Elevating Living Female Artists and Student Voices: On the Moody Purchase Program with Artist Ayana Evans

Olivia Sarno ‘25 is a World Literatures and Spanish Double Major, and a Museums Concentrator. She has worked as a Student Museum Educator at the SCMA since 2022. 

In 2016, Sarah Goulard ‘67 and Hiram Moody established a fund for the purchase of works by recipients of the Meredith S. Moody Residency at Yaddo, the renowned artist retreat in Saratoga Springs. The Moody Residency is awarded annually to a female photographer in honor of Meredith Moody, a photographer of promise who died prematurely in 1995. Each year, SCMA invites students to select the photograph to be purchased, giving them exposure to the museum selection process as well as the work of living female photographers. This group has been composed of students from photography classes, museum concentrators, and student members of the museum staff, including several Student Museum Educators (SMEs). One unique facet of the Moody Program is that it invites the selected artist to campus to give a public talk on their work and meet with students directly as part of the process. This year, we had the honor of meeting Moody artist Ayana Evans, who is also a performer, activist, and community organizer. 

Participating in the Moody acquisition process alongside other students provided a great insight into how museums build their collections. In the Cunningham Center for the Study of Prints, Drawings and Photographs, ten of Evans’ photographs hung on the walls. Ayana Evans introduced us to her work, sharing anecdotes from her time at Yaddo, her creative process, and behind-the-scenes stories of her self-portrait photographs. We each had to look closely at the options, form opinions about the works, and then apply our knowledge of Smith’s collection in order to argue for our choice. Sometimes, this meant advocating for a work that was not necessarily our personal favorite, but that we knew would represent the artist well and enhance the museum’s collection. 

Ayana Evans discussing her photograph Diva (2023) with students before voting began. Photo courtesy of Charlene Shang Miller.

Students were invited to walk around, exploring all the artworks in the room, and, when prompted, stand next to the one we wanted the museum to acquire. This process was repeated multiple times; once a photograph had no students standing by it, it was eliminated from the running and taken off the wall. Some students stuck with their initial choices the entire session, while others changed their minds after hearing their peers’ arguments. As the clock ticked closer to 6:30 pm, the time voting was set to end, groups coalesced around two remaining photos. It was up to one undecided student to break the tie. Students vouched for how their choice would reflect the Smith community, how it might be used on educational tours, and how far it could stretch across disciplinary boundaries. We considered questions of colonialism and race evoked in Evans’ work, specifically its critique of the overwhelming historical exclusion of women of color from the art world. As SMEs, we contemplated the various classes that could benefit from experiences with one of the two photographs. It was an extremely close selection process; Diva (2023) won by a single vote.

Students advocating for their picks at the Moody Purchase Program. Left to right: Julia Sumpter '27, Lily Mintz '26, Audrey Willius '25, Olivia Sarno '25, Lilly Watson '25, Jada Wordlaw '26, Elena Zytnicki '25, and Claire Enerson '27. Photo courtesy of Charlene Shang Miller. 

Engaging with the art in real-time, with the artist in the room, surrounded by Smithies across a wide range of backgrounds infused the experience with excitement and intellectual fervor. This program gave students a unique opportunity to have a say in the SCMA’s growing collection of contemporary photographs by women artists.