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.

Painting of a man at an easel painting a nude woman, with pallette in his hand and a small cross on his wall

The Artist at Work: Symbolism in Archibald Motley Jr.'s Stunning Self-Portrait

December 10, 2024

Yarra Berger is a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in the History of Art and Architecture.

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.

Students and staff planting tulips in a line across Seelye Lawn

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.

The central scene portrayed here is the Coronation of the Virgin, which is drawn from the Apocrypha, a group of Christian texts not found in the Bible. The side panels depict Saint Ivo, the patron saint of lawyers, and Saint Anne, the mother of Mary. When the side panels are closed, the figures of Mary and the Angel Gabriel painted on their exterior form a scene of the Annunciation, when Mary was informed that she would give birth to Jesus.

La Cuisinière, from Paysages et Intérieurs

Straddling the line between cultural appreciation and appropriation; Grace Ettinger a student assistant at the Cunningham Center at SCMA investigates a work by the French artist Vuillard.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Henriette Kets de Vries investigates a truly nightmarish Italian print which will keep you up at night.

Witches riding a carcas; nude women; goats; witches hunt; procession

Karl Hubbuch Joins the SCMA Collection

Henriette Kets de Vries Cunningham Center Manager and assistant curator of Prints, Drawings and Photographs introduces works from the newly acquired Carol O. Selle drawing collection.

Drawing of young boy next to print version of similar drawing

What Does It Mean to be American?

Kayara Hardnett-Barnes 23' is currently working in the museum as a Student Museum Educator. She is studying Sociology and Film and Media Studies at Smith. Read about her experience creating and installing the interactive exhibit currently in the Talk Back Space.

The artwork, question, and community responses are displayed in the Talk Back Space.

Carol O. Selle '54 (1932-2019)

Meredith Diamond is a junior Computer Science major and currently working as a Cunningham Center intern.

bust-length portrait of a woman in black jacket and pale green shirt leaning on her proper left elbow with her hand behind her head and looking toward the left

Installing the Arts of Africa

Kelly Holbert Exhibition Manager at SCMA takes us through the African art installation process.

two preparators install artwork as another museum professional watches

What Makes Medieval Art Sing?

Hear from guest blogger Cecily Hughes, graduate student intern and MA candidate at UMass Amherst, about her work this past summer at SCMA. Find out what interests her most about Medieval art and how she contributed to an upcoming exhibition featuring some of the works in the collection. In this blog post, Cecily discusses Blessing of Saint or St. John the Evangelist by an unknown French artist.