Celebrate Beatriz Cortez: The Portals

Join us this Thursday, Sept. 21, for a celebration of Beatriz Cortez: The Portals, an exhibition that includes installations across campus and in the galleries of WCMA. Stitching together different voices that inhabited the landscape, The Portals invites viewers to coexist with various people who have believed in equality, justice, curiosity, diversity, and freedom in the area where Williamstown was created, and also to imagine the cyclical dimension of these struggles that seem to repeat themselves in a nation plagued by inequality. The exhibition runs through May 12, 2024.

The celebration begins with a reception at 5 p.m. At 5:30 p.m., the artist will co-lead a tour of the exhibition with Lisa Dorin, Deputy Director of Curatorial Engagement at WCMA, followed by a conversation back at WCMA highlighting the nuances of the work. This tour includes moving short distances with some hills and crossing streets (less than .4 mile). Please contact Roz Crews ([email protected]) to arrange accessible options for participation.

Beatriz Cortez: The Portals

Walls works have new homes

The line for Fall 2023 WALLS Pickup Day this past Sunday actually started on Saturday afternoon, when the first tent was pitched outside our front door. By the time the pickup ended, the 125 original works of art in our WALLS collection all had found new homes for the semester with happy Williams College students. We invite you to check out a selection of images from the event we have posted on our Instagram page!

WCMA on Instagram

Acquiring Art course offered again

Fall classes are in full swing, and this fall that includes Acquiring Art: Selecting and Purchasing Art for WCMA, a course co-taught by Economics professor Stephen Sheppard and WCMA curator Kevin Murphy. In the class, students visit galleries and auction houses to locate works of art that align with the museum’s collecting priorities and have a predicted monetary value greater than their asking price. Students present their works to WCMA’s staff, and the museum purchases those deemed most impactful for the collection at the best price. Art acquisitions are made possible by the Fulkerson Fund for Leadership in the Arts, established by Allan W. Fulkerson ’54.

The course has been offered every other fall since 2015. More than 100 students have participated, and WCMA has purchased fifteen works of art to date. Three of those works are currently on display in the Field Gallery, and two are part of our collection installation Remixing the Hall.

Acquiring Art

Click Here to view the Williams College Museum Of Art News - September 19, 2023