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.

Five students lean over one side of a wooden table and look down at three big, dark photos that lie on top of the table.

Leaving a Legacy Through the Moody Purchase Program

December 10, 2025

Kaia Austin ‘26 is an Art History Major with a Museums Concentration. They have worked as an Academic Programs Assistant at the SCMA since 2022.

Portrait Gallery of Distinguished American Citizens

The Cunningham Center owns a particularly interesting set of silhouettes, done by an artist named William Henry Brown.

Look at Me, Me, Me! The Art of Narcissism

Narcissism is not a new thing. Just read from Shakespeare or the classics and you come across many a picture perfect narcissist.

art gallery with mirror hanging on one of the walls. mirror has gold frame and black text on it that says, "LOOK AT ME, ME, ME!"

Student Picks: Interior, Exterior - Parisian Harmony vs. Discord, 1876-2009

"Interior, Exterior: Parisian harmony versus discord, 1876-2009" explores tensions in the portrayal of French culture.

four people, three women and one man, lying on the ground with heads together

The Grand Tour

Canaletto created contemporary land- and cityscapes, or vedute, which appealed to the travelers’ desire for reminders of their travels—the picture postcard of their day.

waterfront scene, will people milling around. in the background, large buildings and a bridge

Martin Parr: British Food

In the mid-1990s, long before everyone had a food blog, Martin Parr shot British Foods,a series of meals, side-dishes and sweets with a decidedly different vibe.

cooked carved turkey on a platter and lamp near wall

In Space

Munch’s body of work went through several phases of experimentation but most pieces adhered to his lost sense of self and melancholic understanding of life.

Cupid and Psyche

Drawings such as Cupid and Psyche reveal a moment in this artistic process, frozen on a page for us to see.

nude male with wings leaning forward and holding semi-nude draped female before a partially drawn bed

Student Picks: Human Connections - Manifestations of the Mundane

This exhibition brings our ordinary lifestyles into the limelight.

low hills in distance, lake with moored boats in middle ground, in foreground maroon and grey sedan with young woman seated in driver's seat arms on the window sill

Surreal Dreams and Nightmares

Though he was a contemporary of the Realists and Impressionists, Redon took a very different path, both in becoming an artist and what he created.

Seated figure with a floating hollow orb above him and a solid dark orb next to him

What’s your ART STORY?

This upcoming weekend, Smith College will formally welcome Kathleen McCartney as the 11th President of Smith College. The Museum is celebrating her inauguration with ART STORIES, a special exhibition featuring art that has left a lasting impression on the widespread Smith community.

two women stand in front of a painting of a girl on a swing, looking at the painting and talking to one another

Student Picks: Brahma Vihara - The Sublime States

Brahma Vihara is a show inspired by a series of four Buddhist virtues and the meditative practices that cultivate them.

white outer border, irregular inner border of pink and blue, image of seated Buddha surrounded by floral patterned backing, seated on pillow that hangs in the air, colors bleed from pink to orange to yellow to light green

Eye on the Street: Joel Meyerowitz

While at first Meyerowitz shot both black and white and color film, in 1972 he made the unconventional decision to devote himself exclusively to color photography.

street view of a sidewalk with a bridge in the distance, staircase ascending along the right side of the image with grass and trees behind it