Media contact: Noelle Lemoine, communications assistant; tele: (413) 597-4277; email: [email protected]
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., March 25, 2015—The Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) has received a donation of 68 works of contemporary art from the collection of computer programmer and philanthropist Peter Norton. WCMA is one recipient in a series of gifts to university and college art museums throughout the country. The art, from Norton’s personal collection, is intended to support the integration of the visual arts in higher education, to connect diverse audiences with contemporary art, and to foster creative museum practice.
The gift to WCMA is part of Norton’s second such philanthropic project, following one in 2000 in which he gave more than 1,000 pieces to 32 institutions. Joining WCMA as recipients in this second project are: the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, University of California, Berkeley; Mary & Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University; California Museum of Photography and Sweeney Art Gallery at UCR ARTSblock, University of California, Riverside; Hammer Museum, UCLA; Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis; Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University; and the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College.
The gift to WCMA augments the museum’s strength in contemporary art, adding to its collection from the period of the early 1990s to mid-2000s. It includes works by some of today’s leading contemporary artists, including Nayland Blake, Nicole Eisenman, Tracy Emin, Anna Gaskell, Mike Kelley, Louise Lawler, Adrian Piper, Allan Ruppersberg, Kathleen Schimert, David Wojnarowicz, and Christopher Wool. Many of these artists have not been represented in the museum’s collection until now.
Norton is best known for his computer antivirus software and books bearing his name. In 1989, he and his wife Eileen founded the Peter Norton Family Foundation, which supports visual and contemporary non-profit arts organizations, as well as human social services organizations. Norton, who has accumulated one of the largest modern art collections in the U.S., serves on several boards and committees, including those at the California Institute of the Arts, Reed College, Crossroads School, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
WCMA sparks new ways of thinking about art and the visual world through its innovative exhibitions, programs, publications and projects. At the heart of the Williams College campus the museum draws on the collaborative and multidisciplinary ethos of the surrounding college to enliven the more than 14,000 works in its growing collection. The museum and its collection is a catalyst for student learning and community engagement. Situated in the rich cultural landscape of the Berkshires, WCMA is free and open to all. WCMA is located on Main Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closed on Wednesdays. In June, July and August it is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursdays. For more information, contact the museum at (413) 597-2429 or visit wcma.williams.edu.
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Founded in 1793, Williams College is the second-oldest institution of higher learning in Massachusetts. The college’s 2,000 students are taught by a faculty noted for the quality of their teaching and research, and the achievement of academic goals includes active participation of students with faculty in their research. Students’ educational experience is enriched by the residential campus environment in Williamstown, Mass., which provides a host of opportunities for interaction with one another and with faculty beyond the classroom. Admission decisions on U.S. applicants are made regardless of a student’s financial ability, and the college provides grants and other assistance to meet the demonstrated needs of all who are admitted.
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Published March 25, 2015
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