What to do and see in Berkshires, Berkshires: The Best Museums

The Clark Art Institute is best known for its French Impressionist paintings by Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, and especially Pierre-Auguste Renoir, with more than thirty paintings by the artist. The collection is also rich in American paintings by Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, George Inness, Frederic Remington, and Mary Cassatt; Italian and Northern Renaissance masterpieces; portraits and landscapes by European masters; and an extraordinary collection of silver, porcelain, and furniture. An active program of special exhibitions brings great works of art from around the world to the museum. Designed by renowned Pritzker Prize-winning architect Tadao Ando, the recently opened Clark Center is the centerpiece of the Clark's campus. The center includes special exhibition galleries as well as retail and dining spaces. It overlooks a dramatic three-tiered reflecting pool, integrating indoor and outdoor spaces and creating a stunning visual connection to the woodland surroundings and other buildings located on the campus. This sweeping new landscape design transforms the Clark's 140-acre campus and underscores new sustainability initiatives. In 1950 the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute was founded as a permanent home for the private art collection of Sterling and Francine Clark. In 1955 Sterling-who was an avid horseman with strong family ties to Williamstown and Cooperstown, New York-and his wife Francine presided at the official opening of the museum, sharing their magnificent yet little-known collection with the world for the first time. Since the founding, the museum has gained international stature for the quality of its collection, innovative special exhibitions, and Research and Academic Program.

Take a tour of the Crane Museum of Papermaking and learn about Crane’s ties to the American Revolution, the development of paper for banknotes, and anti-counterfeiting technologies from the 1800s to the future. Get your hands dirty (don’t worry—it washes off!) with our paper activities in the hands-on art space and take home your handmade souvenir.

Open Memorial Day to October, this authentic 1760s home in the Berkshires was the original residence of the Reverend Adonijah Bidwell, first minister of the former Township #1. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, you can enjoy 18th and 19th century furnishings, 192 acres of fields and forest, a heritage vegetable garden, native flower gardens, stone walls, an early farm and garden tools exhibit, hiking trails and picnic sites. In season, you can take a guided tour of the house, on the hour beginning at 11 am each day, Thursday through Monday. The last tour begins at 3 pm. The gardens and grounds are open year round from dawn until dusk, free of charge.

Contemporary Glass with works by artists like Dale Chihuly, Lino Tagliapietra and over 40 others. This gallery is a hidden gem in the Berkshires. Hours change seasonally. Appointments required during Covid-19, schedule on www.schantzgalleries.com

Since 1999 The Wit Gallery has been a showcase for joyful,musical, witty and thoughtful art in all media. An acronym for "Wonders In Time" The Wit Gallery focuses on art that brings a feeling of warmth and hospitality which transcends time. The Wit Gallery strives to connect each individual collector to the art which will bring him/her pleasure for years to come.

The Diana Felber Gallery features museum quality, regional artists in a bright, warm, welcoming space. We carry paintings, sculpture, glass, and exceptionally well chosen crafts and jewelry culled from nationally gifted artisans. The gallery is an exciting addition to the growing art scene in West Stockbridge. Come, be inspired and enjoy.

An award winning master sculptor and founder, Andrew casts his own work in bronze at his atelier in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts. His series in bronze include: Dance and Figurative Sculpture, Abstract Sculpture, Portrait and Bas Relief Wall Sculpture, Outdoor Garden Sculpture as well as figurative and dance pastels paintings. Andrew's career spans four decades.