Clark Art Hosts Williams College Graduate Program Symposium

This year's presentations, timed in conjunction with Williams College's 2026 Commencement weekend, address a variety of topics in the history of art, including the artistic tradition of ancestral Peruvian textiles, the implications of depicting beheadings in seventeenth-century Seville, the relationship between print and sound technologies in the late nineteenth century, efforts to shape the public perception of color through photography during the Nazi period, and the interplay of painting and phenomenology in the late twentieth century. All presentations are free and open to the public.

Presentations will be approximately twenty minutes each, delivered in thematic panels of two or three speakers that are followed by a moderated discussion. 

Presenters include:

Chioma Agbaraji [Prince George's County, Maryland]

Maximillion A. Alegria [Baker, Florida] 

Hannah Tsung-Ling Chew [Menlo Park, California]

Cristine Elizabeth Escudero [Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey] 

Natalie Ginsberg [Newark, Delaware] 

Alexis Kelly [Irvine, California]

Charlie Qing Xu Kong [Shanghai, China, and Vancouver, Canada]

Elizabeth Levie [San Francisco, California] 

Andrew Lu [Beijing, China]

Cèlia Pardillo-Lopez [West Lafayette, Indiana, and Barcelona, Spain]

Emma Poveda [Los Angeles, California] 

At 4:30 pm on Saturday, June 6, the Clark hosts the graduate program's annual hooding ceremony, honoring the students' accomplishments. 

The symposium and hooding ceremony both take place in the auditorium at the Clark Art Institute's Manton Research Center, 225 South Street, Williamstown, Massachusetts.

For more information, visit gradart.williams.edu.

Williamstown Board Opts to Negotiate with College on Water St. Lot

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:04AM / Tuesday, June 09, 2026

Newly elected board member Nate Budington, far left, participates in his first in-person meeting along with, from left, Matt Neely, Stephanie Boyd, Peter Beck, Shana Dixon and Town Manager Robert Menicocci.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Select Board on Monday decided to enter into negotiations with Williams College on the sale of the vacant town-owned lot at 59 Water St.

 

But the board members made it clear that the college's proposal to acquire the lot is a starting point, not a final deal that the elected officials would accept.

 

"For the sake of continued conversation, I'm in favor of [awarding Williams the site], but if this process wasn't continued with the opportunity for further negotiation, I wouldn't vote to continue this," Peter Beck said. "I think that next step is necessary for us to get to a yes on this."

 

"I think there's wide agreement on that," Matthew Neely said just before the 5-0 vote to enter talks with the college.

 

Williams was the sole respondent to a town-issued request for proposals to develop the former town garage site, currently a dirt lot.

 

The college's stated intent is to build a new Facilities office and create up to 170 parking spaces at 59 Water Street. That use will allow the college to redevelop the current Facilities building site and parking lot as part of a reconception of the school's indoor athletic and recreation facilities.

 

Under the terms of the RFP, the college's proposal was subjected to review by an ad hoc advisory committee to the town manager, who brought the question to the Select Board. That board will have the final say on any purchase and sales agreement.