For Immediate Release
June 27, 2023
CLARK ART INSTITUTE PRESENTS
CONCERT BY MAKAYA MCCRAVEN
Performance is third installment in Summer Outdoor Concert series
Williamstown, Massachusetts—On Wednesday, July 12 at 6 pm, the Clark Art Institute continues its five-part outdoor concert series with a performance by Makaya McCraven. The free outdoor concert takes place near the Reflecting Pool.
Jazz drummer and composer Makaya McCraven was raised in a vibrant, creative community in the Northampton area. That scene, with its enticing blend of cultures, helped establish his philosophy around jazz as folk music. Eventually he discovered bridges between jazz and hip-hop, including classic jazz records being sampled by hip-hop producers, and began to devote energy to reappropriating jazz to be, in his words, “what it is, what it means to me, and what it means for my people."
McCraven has a unique gift for collapsing space, destroying borders, and blending past, present, and future into arrangements of post-genre, jazz-rooted, twenty-first-century folk music. Working through a litany of percussion, he engages with the histories of jazz and hip-hop. The songs take you to the brink of experimentation and back again, telling the sonic stories of our times.
Free. Bring a picnic and your own seating. For more information, visit clarkart.edu/events.
The next outdoor concert is performed by Darlingside on Wednesday, July 19 at 6 pm near the Clark’s Reflecting Pool.
ABOUT THE CLARK
The Clark Art Institute, located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, is one of a small number of institutions globally that is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. Opened in 1955, the Clark houses exceptional European and American paintings and sculpture, extensive collections of master prints and drawings, English silver, and early photography. Acting as convener through its Research and Academic Program, the Clark gathers an international community of scholars to participate in a lively program of conferences, colloquia, and workshops on topics of vital importance to the visual arts. The Clark library, consisting of some 300,000 volumes, is one of the nation’s premier art history libraries. The Clark also houses and co-sponsors the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art.
The Clark, which has a three-star rating in the Michelin Green Guide, is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Its 140-acre campus includes miles of hiking and walking trails through woodlands and meadows, providing an exceptional experience of art in nature. Galleries are open 10 am to 5 pm Tuesday through Sunday, from September through June, and daily in July and August. Admission is free January through March and is $20 from March through December; admission is free year-round for Clark members, all visitors age 21 and under, and students with a valid student ID. Free admission is also available through several programs, including First Sundays Free; a local library pass program; and EBT Card to Culture. For information on these programs and more, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303.
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