A portion of the museum's general operating funds for this fiscal year has been provided through grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

Williams College Museum of Art Presents “Influences: New Architectural Work by H. H. Benedict”
December 7, 2002-April 13, 2003 at the Williams College Museum of Art

The Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) will open Influences: New Architectural Work by H. H. Benedict on December 7, 2002. The exhibition features photographs and drawings of projects designed by H. H. Benedict, a Williams College faculty member, along with the Tower of Influence. Influences will remain on view through April 13, 2003.

Dominating the gallery will be the large Tower of Influence, an architectural structure that provides a small contemplative space in which one can study the inspirations most important to Mr. Benedict’s work. The interior of the tower, which visitors can enter, will contain postcards, photocopies, bits of building materials, and scraps of paper that are examples of the thousands of influences that shape Mr. Benedict’s designs.

Photographs and drawings of houses Mr. Benedict has recently completed will be displayed on the walls of gallery, outside of the Tower of Influence, along with designs for projects currently underway: an addition to an existing structure, several barn renovations, and a new barn.

“I want to demonstrate what it’s like to be a small-town architect,” Mr. Benedict says. “A small-town architect’s first requirement is to be useful.” Mr. Benedict describes his work as a combination of “utility with style.”

H. H. Benedict is a Part-Time Lecturer in Art at Williams College. Prior to establishing his practice in Shaftsbury, Vermont, he was a partner at BumpZoid in New York City. He has exhibited his architectural work at Carnegie Mellon University, Centre Georges Pompidou, Cooper Hewitt Museum, Cooper Union, MASS MoCA, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. He has written about architecture for publications such as Architecture, Esquire, House Beautiful, New York Magazine, The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, and The New York Review of Books.

Influences: New Architectural Work by H. H. Benedict is organized by Lisa Dorin, Curatorial and Programs Assistant. Influences is part of WCMA’s regular series of exhibitions by Williams College faculty members.

The Williams College Museum of Art is open Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, from 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is free and the museum is wheelchair accessible.

Contact: Jonathan Cannon, Public Relations Coordinator
413.597.3178; WCMA@williams.edu