Clark Art Institute to Host Spring Scholarly Lecture Series

08:02AM / Saturday, March 14, 2026Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Clark Art Institute has announced its spring schedule for the Research and Academic Program (RAP) lecture series. The events, which are free to the public, will be held in the Manton Research Center auditorium starting at 5:30 p.m. Each presentation is preceded by a reception at 5 p.m. in the Manton Research Center reading room.

The series begins on March 17 with Luis Vargas-Santiago of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. His lecture, "Sur Marica, A Mobile Cartography of Art, Sex, Affect, and Collaboration in the Americas," examines case studies of artworks from Latin American capitals during the 1980s and 1990s. Vargas-Santiago will discuss how queer artists challenged traditional formations of sexuality, religion, and authorship to redefine national and racial identities.

On April 10, Rachel Lee Hutcheson from the Rochester Institute of Technology will present "Technical Difficulties: Early Color Photography and Conditioned Viewing." The talk analyzes turn-of-the-twentieth-century photographic technologies, such as lantern projectors and screen-plates, which achieved color through red, green, and blue separations rather than hand-application.

Independent scholar Alice Miceli will speak on April 28 regarding "Cities As Battlegrounds: How Urban Warfare Shapes—and is Shaped by—the Lens of History and Photography." Drawing on research from battles in Stalingrad, Fallujah, and Mosul, Miceli will examine the physical and psychological relationship between urban landscapes and military strategy.

The series concludes on May 5 with Ana Lucia Araujo of Howard University. Her presentation, "Global Slavery: A Visual History," analyzes artworks and images depicting human trafficking and enslavement across several centuries. Araujo's work compares the common elements of the institution of slavery from antiquity to the plantation systems of the Americas.

The Manton Research Center provides accessible seating. Interested parties may contact 413 458 0570 for additional information.

Tags: Clark Art,

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Williamstown Select Board Evaluates Town Manager

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:39AM / Wednesday, October 28, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — In 2022, the town still was recovering from the twin blows of a global pandemic and a lawsuit that exposed disturbing allegations against the town's police department.

The latter ultimately led to the resignation of the police chief and the town manager. To replace the manager, the Select Board at the time turned to Robert Menicocci.

Menicocci represented a break in style from his immediate predecessor, who was a more prominent voice in town government. That prominence, in part, was a product of the times: When town boards and committees were not meeting in-person and access to town hall itself was limited at the height of the pandemic, the manager's voice in Zoom meetings was more front and center.

In his four years in the corner office, Menicocci has helped shepherd the police department on its path to certification and helped the town weather the fiscal storm of skyrocketing costs linked to inflation – particularly sharp increases in the cost of health insurance that hit hard for a labor-intensive endeavor like municipal government. All the while, he has been a little more taciturn, while always willing to participate, when appropriate, with responsive answers in discussions of the Select Board and Finance Committee.

On Monday, the current Select Board – completely turned over from the 2022 edition – pushed Menicocci to be more of a cheerleader for the town.

"Do you see your role more as a behind-the-scenes guy and our role is to be out in public?" board member Matthew Neely asked Menicocci during the board's review of the manager's job performance. "Or is there more of a role for you in that? So many people, if I say your name, they're like, ‘Who?'

"I would have assumed your role would be more public facing as well, and more, for lack of a better word, leading the charge as opposed to running day-to-day operations. I feel you're strong running day-to-day. But something we all wish is we had a little more of a proactive [manager] …. Since we need development, need all these things in town so much. … I'd love to see more outward energy, I guess.

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