Williams College Museum of Art

Williams has one of the premier college art collections in the country, and the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) serves as a great teaching resource for many of our departments. WCMA is a dynamic learning environment with more than 15,000 pieces of art in its permanent collection.

The Art History department has graduated what The New York Times calls the “Williams Art Mafia.” Art History program alums are now running the Museum of Modern Art (Glen Lowry), Art Institute of Chicago (James Rondeau), and the LA County Art Museum (Michael Govan).

WCMA launched WALLS (Williams Art Loan for Living Spaces) in 2014, a program that allows students to hang art pieces on their dorm walls. The goal of the program is to allow students to live with art and to encourage sustained interaction with, and deep thinking about, original pieces of art. The WALLS collection currently comprises 120 two-dimensional artworks including photography, prints, drawings and paintings. It was assembled by a committee of undergraduate and graduate students, donors, WCMA and Williams staff. From a 1518 woodcut by Albrecht Dürer to a 2012 photograph by American artist Curran Hatleberg to Romare Bearden, David Hockney and Laylah Ali pieces, the WALLS collection brings together a diverse range of artworks representing a broad span of time and geography.

The surrounding area is also a hot spot for art. Our students have access to many arts-oriented internship and work opportunities at WCMA, The Clark Art Institute and MASS MoCA. They also have free admission to all three of those museums.

The Clark is on the outskirts of the Williams campus, and serves as a great resource for our students. It holds one of the best collections of French Impressionist art in the country, including Picasso, Monet, Degas and Renoir. Francine and Sterling Clark were wealthy New Yorkers who had amassed a large collection of art at the turn of the century. The rumor is that fearing WWII nuclear bomb threats on NYC, they moved the collection to the “safest place in America” —Williamstown. Sterling’s grandfather was a Williams alum.

MASS MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art), located in neighboring North Adams, is among the nation’s largest, most respected multidisciplinary centers for contemporary visual, performing and media arts. It was founded by Williams alum and then-WCMA Director Tom Krens ’69 in 1999.

MASS MoCA presents a wide range of dance, theater, film, music programs and visual art exhibits by many of today’s most renowned artists (and, its current director is another Williams alum, Joe Thompson ’81). MASS MoCA also provides extended artist residencies and partakes in community development initiatives including partnerships with downtown merchants and space for more than a dozen small businesses. They also host performances by famous artists like Mitski and the Roots.

The Art Studio Department is located in the Spencer Art Studio building down the road. The beautiful stone and glass structure houses classrooms, studios, faculty offices and Wilde Gallery. Wilde Gallery is the primary student exhibition space on campus.