PRESS RELEASE / June 20, 2023 (Williamstown, MA) – Williams College Museum of Art and artist Eric Steen are pleased to announce Art & Beer, an exploration of the museum’s permanent collection through the lens of local craft beer. Art & Beer will take place at the Museum on July 6 at 5:00pm. The event with “Beer Brewers” is the first of four programs in a series called Construct Your Own Meaning, inviting various artists and community members to reinterpret artworks that are part of the Remixing the Hall installation.
Oregon-based artist and seasoned beer industry expert Eric Steen has invited three local brewers to interact with the art collection, dialogue with museum staff about the collection, select one or more artworks for inspiration, and brew new beers inspired by the artwork. Visitors will have the opportunity to drink the beers, mingle with the brewers, and learn how beer can also be a type of artform.
Brewers and beers include:
- Bright Ideas Brewing (North Adams, Mass.): Triumph of Dionysus — An Experimental Lager in which the ingredients and process was inspired by three distinct artworks — a large abstract painting “Three Weeks” by Larry Rivers, an ancient sarcophagus fragment, and a three-dimensional still life “Little Still Life #2” by Tom Wesselmann. The beer is brewed with Triumph hops, New Zealand Phantasm grape skins, and is fermented with Omega Yeast’s thiolized lager strain.
- Hot Plate Brewing (Pittsfield, Mass.): Before the Common Era — Pale Ale with local honey, local grains, and malted millet inspired by the Egyptian Statuette of a Falcon, Standing with Double Crown (c. 310 BC -30 BC).
- Rare Form Brewing (Troy, N.Y.): Situation VI Saison — A 5.2% ABV Saison inspired by the airy, fieldlike quality of Sam Gilliam’s 1972 artwork, Situation VI – Pisces 4.
During the public event, Steen will give an abbreviated artist talk and open up the conversation with the participating brewers before a reception where the new art-inspired beers will be served to visitors with special glassware. The event is free and open to the public. Valid ID is required for tasting beer.
Williams College Museum of Art is located at 15 Lawrence Hall Dr, Williamstown, MA 01267. More information about the event can be found here: https://artmuseum.williams.edu/event/construct-your-own-meaning-beer-brewers/
About Eric Steen
Eric Steen is an artist, beer industry marketing professional, and an award winning teacher. He graduated from Portland State University with his MFA in Art & Social Practice in 2009. Eric has organized numerous artisanal “place-based beer” events for art festivals and museums including Art & Beer, which invites breweries to make beer inspired by art in local art museum collections. He is the founder of Beers Made By Walking, a program that works with commercial brewers to make beer inspired by nature hikes. His work has been exhibited at: Performa Festival and the Food Book Fair in New York City; Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art in Scotland; Urban Culture Project Kansas City; UCCS Galleries of Contemporary Art in Colorado Springs, Design Week Portland and the Portland Art Museum in Oregon; and his work has been created independently with hundreds of breweries and dozens of environmental organizations around the country. In 2015 Imbibe Magazine named Eric as one of the top 75 people who will change the way you drink.
About Williams College Museum of Art
The Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) creates and inspires exceptional experiences with art that are integral to a liberal arts education, lifelong learning, and human connection. The Museum is a partner in nurturing the cross-disciplinary arts in support of a liberal arts education; advancing the academic and experiential preparation of arts leaders; enriching the cultural ecosystem; engaging artists; and creating a shared learning community that spurs new thinking, creative making, and civic engagement. Located on Main Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts, on the Williams College campus, the museum draws on the collaborative and multidisciplinary ethos of the surrounding college to enliven the more than 15,000 works in its growing collection. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, visit artmuseum.williams.edu.
