Clark Art Lecture On Queer Art And Artists in Medieval Europe

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — On Tuesday, April 11, the Clark Art Institute's Research and Academic Program presents a talk by Karl Whittington (The Ohio State University) titled "Queer Making: Artists and Desire in Medieval Europe."

This free event takes place at 5:30 pm in the Manton Research Center auditorium.

According to a press release: 

Whittington asks: what role does desire play in the making of art objects? Art historians typically answer this question with reference to historical evidence about an artist's sexual identity, personality, and relationships, or with reference to particular kinds of imagery in works of art. But how do we think about desire in the case of anonymous artists or in works whose subject matter is mainstream? We know little about the lives and personalities of the makers of most works of art in Europe in the Middle Ages, but this should not hold us back from thinking about their embodied experience. This talk argues that we can "queer" the works of anonymous historical makers by thinking not about their identities or about the subject matter of their artworks but rather about their embodied experiences working with materials. Through considering issues of touch, pressure and gesture across materials such as wood, stone, ivory, wax, cloth, and metal, Whittington argues for an erotics of artisanal labor, in which the actions of hand, body, and breath interact in intimate ways with materials. Combining historical evidence with more speculative description, this talk broadens our understanding of the motivations and experiences of premodern artists.

Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. A 5 pm reception in the Manton Research Center reading room precedes the event. For more information, visit clarkart.edu/events

 

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Mount Greylock School Committee Sends FY26 Budget to Member Towns

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock School Committee on Thursday voted unanimously to send its member towns a fiscal year 2026 spending plan that calls for increases of about 7 percent in the assessment to Lanesborough and 8 percent in the assessment to Williamstown.
 
The committee's annual public hearing and vote on a spending plan for the next academic year concludes a process that began in earnest for the panel in December.
 
That is when the School Committee first heard the budget requests from the middle-high school. At its January meeting, it heard the budget priorities for the district's two elementary schools.
 
The budget approved on Thursday reflects some of the requests from each of the three schools, but the majority of the $1.37 million hike to the district's gross operating budget is related to cost increases outside the district's control, interim Superintendent Joseph Bergeron explained.
 
A so-called level service budget, with no increase in discretionary spending, would drive nearly $1 million of that $1.37 million, Bergeron explained.
 
The non-discretionary increases include $550,000 related to a 16 percent increase in the district's health insurance costs, $340,000 for "contractual obligations, borrowing, transportation and supplies/services cost increases" and a reading specialist position at Mount Greylock that is driven by demand for special education.
 
As for costs that fall outside the concept of a level-service budget, the FY26 spending plan includes more money for 1-to-1 paraprofessionals ($100,000), a new elementary school math curriculum to replace one that is nearly 30 years old ($90,000) , classroom projectors for four classrooms at Lanesborough Elementary School ($30,000), expanded professional development for staff in math and literacy ($56,700) and the addition of two new teachers at Mount Greylock, one in Spanish and one in the Wellness Department.
 
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