The Northwestern Berkshires

We made a little trip to the Berkshires - which is western Massachusetts.  The 'Berkshires' are actually just the Appalachian mountains which are located in Massachusetts.  If you are in Vermont, they are called 'The Green Mountains'.  In New Hampshire, they are 'The White Mountains', but they are all one mountain range, the Appalachians.  The Berkshires are famous as a summer vacation spot in the East for culture.  There are numerous theatrical, dance and music festivals. The Berkshires are filled with quaint little towns, each trying to out-quaint the next one five miles down the road.
One of those quaint little towns is 'Williamstown' which is the home of a gem of a traditional museum, "The Clark Art Institute".  It has been completely remodeled and expanded.  I suspect the renovation was done by the same architect who designed the Kimball in Fort Worth.  Check out the first two pictures in the album and see if you don't agree.  If the Clark museum sounds familiar, it's because when it was remodeled, they sent their pictures on an extended tour, and the tour came to DFW.  As we toured this museum a few weeks ago, we kept saying, "We've seen that one."  However, if you like Impressionist art, well, this place has oodles of the best.  You can check out the pix by following the link.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/EncfxtcRN3j3SPg8A

Western Massachusetts was a hotbed of small manufacturing towns in the 19th and early 20th century.  This is the home of the 'widgets' (small stuff that can be put together in the factory where everyone in town works).  International competition, as well as mismanagement of resources, and/or obsolescence put all of these places out of business.  Most of the towns are little dots on the map.  Sometimes they are the sites of fairly famous colleges.  ("Williams" - founded in the 1790's is one of those schools).

An interesting factoid about "The Clark" is Sterling and Francine Clark didn't ever live in Williamstown, the site of the museum.  He wasn't the local industrialist like the Hyde family in Glens Falls who founded a museum to hold their personal art collection.  Oh, this museum was built to hold the Clark art collection, but Williamstown was chosen as the site because Sterling and Francine became alarmed during the Cold War a nuclear bomb attack on NYC (their residence) would destroy their art.  They picked Williamstown, Massachusetts, as the safe place they would build a museum based on a nebulous connection by the grandfather to Williams College!  Sterling Clark is one of those rich guys (heir to the Singer Sewing Machine fortune) who inherited rather than earned his $$.  I'm just glad he left his art collection to the public.

A much more interesting museum is called "The MoCA" -  nope, not about chocolate.  It stands for the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.  The town of North Adams repurposed a group of eight large derelict factory buildings and transformed them into a contemporary art museum.  This setting for the art is fascinating, and the art is very interesting.  This museum has made this town a tourist destination.  Instead of being a fading 19th century factory town, it is now vibrant and alive with new shops, B & B's and restaurants.  This museum was fun, and they have some wonderful Sol Lewitt pieces.  I just like his use of precision and color.

Ok, so sometimes I get a little crazy

One of the exhibitions that impressed me was called "The Lure of the Dark", and all the paintings exhibited were night scenes.  The gallery was darkened, and there were pools of light around each painting.  Here's an example of what I mean.  The display was novel, and the technique enhanced the paintings.

If you want to see the pix of the contemporary art, click on the link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/LGxvedioCDJGYsXc9

Once again, the Berkshires have impressed.  We enjoyed a jam packed day, and I'm hoping we can get back to finish up the Clark and take in the Williams College Museum.