This event should be one of the high points of our Reunion Weekend of June 8-11, 2023.
John Stickney, whose behind the scenes work has much to do with enabling the 68-only encounter with Pamela Franks,
has provided this teaser:
With the Clark Art Institute to the south and MassMoCA to the east, can the Williams College Museum of Art dare compete?
On Friday, June 9, at 1 p.m., Pamela Franks, WCMA director, will show and tell WHY and HOW in an exclusive 55 minutes with the class of 1968 at the museum itself, in Lawrence Hall.
“WCMA’s range is global and historical all the way back to antiquity, which sets us apart from our wonderful neighbors,” Pam says. “And our mission is to teach, which enables us to partner with every department on the campus.”
Pam and key curators from the WCMA team will share their unique approach to curricular collaborations in Object Lab, and highlight some of the museum’s new acquisitions, including works of contemporary art and traditional Tibetan thangka painting featured in a recent cross-disciplinary presentation by religion professor Georges Dreyfus, “What is a tantric deity and how to become one.”
You may have heard that plans are underway for a new WCMA rising at the corner of Route 2 and 7 on the site of the old Kappa Alpha house and previous Williams Inn. With 14,000 artworks in Lawrence Hall, built as the college library in 1846 and now shared with the art department, WCMA needs a new home worthy of its mission and its unifying role on campus.
Pam plans to brief the entire reunion contingent on those plans on Saturday, June 10, on the main stage at the ’62 Center. But she and her team are ours alone on Friday at WCMA itself.
Please join us! And note: This session is NOT a fundraiser.