One of the leading academic art museums in the country has announced SO – IL will head a new expansion effort that will deliver the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) with the first stand-alone structure in the institution’s storied history.

Florian Idenburg and Jing Liu’s team is now tasked with the tremendous opportunity to develop a concept design for a new structure that will provide upgrade facilities to the museum’s collection, which has been housed since its inception in historic Lawrence Hall. A renovation of the existing building is being explored as well. 

The partners referred to it as a “project the brings together our passion for the arts with our commitment to education.” They will look to build upon a cultural portfolio that includes UC Davis’ Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art and the award-winning new Amant Art Campus in Brooklyn and promise the new construction “will connect the campus to the larger cultural ecosystem of the Northern Berkshires and provide an opportunity to advance innovative, sustainable building and museum practices.” 

Williams has perhaps one of the best Art History departments in the country, and its museum has traditionally served as a launching pad for the careers of several noteworthy museum directors, curators, and academic art historians since the end of World War II. 

Williams President Maud Mandel said it was the “best decision” for the college, one that would strengthen the liberal arts institution’s academic offerings to students outside of the art history department. “Art is at the center of everything we do for our students,” she explains, “our campus, and our community, and so building a new home for the WCMA is a focal point of the College’s strategic plan.”

SO – IL was selected out of a 4-firm shortlist after a program study that was undertaken with direct consultation from Deborah Berke Partners. Plans will soon be submitted to Williams’ Board of Trustees for a final approval. It is said to be located on the site of the old Williams Inn and has an opening date scheduled to coincide with the museum’s centennial 2026–27 year of celebration.