SCMAinsider

SCMAinsider offers dynamic perspectives on the diverse collections and visions that shape the
Smith College Museum of Art.

We welcome contributions from all members of our community and seek to cultivate a range of
voices and experiences. If you want to contribute to the blog, please contact us at scmacuratorial@smith.edu.

On the left, a portrait photograph of a young woman in a frilly white top with round, puffy sleeves. On the right, a portrait photograph of a young woman in three-quarter view wearing a high collar white dress.

The Wing Sisters, Part II: Their Adult Lives

May 14, 2026

Meredith Clowse ‘26 is an Art History Major and an Archives Concentrator at Smith.

From Home: An Interview with Lucy Xiaochuan Liu '21

"I think that sometimes the value of grief and suffering are that they capture a moment, and, by capturing it, create a sense of existence."

Photograph shows a young women looking upside down at camera. Her legs and feet are up against a wall. She is lying next to an older woman who is sitting straight up in the large upholstered chair covered in patterned textiles. They are holding each others arms.

Asian Ceramics in American Paintings

Ceramic is a type of material that has been extensively traded and imitated around the globe.

A Cup of Tea. 1883 by American artist Charles Sprague Pearce, 1851–1914.

Repairing an Ethiopian Triptych's Twine Hinges

Molly Hoisington, Assistant Preparator, describes the ups and downs of repairing this triptych's idiosyncratic twine hinges.

Image of a square, wooden triptych. On the central panel, the virgin, cloaked in blue, and child are flanked by two angels holding swords. Each side panel depicts an angel dressed in green and red holding a staff and a sword.

The historic art of political propaganda

Political propaganda is not as modern a concept as one might think.

Allegory on the Present State of the United Dutch Republic, 1602 by Jan Saenredam, Netherlandish, 1565–1607

From Home: An Interview with Matt Donovan

A conversation with Matt Donovan about The Map of Every Lilac Leaf: Poets Respond to the Smith College Museum of Art, a collaboration between the Boutelle-Day Poetry Center and the Smith College Museum of Art which was released earlier this week as a part of SCMA100, the Museum’s centennial celebration. We talked about how this project came together, what’s next for the Poetry Center, and whether he’s been writing in quarantine.

A large slice of yellow melon sits next to a pile of peaches. Some of the black seeds have fallen away from the melon and there is foliage behind the fruit. The colors are somber.

A Challenge to Practice Optimism

I offered a challenge to my friends and family in various backgrounds and colleges outside art history to engaged with two works of art from the 5 College Museum collection which reflect similar anxieties or sentiments we feel during the COVID-19 shutdowns. asked them to identify something positive in each image. I left the prompt open-ended as I wanted to encourage optimism to take a variety of forms.

This detail of Anne Morrow Lindbergh shows her bust. Slightly hunched over with a sad expression on her face, she wears a purple sweater and red scarf and looks slightly downward.

The conservation process of Still Life with Fruit, Meat, Pipe, and Goblets

Still Life with Fruit, Meat, Pipe, and Goblets, a 17th-century still life painting by Dutch artist Maria van Oosterwyck has been selected to be included in the museum’s centennial exhibition SCMA Then\Now\Next. It has been recently conserved by Birgit Straehle at the Worcester Art Museum. These images taken during and after the treatment show how she brought this work back to life.

Still Life with Fruit, Meat, Pipe, and Goblets by Maria van Oosterwyck (1630–1693)

Piet Mondrian's Chrysanthemum

No other flower signals the transition from summer to fall like chrysanthemums.

Chrysanthemum, ca. 1921–25 by Dutch artist Piet Mondrian, 1872–1944.

A self-portrait by Elisabetta Sirani (1638-1665)

This self-portrait by Elisabetta Sirani joined the SCMA collection earlier this year.

Elisabetta Sirani. Italian, 1638-1665 Self-portrait, ca. 1658, Black and red chalk SC 2020.7.1 Credit line (TBD)

A Year Being Art Detective

Have you ever visited a museum and wondered how the artworks came to the museum? For me, yes.

Unknown, Chinese. Jade Owl. Shang Dynasty (17th-11th century BCE). Jade.

Covid Comments

Greetings, Ann Mayo here, Smith graduate from 1983. I did not think I would ever have a job in the field in which I majored: Art History. Happily I eventually found myself working at the Smith College Museum of Art. Currently, I am Manager of Security and Guest Services there.

Doug at the car parade thanking essential workers.

An Ode to a New York Summer

A New York City summer is intrinsically special, and is the season for which I yearn annually. Unbridled humidity permeates crowded subway cars as couples lounge hand-in-hand in the parks. Mister Softee trucks are ubiquitous and a plethora of languages fill the streets.