Community Day at The Clark this weekend

On Sunday, July 12, the Clark Art Institute opens its doors for “Community Day: Eye on Art!,” an annual day of fun for all ages. Visitors enjoy free museum admission from 10 am to 5 pm, and from 11 am to 4 pm, the Institute offers hands-on activities, live performances, special food vendors, and more.

Attendees will have the opportunity to create personal bobbleheads, grind oil paint from natural pigments, pose at a free photobooth with art-inspired props, make buttons, and more. While visiting, visitors are also encouraged to walk the Clark’s 140-acre grounds and explore Ground/work 2025, an outdoor sculpture exhibition featuring specially commissioned, site-specific works by international artists Yō Akiyama, Laura Ellen Bacon, Aboubakar Fofana, Hugh Hayden, Milena Naef, and Javier Senosiain.

Community Day starts with a performance by the Trojan Horns Brass Band, from 11 to 11:50 am. The band is originally from upstate New York; it infuses soul, funk, pop, and jazz into every note. The ensemble is influenced by the rhythms and spirit of New Orleans brass band music. The band will perform again from 2 to 2:50 pm.

Next up is Duo Maresienne, performing from 12 to 12:45 pm, with repeat performances at 1 to 1:45 pm, 2 to 2:45 pm, and 3 to 3:45 pm. Olav Chris Henriksen and Carol Lewis perform a variety of music for plucked and bowed instruments on the viola da gamba and the lute.

Madison J. Cripps will perform three scenes from “Earl the Pearl Rules the World,” an original puppet show featuring an underwater kingdom, at 12 to 12:15 pm, 1:30 to 1:45 pm, and 3 to 3:15 pm.

Hannah Mayree will also be performing, from 12:30 to 1:15 pm and 3:15 to 4 pm. Mayree plays banjo, blending African rhythms, Appalachian textures, and lyrical storytelling.

Community Day is free and open to the public. Refreshments are available for purchase. This event happens rain or shine. For accessibility questions call (413) 458-0570. For more information go to events.clarkart.edu.