This series of programs invites community members including beer brewers, musicians, young people, and cake artists to interpret Remixing the Hall from their unique perspectives. Each participant will make a creative response to an on view work from the collection, and they will present it in the museum as part of this series.
By giving a diverse set of people outside the museum the agency and platform to share their personal connections to artwork in our collection, we are broadening who the museum is for and expanding how the collection can be used as a tool for learning. This series asks audiences to see relationships between disparate objects and experiences, complicating the present and the past.
Each event will be two hours on Thursdays throughout the summer: a 5 to 6 p.m. presentation and a 6 to 7 p.m. reception with celebratory food/drink options.
July 6: Beer Brewers
Through virtual workshops, artist and seasoned beer industry participant Eric Steen will work with beer brewers from regional breweries Bright Ideas (North Adams, MA), Hot Plate (Pittsfield, MA), and Rare Form (Troy, NY), alongside museum staff from the curatorial-engagement department, to talk through the process of making beers inspired by specific works of art. Brewers will create new beers based on selected objects from WCMA’s exhibition Remixing the Hall, which features work from our permanent collection. During the public event, Eric will give an abbreviated artist talk and open up the conversation with the participating brewers about the process before a reception featuring the freshly brewed beers on draft.
July 20: Musicians
In collaboration with museum staff, Andrea Belair (Co-Owner of Belltower Records, North Adams, MA) has curated a set of musicians from a range of musical backgrounds who will each compose 5-10 minute pieces inspired by an artwork in Remixing the Hall. Featured musicians include: Mirabel Thompson Boyer (Williamstown, MA), Wednesday Knudsen (Austerlitz, NY), Lemuel Marc (Boston, MA), Father Hotep (Hadley, MA), and Carlos / REC – Humble Monarch Media. Together the musicians will make a collective concert for the audience as they guide us through the exhibition. A DJ reception to follow from 6 to 7 p.m.
Aug. 3: Young People
WCMA will host a week-long intensive fellowship for seven 10-13-year-olds. The fellows will get a behind the scenes look at the museum’s collection, hear about different careers in the arts, and learn various methods for interpreting artwork. At the end of the program, the fellows will give a collaborative guided tour of Remixing the Hall designed for kids and adults from their communities. Opening remarks from the fellows and tour from 5 to 6 p.m, reception featuring foods selected by the fellows in collaboration with Anne Kennedy from 6 to 7 p.m.
Aug. 17: Cake Artists
Cake artists from the region will design and produce a cake that interprets an artwork in Remixing the Hall. Featured artists: Edward Cabral (NYC), Cakes For No Occasion, Magnet, and Alli Gelles of cakes4sport (NYC). From 5 to 6 p.m., the cake artists will share about their selection and creation process during a moderated conversation alongside images of their creations and the artworks that inspired the cakes. From 6 to 7 p.m., there will be a reception to taste the cakes alongside iced coffee and tea.
