OPENING CONVERSATION: GIORGIO GRIFFA—PATHS IN THE FOREST
June 27, 11 am
Manton Research Center auditorium

Join exhibition curator Robert Wiesenberger and exhibition catalogue contributors Joanna Fiduccia and Kate Nesin for a conversation about Griffa’s vibrant and lyrical work. Fiduccia is assistant professor of art history at Yale University, whose book on artist Alberto Giacometti is forthcoming this year. Nesin is a curator-at-large at the Art Institute of Chicago and the author of Cy Twombly’s Things.

Free. Accessible seats available.

SENSING NATURE: FROM THE OUTSIDE IN
July 5, 2–3:30 pm
Meet in the Clark Center admissions lobby

A Clark educator leads a slow engagement with nature and art focused on enhancing well-being. This informal and personal event begins outdoors, with a short, mindful walk in the woods designed to engage the senses with the natural environment. It is followed by a contemplative art-looking experience in the special exhibition Giorgio Griffa: Paths in the Forest.

Free. Advance registration required. Capacity is limited. Held rain or shine; extreme weather cancels the event.

COMMUNITY DAY: EYE ON ART!
July 12, 11 am–4 pm

Come one, come all, and join the spectacular festivities at our annual Community Day! Head into the galleries for free, then bring the artwork to life through hands-on activities, live performances, and special food vendors—all inspired by our summer exhibitions. Don your own ruff based on the fun frills in An Exquisite Eye: Introducing the Aso O. Tavitian Collection; play with tools used for nautical navigation featured in CoastLines: American Prints and Drawings; and enjoy a taste of Italy, home of artist Giorgio Griffa. Keep an (exquisite) eye on this webpage as the full day of programming is announced. From jugglers to live lute music and caricature artists, there is so much more in store!

Free and open to all. Refreshments available for purchase. Held rain or shine. For accessibility questions, call 413 458 0570.

Family programs are generously supported by Allen & Company.

AUGUST FRIDAYS: GIORGIO GRIFFA
August 7, 14, 21 & 28, 1–4 pm
Lunder Center at Stone Hill

Soak up summer each Friday in August with a special activation of Giorgio Griffa: Paths in the Forest. Between 1–4 pm, enjoy the exhibition or take in the beauty of Stone Hill, relaxing at our Italian “café” on the Moltz Terrace offering gelato, coffee, and pastries. Everyone is invited to make their mark on a collaborative chalk drawing, inspired by Italian painter Giorgio Griffa’s process of painting on unprimed canvas laid flat on the ground. At 2 pm, enjoy an all-ages tour of Griffa’s vibrant abstractions with Olivia Brandwein, manager of community and family programs.

Admission to Giorgio Griffa: Paths in the Forest is free between 1–4 pm. Pick up a special admission ticket at the Lunder Center admissions desk. Tour and activities are also free. Refreshments available for purchase. Held rain or shine.

Family programs are generously supported by Allen & Company.

PRINT ROOM POP-UP: ITALIAN ABSTRACTION BEFORE GRIFFA
August 21, 11 am–1 pm
Manton Study Center for Works on Paper

Painter Giorgio Griffa grew up in Turin, Italy, at a time of great experimentation with abstraction in art. Enjoy this selection of midcentury Italian drawings that anticipate Griffa’s interest in line, form, and positive and negative space, and then head up to the Lunder Center to view some more recent Italian abstraction in the special retrospective exhibition Giorgio Griffa: Paths in the Forest.

Free.

GIORGIO GRIFFA: PAINTING AND MATERIALITY
August 22, 2 pm
Lunder Center at Stone Hill, Hunter Studio

Giorgio Griffa is committed to the “material intelligence” of paint on canvas and the luminosity of water-based media. Join Montserrat M.M. Le Mense, senior paintings conservator at the Williamstown + Atlanta Art Conservation Center, and Robert Wiesenberger, exhibition curator, for a hands-on discussion about Griffa’s materials and processes, and the chemistry of painting.

Free.

PAINTERLY AND POETIC GESTURES 
October 20, 6–9 pm
American Academy, Rome, Italy

The Italian painter Giorgio Griffa (b. 1936) rose to prominence in the 1960s and has maintained an exploratory practice throughout his life. Painting across a range of materials—from canvas and paper to cotton and linen—Griffa embraces textures and qualities that are integral to his process. A firm believer in the intelligence of materials, Griffa’s paintings reflect the properties of the medium. We will introduce the audience to Griffa’s realm by exhibiting some of his works and screening his documentary. Inspired by Griffa’s interest in signs, language, and poetry, we will invite Italian contemporary poets Silvia Bre and Carmen Gallo for a reading. Bre and Gallo’s deep engagement with language’s truth-making value resonates with Griffa’s lifelong quest of how art becomes an inquiry into reality. In dialogue with Griffa’s art, Bre and Gallo imagine possible affinities between their poetic verses and the abstract canvases. The poems will respond to Griffa’s aesthetic and sensitivity. The evening will be introduced by Ilaria Puri Purini, Andrew Heiskell Arts Director. 

This event is organized in connection with Griffa’s first institutional exhibition in the United States, Giorgio Griffa: Paths in Forest at the Clark Art Institute, supported by the Italian Council.

Carmen Gallo was born in Naples. In 2025 she published her poetry books Stanze per una fuga (La Vita Felice), and Le fuggitive (Aragno; Premio Napoli 2021). In 2024 she published Tecniche di nascondimento per adulti (Italo Svevo). Her most recent collection is Procne Machine (2026). She wrote on the metaphiscis poetry of John Donne and translated the works di William Shakespeare, T.S. Eliot, Caryl Churchill, Hannah Sullivan and others. She teaches English Literature at the Sapienza University of Rome. 

Silvia Bre is a poet, novelist and translator. She was born in 1953 in Bergamo. She is known for her impactful poetry, including Le barricate misteriose (Einaudi 2001) and Marmo (Einaudi 2007), La fine di quest’arte (Einaudi 2015), Le Campane (Einaudi 2022), both of which have received prestigious awards. Bre's poetry often explores identity, and she has translated works by Emily Dickinson, Vita Sackville-West and Margaret Atwood.