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Artful adventures in and around the museum for 2–5 year olds and their caregivers! Explore a different theme each session offered on selected Fridays through the year. This September 4 program will focus on the exhibition Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas from the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Registered families can join us in the atrium of the Smith College Museum of Art for open play and art experiences from 9:30–11:30 a.m. Upon arrival, sign up for a museum tour slot for 9:45 a.m., 10:15 a.m., or 10:45 a.m. 

This sale runs September 8 to September 13th!

Decorate your Dorm with art! 
Come to the Smith College Museum of Art September 8–13th for cards, catalogs, and other ephemera to beautify your living space! 

Show your Student ID to get SCMA cards for $1, deep discounts on select other SCMA-made items and 10% off on everything else. Cash, credit card or tap accepted. 

Museum is closed Mondays and otherwise open 11am-4 pm daily, and open until 8pm on the 11th for our monthly Second Friday events. Stop in & enjoy the art!

Experience Second Friday alive with music and color.  
Join us from 4–8 p.m. for an evening of art, making, and community at the Smith College Museum of Art.  
Galleries are open until 8 p.m. SCMA is free and open to all.

From 4–7 p.m.  Drop in for hands-on art making in the Boeckman Sculpture Court (Museum Atrium)! All ages welcome.
Artists like Alma Thomas often worked on their artistic compositions to the tunes of their favorite musicians. Immerse yourself in the creative process as you listen to the rich music soundtracks that directly inspired her art and its unique visual rhythm. In this drop-in artmaking activity, we invite you to repeat elements like line, shape, and colors with varied spacing in the form of a ripped paper collage.  

VIRTUAL EVENT

Join SCMA staff and Smith College faculty for a conversation exploring Beyond the Floating World: Viewing Japanese Prints with Smith Faculty, an exhibition born from interdisciplinary collaboration. Hear how faculty from Art History, Chemistry, East Asian Languages & Culture, and History approached SCMA's Japanese print collection through the lens of their teaching, research, and personal experiences, revealing unexpected connections and fresh perspectives on these remarkable works. Inspired by a 2025 faculty convening centered on SCMA's Japanese prints collection, the exhibition reflects the museum's ongoing commitment to collaboration and teaching across disciplines. Through their selections and interpretations, faculty co-curators invite visitors to look beyond traditional narratives and discover new ways of engaging with Japanese woodblock prints.

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Join SCMA Friends for a special guided walkthrough of Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas from the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Led by Melissa Ho, Curator of Twentieth-Century Art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, this program offers unique insight into Alma Thomas's vibrant paintings, the development of the exhibition, and the artist's lasting impact on American art. 

Open to active SCMA Friends, including Smith College students. only. Not a SCMA Friend? Renew or join today. SCMA Friends may bring a guest. 

Join us for the celebratory reception of Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, a special exhibition at SCMA featuring paintings from the world's largest public collection of Alma Thomas's work. Organized around the themes of Space, Earth, and Music, the exhibition invites you to experience Thomas's radiant use of color and the joyful vision that shaped her singular artistic practice. 

Enjoy an evening of refreshments, friends, and the galleries as you explore these luminous paintings. Registration is encouraged, but not required. Save your free spot. 

Open to all Smith students. All materials provided. No experience needed. Registration coming soon!

Discover the vibrant world of punch needle embroidery! Inspired by painter Alma Thomas’s bold, rhythmic art, you’ll transform colorful yarn into striking textured textile art. 

What You'll Do:

A special visit for caregivers and children under two. Meet other grown-ups, enjoy conversation about art and activities led by art museum and Northampton Public Schools Early Childhood Center staff. We'll be the only ones in the galleries during these special hours, with no worries about gurgles, gagas and crying over the art -- from the adults or the little! This tour will focus on the new SCMA exhibition, Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas from the Smithsonian Museum of American Art.

Artist Sydney Mieko King seeks new ways of imaging the body and its trace through continuous material exploration.  
Open to all Smith undergraduates. Only 15 students selected.

How It Works
Each year, Smith students choose a work for SCMA’s permanent collection by a female-identifying photographer selected for the Meredith Moody Residency at Yaddo, a leading retreat for artists and writers. Participants will meet with museum staff to learn about collection building, examine works by featured artist Sydney Mieko King, and vote by secret ballot to choose this year's purchase, concluding with a free buffet dinner.