Clark Art Institute Announces 'American Revolutionaries' Gallery Tour Series

07:35AM / Friday, March 27, 2026Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Clark Art Institute has announced a series of gallery talks for April to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States. The "American Revolutionaries" tours will feature artworks from the Burrows Gallery of American Decorative Arts, including silver from the Henry Morris and Elizabeth H. Burrows collection.

All talks begin at 12 p.m. in the Manton Research Center reading room.

The series opens on April 1 with a presentation by Alexis Goodin, curator of decorative arts. Goodin will discuss silver crafted by Paul Revere Jr. and his father, highlighting Revere's dual role as a silversmith and a figure in the American Revolution.

On April 8, curatorial intern Oliver Hess will lead a session titled "George Washington, American Icon." Hess, a graduate student in the Williams College/Clark Graduate Program in the History of Art, will examine the public's historical fascination with Washington's likeness. The talk will cover formal portraits, print culture, and funerary porcelain created following Washington's death.

The series concludes on April 15 with a discussion on the social and political significance of tea in colonial America. Goodin will return to lead the session, focusing on silver and furniture associated with the era and the role of women in organizing tea boycotts following the Tea Act of 1773.

The "American Revolutionaries" tours are free with gallery admission, and no registration is required.

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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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