Williamstown, Massachusetts, art museum The Clark Art Institute has named a woman to serve as its next leader for the first time in its 70-year history. The move follows current Director Olivier Meslay’s September announcement that he would step down after a decade in charge. Now, Deputy Director and Chief Curator Esther Bell has been tapped to take over the reins of the museum on July 1. A graduate of the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art, Bell’s first proper museum job was at the Clark more than 25 years ago. Her career took her from Paris to New York City to Cincinnati to San Francisco before returning her to the Clark in 2017. As she prepares to make history, Bell led WAMC through highlights of her curatorial work at the Clark to date.
BELL: I'm so proud of the exhibitions that I've organized in my time here. There have been quite a few. When I first arrived, I organized an exhibition about, Renoir – “The Body, The Senses” -- which was a highlight of Renoir on a big anniversary year, and Renoir being one of the great strengths of the Clark's collection, the second largest collection of Renoir in this country. But it was a fresh take on the artist, kind of an angle that had never been explored before. And that's what I've always enjoyed doing as a curator, is finding untold stories or hidden stories. And another very proud exhibition of mine was the Guillaume Lethière exhibition in 2024 that we did with the Louvre and also the Mémorial ACTe in Guadeloupe. It was about this artist named Guillaume Lethière who was born in 1760. He was born enslaved, and moved to France and became one of the most famous, prominent painters in the history of French painting- Yet there had never been a book written about him, never been an exhibition. And he was an ardent abolitionist, he was a rival of Jacques-Louis David. And so, it was an incredible project, telling this really untold history and sharing it to people for the first time here in Williamstown and then in Paris and then Guadalupe. So, just fantastic.
So, with this incredible opportunity to take charge of the Clark, what are your goals for the institution? I mean, you're coming into it with a lot of well-earned institutional knowledge about it already- Where do you see its future going under your leadership?
That's a great question. I believe that the Clark truly is one of the most excellent museums in this country. I want people in Berkshire County to know that this is their hometown museum, they should come here all the time and feel most welcome here. And I want this to be a destination for people from all over the world. My plans for the Clark- We have a lot of really exciting things coming up in our future. You might have heard we recently received a gift from the Aso O. Tavitian Foundation of 331 priceless, amazing works of art from the history of art. They're all coming here, and we're building a new wing. We've hired new staff to oversee the vision. So, this is a really exciting moment in our history. We're also really thinking about how we can expand our learning and engagement programs, our scholarship, how we can bring people to the Clark who are interested in nature to spend time on our 140 acres of beautiful pastoral land. So, I think there's a lot in store for us here, and I'm really excited to share, to share this institution with Berkshire County, and also this country and the world.
Now, speaking of this country in the world, you're stepping into this leadership role during a pretty fascinating window of American and world history. I've spoken with State Senator Paul Mark, who's done work on this commonwealth-wide level to draw attention to the need for support for cultural institutions in the Berkshires during this this time. We've heard a lot about this complicated environment in America around the arts and around federal cuts to arts programming and actions taken against arts and cultural sectors by this current administration- Any thoughts on what it means to take over a major art institution like this in this environment?
Well, we really thank Senator Mark for his support of cultural institutions. And I would just say that there's never been a more important time to be working in the cultural sector, in a museum, in the music, in the theater. Arts provide enjoyment, they provide solace, they provide profound meaning and reflection. And I truly believe that coming to a museum, looking at a gorgeous painting provides a profound kind of window into the history of human experience, and that is grounding. And actually, there's scientific studies that show that it's good for your health, as is walking outside in a forest, which we have here at the Clark, and then coming inside to look at a landscape. So again, I think that museums can be places of solace, of comfort, and of community. And I would just like to underscore that the Clark is for our community, and we welcome our community here.
