Museum Day in Williamstown

We visited two museums today, Mass MOCA and the Clark, both in Williamstown, about an hour from our hotel.

Mass MOCA is in an old factory complex (originally Arnold Printing, then Sprague Electric) which they’ve converted into a museum; the Clark is in a building specifically built for them in 1955 and then expanded in the 21st Century. Our Study Leader described it as “contemporary art in an old building vs. classical art in a new building”, and that seemed pretty accurate.

At Mass MOCA, we took a whirlwind guided tour through several of their buildings. Here are a few photos.

Cosmic Latte – the lights are supposed to represent the color of the Milky Way
This is where the North and South Forks of the Hoosick River merge; the river flows onward to Troy where it joins the Hudson.
Mass MOCA doesn’t own any works, but they have three floors of one building devoted to Sol LeWitt’s wall drawings, on long-term loan until at least 2040.

I could have spent much longer at Mass MOCA, but we had a luncheon and tour appointment at the Clark. Again, I only have a few photos to share – both of these are from their American gallery.

The Undertow – Winslow Homer
Dismounted: Frederic Remington

Both museums were worth visiting, but I have to say that Mass MOCA seemed more alive than the Clark.

Houses and Gardens

Today, we visited three historic homes (two of which are technically “cottages”). We began the day at Herman Melville’s Arrowhead with a private tour led by our Study Leader, John Dickson. We got to explore the home in some depth; unfortunately, the smoke from the Canadian fires kept us from enjoying Melville’s view of Mt. Greylock, which is supposed to resemble a whale.

Our next stop was Edith Wharton’s cottage, The Mount, where we learned about Edith Wharton’s life, finances, lovers, and more.

After lunch, we explored the gardens and enjoyed some of the seasonal sculptures from this year’s SculptureNow program.

Möbius – Philip Marshall

Windwave Arbor in context

Bouganvilla – Pedro S. de Movellán

Old Warrior – Robin Tost

I Have Been Dreaming to be a Tree – Byeongdoo Moon

Our final stop was Naumkeag, designed by Stanford White and built for the Choate family. We spent most of our time in the garden, though the inside was pretty impressive, too.

We got back to the hotel in time to take a short walk to the site of Alice’s Restaurant.

The weather had been threatening all day, and the promised thunderstorms arrived just as we returned from our walk; we decided to have dinner in the hotel’s tavern!