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.

landscape with palm trees in the foreground and body of water in the background with light colored sky

Frederic Church 200: Celebrating the Connection between Smith College and Artist Frederic Edwin Church

May 6, 2025

Julia Sumpter ‘27 is a History and Italian Major and Museums Concentrator.

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

I Hope You Learned Your Lesson

Although many details are playful, there’s still an edge to this work. The phrase “I Hope You Learned Your Lesson” not only conjures up a boring, uncreative classroom, but also implies the aftermath of punishment.

Image of small student chalkboard in wooden frame on a white background with a message in straighthand and cursive writing: "I HOPE YOU LEARNED your lesson / 1974 W," with faint barely visible errors crossed out and erased behind

Standing Turk

Gérôme added fodder to his peers' Orientalist visions. To them, a sketch such as Standing Turk became an irrefutable rendering of what all Turkish men wore. The reality is much more complex.

standing man facing left in coat and turban with hands pressed together at his waist