August 19, 2025
CLARK ART INSTITUTE PRESENTS SYMPOSIUM EXPLORING THE CAREERS OF ARTISTS
FEATURED IN A ROOM OF HER OWN:
WOMEN ARTIST-ACTIVISTS IN BRITAIN, 1875–1945 EXHIBITION
Williamstown, Massachusetts—The Clark Art Institute presents a two-day symposium on Thursday, September 11 and Friday, September 12 in celebration of its current exhibition, A Room of Her Own: Women Artist-Activists in Britain, 1875–1945. All events are free and open to the public and take place in the Manton Research Center auditorium.
This symposium hosts an international group of scholars to explore how select artists featured in the Clark’s exhibition negotiated public and private spaces to establish professional careers as artists and thrive creatively. A keynote lecture on Virginia Woolf’s essay, A Room of One’s Own, begins the symposium Thursday, September 11. Vanessa Bell, May Morris, Mary Lowndes, and Gwen John are the subjects of four in-depth talks by art historians on Friday, September 12.
On view through September 14, the exhibition celebrates the achievements of twenty-five women across the fine and decorative arts and features paintings, drawings, prints, stained glass, and embroidery. Inspired by Virginia Woolf’s essay “A Room of One’s Own” (1929), the exhibition examines the spaces in homes, studios, art schools, and exhibition sites that women artists used to produce their work and cultivate professional success.
SCHEDULE
Thursday, September 11, 6 pm
Keynote Lecture: Virginia Woolf’s Incomparable Female Gaze
Merve Emre, Shapiro-Silverberg Professor of Creative Writing and Criticism at Wesleyan University and director of the Shapiro Center for Creative Writing and Criticism, discusses Virginia Woolf’s 1929 essay, “A Room of One’s Own.” Emre highlights Woolf’s understanding of formal education, and how women’s exclusion from this social institution served to devalue their creativity. Emre’s lecture will demonstrate how Woolf’s essay provides a rich framing device for considering the artists in the exhibition.
Friday, September 12
Symposium
10:00 am: Welcoming Remarks
Kathleen Morris, Sylvia and Leonard Marx Director of Exhibitions and Collections and Curator of Decorative Arts, and Alexis Goodin, associate curator, welcome guests to the Clark.
10:15 am: Session One
10:15–10:40 am: Wendy Hitchmough, Emeritus Senior Lecturer, University of Sussex, United Kingdom on Vanessa Bell and the Subversive Studio
10:45–11:10 am: Rowan Bain, Principal Curator, William Morris Gallery, London on May Morris at the Worktable: Home, Craft, and the Business of Embroidery
11:30 am: Session Two
11:30–11:55 am: Jasmine Allen, Director and Curator, The Stained Glass Museum, Ely, United Kingdom on “Making space for women:” Mary Lowndes—Pioneering Stained Glass Artist and Suffragist
12:00–12:25 pm: Rachel Stratton, Independent Curator, on Strange Beauty in Gwen John’s Interiors
1:30 pm: Panel Discussion
Moderated by Alexis Goodin, curator of A Room of Her Own: Women Artists in Britain, 1875–1945, this panel will bring together the day’s speakers to explore parallel and divergent experiences of the artists discussed and provide the audience with an opportunity to ask further questions.
All symposium events are free and open to the public. No registration is required for the keynote lecture on September 11, but advance registration is recommended for the program on September 12. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. To register and view the program schedule, visit clarkart.edu/events.
A Room of Her Own: Women Artist-Activists in Britain, 1875–1945 is organized by the Clark Art Institute and curated by Alexis Goodin, associate curator.
Generous support for A Room of Her Own is provided by Joanne Barker, Carol and Bob Braun, Richard and Carol Seltzer, Denise Littlefield Sobel, and the Tavolozza Foundation.
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 nearly 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 to all from 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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