Williamstown, MA—Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) presents Libby Barker Gardner: Artifacts. This exhibition consists of eight captivating found-object sculptures from the 1990s, created with materials that the artist discovered and pieced together. This exhibition continues WCMA's annual summer series highlighting the work of regional artists; Ms. Gardner lived in Lenox, Mass. Artifacts opens on June 21, and it will close on September 28, 2003.

"We are very pleased that Professor Ed Epping agreed to organize this exhibition of work by his friend, the late Libby Barker Gardner," says Director Linda Shearer. "A longtime resident of the Berkshires, her work is distinguished by her use of found objects and materials, and it is an honor for the Williams College Museum of Art to acknowledge her talents with this exhibition."

Significance of Cast-off Items

Libby Barker Gardner (1926-2002) was skilled at locating, culling, and combining found artifacts that had been discarded from junkyards, flea markets, and closets. She had an elegant sense that everything was worth considering more than once, and that in a fragment's renewal, significance might be discovered. In her work Ms. Gardner offered a means of regarding the implication of detritus that is so easily discarded. The artist reminded viewers that each of her objects—metal boxes, children's clothes, dolls—had a history prior to its inclusion in her works. Artifacts has been organized by Ed Epping, the Alexander Falck Class of 1899 Professor of Art, and Lisa Dorin, Assistant Curator.

Gallery Talk July 9

Professor Epping will give a gallery talk on Artifacts on Wednesday, July 9, at 12 p.m. The gallery talk will begin in the Williams College Museum of Art galleries, and then move to the Wilde Gallery in the W.L.S. Spencer Studio Art Building at Williams College, where an additional display of Gardner's work is on view. A reception will follow at the Wilde Gallery.

Publicity Image Available

An image of one of Gardner's untitled sculptures is available for use. Publicity images for all exhibitions can be found at www.wcma.org/press.

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