'The Art of the Opening' To Be Displayed In New WCMA Museum

03:03PM / Monday, February 02, 2026Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) is hosting a monthly program series this spring called "The Art of the Opening" that will offer audiences a glimpse into specific works of art that will be on display when the new museum building opens in the fall of 2027.

On Feb. 4, March 18, and April 1 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., curators from our curatorial engagement team will share an in-depth preview of a different object that will be on view in the inaugural installation, which aims to showcase WCMA’s global art collection guided by a liberal arts ethos. The audience will be invited to ask questions, and lunch will be provided for the first 12 people to register.

Kicking off the series on Feb. 4 will be Elizabeth Gallerani, our curator of Mellon Academic Programs, who will share information recently learned about a pichhwai (temple hanging) in the WCMA collection that depicts the Hindu god Krishna painted on a huge cotton cloth. Mellon Curatorial Fellow Rachael Nelson will present on March 18, and Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Dan Byers will present on April 1.

RSVPs are required here: https://airtable.com/appEgY2dFQZxVvJhJ/pagiusORQgIBjIM8k/form.

For more information, visit artmuseum.williams.edu.

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Williamstown Studying Major Overhaul for Main Street

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:14AM / Wednesday, July 29, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The town is working with a Worcester civil engineering firm to redesign Main Street with an eye toward a major project sometime in the next decade.

Community Development Director Andrew Groff was before the Select Board on Monday night to talk about Town Hall's use of a $500,000 state grant to do preliminary design on major improvements to that portion of Route 2 that runs from Water Street west to the Field Park rotary, through the middle of Williams College's campus.

Groff introduced the elected officials to Amanda Bazinet of Worcester's Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, who is helping the town to develop a plan for Main Street that would align with the commonwealth's Complete Streets Program.

"Our project goals, in addition to the increased pedestrian and bicycle accommodations, is just, in general, improving the sightlines and improving the intersection geometry," Bazinet said.

"Complete Streets … has a lot of different facets to it. As Andrew had mentioned, the goal is to improve the safety for all of the roadway users — not just the motorists. We're looking at improving it for pedestrians, bicyclists, anyone using a mobility device. We want to create streets that are safe for all ages and abilities to use. So, while bicyclists will still be allowed, legally, to use the roadway, we want to look at providing a separate bicycle accommodation along the corridor, whether it's a shared use path along both sides of the streets that is a little more accessible to young children or older people with disabilities to look at all transportation options."

One goal is to encourage "active transportation." The Massachusetts Department of Transportation, who the town hopes one day might fund the construction, has a "healthy transportation policy," Bazinet said.

That MassDOT funding would come through the Transportation Improvement Program, which is managed locally by the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission. The design work underway now is being done with an eye toward going after TIP funding years down the road.

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