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.
Welcome to the People's Pop-Up!
Visiting the Crystal Palace with the Dickinson Brothers
Grace Ettinger '22 is a student assistant at SCMA's Cunningham Study Center. In this blog post, she explores the complicated colonial legacy of the 1851 World's Fair in London using a print by the Dickinson Brothers from the collection.
How Peter Sekaer's Daughter Kept His Legacy Alive
Sophie Poux conducted an interview with Chris Sekaer, daughter of the photographer Peter Sekaer (1901- 1950) regarding her fathers legacy. Sophie was a student assistant in the Cunningham Study Center during the 2018-2019 and 2020-2021 academic years. She graduated from Smith with a BA in Government in May 2021.
Maya Lin The Geography Lesson
Ching Ho Cheng Joins the SCMA Collection
Yao Wu, Jane Chace Carroll Curator of Asian Art, introduces new acquisitions of Asian American artist Ching Ho Cheng that are currently featured in SCMA Then\Now\Next.
Exploring Alfred Leslie: Notan Study for the Killing of Frank O’Hara, 1967
The gift of 142 drawings from the bequest of Carol O. Selle, class of 1954, has transformed SCMA's already outstanding drawing collection. Highlights from this momentous gift will be the subject of a series of posts featured on SCMA Insider. This post, by Aprile Gallant, senior curator of prints, drawings, and photographs, focuses on a drawing by Alfred Leslie.
Exploring the Baio Collection: Jill Greenberg's "Revelations"
Today’s post is by Mosa Molapo ‘22, a double major in Art History and African Studies, who is the
2021-2022 Kennedy Museum Research Fellow in Art History at SCMA.
As part of my work at SCMA this year I am researching and documenting the Baio collection. The collection, donated by Joe Baio and Anne Griffin (class of 1983), includes 100 photographs taken by majority women artists from across the world, (primarily the United States and Europe).
An Exploration of Vanitas Snuff Box in the Shape of a Skull
The SCMA recently acquired an 18th-century snuff box in the shape of a skull; learn more about this curious object, its imagery, original function, and historic context from curatorial research assistant, Annalise Edwards '23J.
Carol O. Selle’s Collecting notebooks: a conversation between Aprile Gallant and Meredith Diamond
Aprile Gallant, senior curator of prints, drawings, and photographs, speaks with Meredith Diamond ‘23, a student assistant in the Cunningham Center for the Study of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs about the documentary notebooks that accompanied a gift of 144 drawings from Carol O. Selle ‘54.
Aprile Gallant (AG): I was really happy to see you so engaged with the content of Carol Selle’s notebooks. What drew you to them at first?
Amanda Williams' "An Imposing Number of Times"
In this post, Brooklyn Quallen '25 discusses her experience planting tulips for An Imposing Number of Times (2020-2022), a newly commissioned artwork by Amanda Williams. Brooklyn is a STRIDE scholar currently working with Emma Chubb, Charlotte Feng Ford ’83 Curator of Contemporary Art.
Staff Picks: Bartholomaeus Bruyn the Elder "The Coronation of the Virgin"
Cunningham Center Assistant Grace Ettinger '22, asks Autumn Guntor who joined the Museum as part of the SCMA safety team in 2021 about their favorite work of art at SCMA.