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.

The intro text for the show is on the far left and a portrait of a person with gilded gold frame to the right of the intro text.

Thinking Through Drawing: On View through September 7, 2025

November 19, 2024

Henriette Kets de Vries is the Associate Curator and Manager of the Cunningham Study Center for Prints, Drawings and Photographs.

Guerrilla Girls and the Art of Sarcasm

The Guerrilla Girls are bringing attention to very serious issues in concise, daring posters.

white sheet with black text: BUS COMPANIES ARE / MORE ENLIGHTENED THAN / NYC ART GALLERIES/ % of women in the following jobs* [underlined] / Bus Drivers 49.2% / Sales Persons 48 / Managers 43 / Mail Carriers 17.2 / Artists represented by 33 / major NYC art galleries 16 / Truck Drivers 8.9 / Welders 4.8 / *Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Art in America Annual [underlined] / Please send $ and comments to: Guerrilla Girls CONSCIENCE OF THE ART WORLD / 532 LaGuardia Pl. #237, NY 10012

Silverpoint: Metal on Paper

The history of the graphite pencil stretches back to the mid-16th century in Europe.

half length portrait of man in tall conical hat turned slightly toward his proper right, left hand partially visible at bottom edge of sheet

Student Picks: BREAKING WAVES - Exploring Water in Black-and-White Photographs

Water has always fascinated artists but the invention of photography expanded the ways in which water could be portrayed.

black and white image of calm waterfront, with rocky mounds rising up from the water

Arise Ye Dead

Ann Parker and Avon Neal captured dozens of these unique gravestones from all around New England through stone rubbings.

figure with wings and round face, surrounded by floral designs. text above figure's head reads "memento mori"

Early Acquisitions of Photography

The Smith College Museum of Art began to acquire photographs in the 1930s under the directorship of Jere Abbott.

Mary Rogers Williams

While doing research on the early art faculty of Smith College for the Cunningham Center’s reinstallation of the works on paper collection, I came across Ms. Mary Rogers Williams.

Landscape with buildings, water and trees

Student Picks: VISUAL PROTEST - A Walk in the Wonderland of Sarcasm

Caricature, or drawing with exaggeration of its elements, is high on the agenda of activist artists.

color image of Mao walking on grass in front of crowd under a low red tile roofed building on left; black and white image on right of same image of Mao with two other figures walking on grass with him

BOW DOWN

There are fewer queens in the world than a century ago, but our fascination with royal women has continued.

woman in elaborate dress, carrying a fan, feathers in her hair. four other people stand behind her, attending to her. in the background, two figures talk amongst themselves.

Announcing the 2014-2015 Student Picks Winners!

The Student Picks Sweepstakes ended last Friday, and we have our six winners!

woman pulls a slip of paper out of a red bucket with surprised expression in her face

Reinstallation & Reinterpretation

Summers at the Smith College Museum of Art are usually tranquil, but this summer we've been busy with Phase I of one huge project: the Reinstallation and Reinterpretation of the permanent collection!

art gallery with framed prints propped on the floor against the wall, a large cabinet on the ground in the middle, and a blue letter extending up out of the frame of the image

YOUR art, YOUR vision

It's time again for the Student Picks sweepstakes!

close-up of woman lying on her back on a rust colored quilt on a beach, she has dark hair, holds her sunglasses on her face with both hands, and wears red jeans, black leotard and green shirt, next to her is a man with short dark hair, lying on his stomach, holding a cigarette in his proper left hand, he has on a blue T-shirt and white shorts, scattered around them are shoes, newspaper sections, magazines, a paper bag, a bunched up coat, and brown slacks

Kin

Seeing "Kin XXXII (Run Like the Wind)" in person is so different than seeing it as an image on a computer.

frontal head of a frowning African American woman with her hair in an up do over a circlet of real barbed wire encased in a black box