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Clark Institute Acquires Land at MASS MoCA

Two western Massachusetts arts institutions join forces as the Clark museum pursues expansion plans

Laura B. Weiss -- Interior Design, 9/6/2007 12:00:00 AM

Collaborating yet again with a neighboring western Massachusetts arts institution, the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA has acquired 29,000 square feet of building space on the 13-acre former factory site in North Adams, MA that now serves as the campus of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, better known as MASS MoCA.

The new Clark space—to be called Clark@MASS MoCA—contains an existing building, facing the MASS MoCA entrance, where public galleries and storage for Clark's archives, library and objects are planned. Work is to begin in 2008, with an opening planned for 2011.

"This new venture is the natural progression of what has already been a creative and diverse partnership," says Clark director Michael Conforti, of the years of close collaboration on exhibits and programming between the two Berkshire arts mainstays.

The Clark Institute's acquisition of the MASS MoCA space is part of the art and research organization's master plan to expand and upgrade its facilities. Also scheduled to open next year is the 32,000-square foot Stone Hill Center near the Clark's main Williamstown location. Designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Tadao Ando, the building will feature galleries, classrooms and conservation space. In 2013, Ando's new exhibition, visitor, and conference center will open its doors, the same year that Annabelle Selldorf's redesign of the original Clark building will also be completed.