Press release from the Clark:Williamstown — On Thursday, January 29, the Board of Trustees of the Clark Art Institute announced the appointment of Esther Bell as the institute’s Hardymon director. Currently serving as the Clark’s deputy director and Robert and Martha Berman Lipp chief curator, Bell will become the Clark’s sixth director when she assumes her new role on July 1. “We are proud and deeply gratified to announce Esther Bell as our new director, based on her countless achievements at the Clark and a career of recognized excellence in the field,” said Clark Art Institute Board of Trustees Chair Denise Littlefield Sobel. In her time at the Clark, Bell has spearheaded the institute’s embrace of a broader array of artists and genres, making ambitious acquisitions and encouraging critical scholarly research of the objects in the collection. Russell Reynolds Associates, New York, coordinated the search for the Clark, working closely with a committee comprised of members of the Clark Art Institute’s Board of Trustees.