Kelly Akashi Selected to Create an Outdoor Commission for new Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA, USA

29 April 2026

Kelly Akashi has been selected to create a site-specific artwork on the grounds of the new Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA), set to open in the fall of 2027.

This commission will create a new moment of welcome, signaling WCMA’s relationship to its natural surroundings, the campus community, and its collections and exhibitions. The commissioned artwork will be installed in the east meadows, facing toward campus, in late 2027. Akashi will visit Williams throughout 2026 to collaborate with the building’s architects and landscape architects and meet with the campus community.

“I'm looking forward to developing my new sculptures over this next year in close dialogue with the wooded and diverse landscape and the new building's design,” Akashi said. “The project centers on works that are at once botanical, geological, and sculptural. Their placement and scale invite museum visitors to create new relationships with the forests and plants in their daily environment. I’m excited to share more as the work begins.”

Find out more via Williams College Museum of Art.

Image: Portrait of Kelly Akashi © Kelly Akashi, Courtesy of the artist and Lisson Gallery. Photo by Brad Torchia.