information, visit clarkart.edu/events.
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 nearly 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 to all from 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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