Artist Talk: Marie Watt

Come hear from Marie Watt, one of three artists invited to make a proposal for a site specific outdoor artwork for the new WCMA museum building opening in 2027.

We have invited three artists to submit proposals for a newly commissioned artwork to be installed on the grounds of Williams College Museum of Art’s new building. Each artist will come to campus this fall to share their work in a public artist talk in the Williams Inn Ballroom.

Following the artists’ visits, and the submission of proposals in early 2026, one artist and design will be chosen. The selected artist will return to campus in the spring to meet with the campus community and work towards the final concept and design, with the commissioned artwork to be installed in the east meadows, facing toward campus, in late 2027.

Marie Watt (she/her, b. 1967, Seattle, WA) is a member of the Turtle Clan of the Seneca Nation of Indians whose work draws on images and ideas from Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) protofeminism and Indigenous teachings. Her practice is interdisciplinary, incorporating printmaking, painting, textiles, and sculpture. Watt conducts both solo and collaborative projects, but in all of them she explores how history, community, and storytelling intersect.

A significant part of Watt’s practice involves setting a multi-generational and cross-disciplinary table for conversation and collaboration. This can take the form of sewing circles, community-built sculptures, or crowd-sourced participation via social media. Exchanging ideas like this, one story at a time, can help us understand and strengthen our companion relationships– our connection to place, to one another, to animals, and to the universe.