We were in VT last weekend, visiting my in laws. They live Bennington, which is in the corner of the state that borders Massachusetts and New York. The town right over the border in MA is Williamstown, home of Williams College. It also happens to have one of my favorite coffee shops (Tunnel City), so we’ll often take the excuse for a little drive.
As it happens, my BIL remembered that it was the first Sunday of the month, which meant that the Clark Institute was free for the day. I had only been there once before, when they were in the middle of renovations, so I had not seen much of their collection (which is worth seeing – lots of variety. They’ve got a lot of Winslow Homer and John Singer Sergeant, as well as a fair number of influential European painters like Monet, Matisse and Van Gough. I even got to see a John Williams Waterhouse in person.)
But what was really great was the special exhibition, which was modern French tapestries. We bought a tapestry in Paris on our 2023 trip, at the Saint Chapelle gift shop – it was made in a family owned business that has been around for centuries, so I’d done a bit reading up on the subject. It was so great to see an expanded exhibition – it was one of the few times I immediately decided I was going to buy the collection book. Not at all what I thought I’d see that weekend – so glad D remembered the free day!
