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.

Charcoal drawing on cream paper of a woman with bobbed dark hair sitting cross-legged in a chair. She wears a button-up shirt, tie, knee-length skirt, and heeled boots with tiny buttons up the side.

Art as Archive: Curating Germany, 1918-1945

Rebecca McClung is a Ph.D. student in the history department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Melancholia I

"Melancholia I" excites, in part, because Dürer presented a new perspective on melancholia that challenged the prevailing stereotype.
Seated angel leaning head on hand. Dog lying at her feet. Cherub seated on mill stone.

Albrecht Dürer: Genius and Fame

Over the course of the semester, I had the wonderful opportunity to not only learn about the fascinating world of Renaissance printmaking, but also to apply my new knowledge to writing the labels for our exhibition at the Smith College Museum of Art entitled "Albrecht Dürer: Genius and Fame."
In an archway stands Christ with the crown of thorns and a man on either side of him. Slightly below him is a group of six men, all gesturing at him or each other. To the left are three crosses.

Traveling through Pictures

A recent and favorite discovery of mine in the Cunningham Center’s collection is this complete collection of American travel stereographs of Egypt made during the early twentieth century.
two identical images side by side of people standing in front of an Egyptian tomb

Boom BOOM! by Dread Scott

Art isn’t always going to make you feel comfortable; in fact, most of the greatest masterpieces have been the cause of upheaval and revolution.
front page of New York Times for October 29, 1997 overlain with figures shooting guns printed in red and and BOOM in bright gold over them

Collecting 101

Designed to be an introduction to the issues and practical matters of collecting for an institution, “Collecting 101” allowed students to directly participate in researching and purchasing a work on paper for the SCMA collection.
group of students sit around a table, man stands at the front of the table speaking to them

David Becker Day

December 11, 2010 was declared “David Becker Day” by the outgoing Governor of Maine John Baldacci.
man sitting on grass under a tree, reading a book

The Guerrilla Girls

Far from being irrelevant, this 1995 print made me feel that my disappointment in the lack of diversity in museums was validated.
grey subway tokens scattered over white sheet, black text with numbers alternating between left side of sheet and center of sheet: TOP TEN WAYS TO TELL IF YOU'RE AN / ART WORLD TOKEN followed by list
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