RELATED EVENTS
OPENING LECTURE: HUMANE ECOLOGY—EIGHT POSITIONS
Saturday, July 15, 2pm
Curator of Contemporary Projects Robert Wiesenberger introduces Humane Ecology: Eight Positions. Featuring eight contemporary artists who consider the intertwined natural and social dimensions of environmental questions, Humane Ecology includes sculpture, sound installation, video, and plantings. It is presented in outdoor and indoor spaces at the Clark, including both the Clark Center and Lunder Center at Stone Hill.
Free.
COMMUNITY DAY
Sunday, July 16, 11 am–4 pm
Come one, come all, and join the spectacular festivities at our annual Community Day! Adventure around the Clark’s 140-acre campus and enjoy free admission to the permanent collection galleries and special exhibitions, including Edvard Munch: Trembling Earth, Humane Ecology: Eight Positions, and Elizabeth Atterbury: Oracle Bones. Inspired by these exhibitions, we connect with the world around us for an enchanting day of art, activities, food, and more! Come dance to live music inspired by the sounds of nature, learn how natural pulp becomes paper, and participate in creating a collective forest full of color and magic. As always, surprising entertainment and encounters are sure to abound!
Free and open to the public. Refreshments and select activities available for purchase. Held rain or shine.
Family programs are generously supported by Allen & Company.
WORKS ON PAPER HIGHLIGHTS TALK: DRAWN ECOLOGIES
Wednesday, August 2, 1 pm
In conjunction with the Clark’s summer exhibition of contemporary art, Humane Ecology: Eight Positions, Lunde Fellow Sarah Grandin discusses eight drawings that face and frame the natural world. From Claude’s idyllic valleys to Homer’s treacherous shorelines, to Degas’ morbid fox study to Bonheur’s stately bovine portraits, the selected works chart the breadth of artist’s positions vis-à-vis their environments and cohabitants.
Free and open to the public; capacity is limited to twenty visitors on a first-come, first-served basis.
POP-UP WRITE-IN WITH WILLIAMSTOWN RURAL LANDS
Monday, August 7, 3 pm
What do we seek in nature, and in nature-writing? Is it regaining or accessing a sense of wonder about the natural world? Can a connection with our surrounding environments help us connect with others? Consider these and other questions during this pop-up write-in sponsored by Williamstown Rural Lands and hosted at the Clark—an event for writers of all skill and experience levels.
Williamstown Rural Lands, in partnership with local publisher Tupelo Press, is producing an arts and literature review focused on the northern Berkshire natural environment, and they are inviting artists and writers to submit work for consideration. Spend time on the Clark’s 140-acre campus for an immersive writing experience as you embark on your own nature-based writing project. Come with ideas in mind, visit the Humane Ecology: Eight Positions exhibition, or engage with a writing prompt to start putting words on the page. Writers can check in at the Manton Research Center Reading Room, where writing prompts and dedicated space will be provided.
Free. Admission to the Humane Ecology: Eight Positions exhibition is included for participants from 3–5 pm. Curator Robert Wiesenberger will be present from 3:30–4:30 pm to greet participants. Please bring writing utensils and any supplies you will need to make the most of the afternoon. Note: only pencils are permitted for in-gallery use.
EVENING ECOLOGY
Saturday, August 19, 5 pm
Enjoy an evening at the Clark and late-night access to the contemporary exhibition Humane Ecology: Eight Positions, spanning indoor and outdoor spaces across the campus. Explore the exhibition galleries and meet fellow art-lovers while experiencing the sculpture, video, and sound installations of this special exhibition. Then, enjoy live music, food and refreshments, and s’mores around a moonlit campfire.
Free. Galleries open until 11 pm. Food, beer, and wine available for purchase. S’mores are complimentary! Park at the Lunder Center at Stone Hill. Please check back on event day in case of weather-related cancellation.
Family programs are generously supported by Allen & Company.
ARTIST TALK: IN THE GARDEN
Saturday, August 26, 3 pm and Sunday, September 17, 3 pm
Artist Pallavi Sen (b. 1989, Bombay) leads an informal conversation about the sculptural artist’s garden that she and a group of Williams College students are cultivating as part of the Clark’s exhibition, Humane Ecology: Eight Positions. Sen and the students will walk through the garden and discuss the process of cultivation from seed-to-seed, as well as the garden’s double status as an artwork and productive food source.
Free.
WRITING ON STONE HILL: A POETRY WORKSHOP
Saturday, September 16, 2 pm
Gather with fellow writers on the Clark campus for a guided poetry workshop. The workshop takes us outdoors as we engage with writing prompts, the land around us, and one another. Drawing inspiration from the special exhibition Humane Ecology: Eight Positions, this workshop considers the complex and interdependent relationships between humans and their surrounding environments. While the workshop focuses on poetry, we encourage a broad interpretation of the genre and creative thinking about how to engage with the themes. Writers aged sixteen and older of all experience and skill levels are invited to participate.
Free. Advance registration required; capacity is limited. Materials provided. Meet at the Clark Center Admissions desk.
Family programs are generously supported by Allen & Company.
ARTIST TALK: GENOCIDE IS CLIMATE CHANGE
Sunday, October 1, 2023
Christine Howard Sandoval, an artist featured in Humane Ecology: Eight Positions, presents a screening of her video Niniwas- to belong here, 2022 (12:23 minutes) and a discussion with scholar Jessica L. Horton on a paper they recently co-authored: “‘Genocide is Climate Change’: A Conversation about Colonized California and Indigenous Futurism.” Howard Sandoval, who lives and works in Vancouver, is an enrolled citizen of the Chalon Indian Nation of California; Horton is Associate Professor in the Department of Art History at the University of Delaware and a former Clark fellow.
Niniwas- to belong here, 2022, single channel video with audio, TRT 12:23. Sound design in collaboration with Luz Fleming. Filmed at La Misión de María Santísima, Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, CA in 2021, the single channel video and audio piece engages the physical ruin of the mission where her Chalon ancestors were once held. A montage of archival documents from her 10th grade mission report along with documents researched in California state and US national archives seek to correct the colonial narrative of Native California from a personal and historical perspective.
Free.
ARTIST TALK: HUMANE ECOLOGY
Saturday, October 14, 3:30 pm
Artist Eddie Rodolfo Aparicio, featured in Humane Ecology: Eight Positions, speaks with exhibition curator Robert Wiesenberger about his sculptural practice and the complex interdependence of people and plants—specifically in Central America and in the Los Angeles neighborhoods where he grew up.
Free.