WCMA Celebrates Fall With Weekend of Programs

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) will kick off the fall semester with a weekend of celebrations on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 27 and 28.

On Friday, Sept. 27, from 5 to 7 p.m. visit WCMA to view fall exhibitions, including Teddy Sandoval and the Butch Gardens School of Art, curated by C. Ondine Chavoya and David Evans Frantz; Cracking the Cosmic Code: Numerology in Medieval Art, curated by WCMA Assistant Curator Elizabeth Sandoval; SO-IL/WCMA: Building a New Museum, organized by WCMA and SO-IL, the architects designing the new museum building; Pallavi Sen: Colour Theory, curated by former WCMA Mellon Curatorial Fellow Nicholas Liou and Roz Crews, Associate Curator of Programs; Object Lab; and Remixing the Hall, featuring the museum's collection "remixed" in new ways by the entire curatorial team.

Curators and artists will be visiting from near and far to join in the festivities, which will include refreshments, music, and more.

The following day, on Saturday, Sept. 28, take a deeper dive into Teddy Sandoval and the Butch Gardens School of Art with "Play and Inquiry: Celebrating Latinx and Queer Art Communities." This daylong celebration of Latinx and queer art includes a tour of the exhibition with the curators at 11 a.m.; a Spice Root lunch buffet at noon with short presentations by representatives from the Queer Men of the Berkshires and the Berkshire Queer History Project (BQH), information from Latinx and LGBTQIA+ student groups, as well as students collecting very brief oral histories of queer folks on behalf of BQH (all are welcome, reservation required); a hands-on mail art workshop led by Erick Ramos-Jacobo, Program Research Assistant and Workshop Leader from 1 to 3 p.m.; and a panel discussion moderated by Associate Professor of Art Mari Rodriguez Binnie featuring short presentations by exhibition artists, Joey Terrill, Troy Montes-Michie, and Moises Salazar Tlatenchi, followed by a dialogue delving into the topics of experimental graphics, queerness, and Latinx and Chicanx identities from 3:30 to 5 p.m.

"It's our absolute pleasure to welcome WCMA's many communities to the museum for a day of ‘play and inquiry' inspired by Teddy Sandoval and the Butch Gardens School of Art," said Roz Crews, Associate Curator of Programs. "In addition to learning from and with the local artists, students, activists, and scholars who make the Berkshires so vibrant, audiences will have a special opportunity to hear directly from the exhibition's visiting curators, David Evans Frantz and C. Ondine Chavoya, as well as artists in the show. 

"This event is a sharing platform for folks who do the daily work of honoring the queer and Latinx stories of our society."

Programs are free and open to the public. Registration is required for the lunch on Sept. 28. For more information, visit artmuseum.williams.edu.

Trees, Tall Grass Will Delineate Williamstown Dog Park

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:39AM / Wednesday, April 30, 2025

The town plans to designate an 18-acre area, outlined in yellow, for off-leash dogs at the Spruces Park.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Select Board on Monday saw regulations that will govern a fence-free "dog park" that the town plans to establish at the Spruces Park.

 

Use of the 114-acre former mobile home park on Main Street has been on the table for the Select Board for more than two years, after a failed attempt by citizens petition to amend the town's leash bylaw at the 2023 annual town meeting.

 

Last September, the board agreed in principle to a plan to designate a section of the park for dog owners to bring their pets off leash.

 

At Monday's meeting, Town Manager Robert Menicocci brought the board a set of regulations that he proposes to post for an 18-acre portion of the park that will be delineated by natural boundaries and colorful "stakes" that the town hopes will keep the animals confined and alleviate the concerns of park users who do not want to be around unleashed dogs.

 

The Spruces Park, which was obtained by the town under the terms of a Federal Emergency Management Hazard Mitigation Grant following Tropical Storm Irene, is subject to FEMA regulations regarding the installation of objects — like fences — that could impede the property's function as a regulatory floodway.

 

Menicocci on Monday showed the board a set of rules for a "Dog Area … delineated by a vegetative buffer … open for off leash dogs seasonally after the buffer has established in the spring."

 

Select Board member Matthew Neely asked if the plan is to plant a hedge row or some type of vegetative border that will help define the off-leash area.