SO–IL \ WCMA: Building a New Museum opens Friday

After years of thoughtful planning, we have partnered with SO–IL, an internationally-recognized architecture and design firm based in Brooklyn, New York, to create a new, state-of-the-art building as the museum’s first purpose-built home since it opened here in Lawrence Hall in 1926 in what had previously been the college’s library. The design process for the new WCMA began in June 2022 and has been an exciting, collaborative journey between the design team, the museum, and the college, all leading up to groundbreaking this fall and a projected opening in 2027.

SO–IL \ WCMA: Building a New Museum, opening this Friday, May 26, in our Weston Rotunda, showcases plans and renderings of the building design. It also offers a view into our work in progress and the fluid and iterative process that helped us get to where we are today. Our hope is that this provides a sense of what goes into the design of a complex and ambitious building, and provides an opportunity for our communities to learn and think together about what it means to make a campus art museum for the future.

The exhibition runs through Dec. 22.

SO–IL \ WCMA

It's graduation time!

Congratulations to the Williams College Class of 2024! From masked introductions over Zoom during the pandemic to in-person class visits to programs, we have loved seeing you at the museum.

Over the years, we have been so incredibly lucky to work alongside so many wonderful students who are graduating this year. Hats off to our interns in curatorial engagement who have gone above and beyond working on digital projects, researching objects, and connecting with visitors and students of all ages: Aiden Pham, Alexis Ahn, Destini Ross, Imogen Mandl-Ciolek, Jordan David, Josh Picoult, María Minuesa Sicilia, and Tiffany Wu. And congrats to Jackson Small, who helped in exhibition planning and management, and to Dover Sikes and Ana Wever, who helped with museum operation and development work.

We also want to offer a special shoutout to our wonderful Mellon Curatorial Fellow, Nicholas Liou, who has earned his master’s degree in art history this year. We have so appreciated the energy and enthusiasm he brought to his work on exhibitions and acquisitions over the past three years.

We know you are all destined for great things, and we are honored to have been a part of your journey here at Williams College.

Senior studio art show open through June 2

Speaking of graduating seniors, make sure to stop by and check out Instead of Sleeping, the exhibition featuring work by this year’s graduating studio art majors: Tim Brown, Ava Earthman, Henry Johnstone, Xan McKenna, Angelica Pena, Aiden Pham, Daniela Reyes, Isabelle Shah, Kaleisha Towle, and Kevin Weng.

The strength and competency of their projects reflect four years of hard work, aesthetic refinement, and individual development. The exhibition closes when the students officially graduate on Commencement Day, Sunday, June 2!

Instead of Sleeping