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NORTHAMPTON, MA – The Smith College Museum of Art (SCMA) opens Beyond the Floating World: Viewing Japanese Prints with Smith Faculty, an exhibition bringing together 35 Japanese woodblock prints selected by eight Smith College faculty members. On view October 9, 2026–April 4, 2027, the installation explores how works of art can generate connections across disciplines, inspire new questions, and become active resources for teaching and learning.

Faculty participants from art history, East Asian studies, history, and chemistry selected works from SCMA’s collection based on their teaching, research, scholarship, and personal experiences. Seen together, their selections offer multiple ways of approaching

Japanese prints and demonstrate how close looking can create unexpected intersections across fields of study. Japanese woodblock prints have long been a strength of SCMA’s Asian art collection. Today, the museum holds more than 700 Japanese prints dating from the 18th through the 21st century. As an important resource for teaching at Smith, the collection gives faculty and students opportunities to study original works of art together through firsthand observation, extending learning beyond the classroom and into the museum.

“Discussing and selecting Japanese prints from the SCMA collection with faculty members was an illuminating experience. The questions and stories we shared showed how Japanese prints can contribute to discussions in various disciplines,” said Clara Cho Wun Ma, Jane Chace Carroll Associate Curator of Asian Art at SCMA.

Read the full release: Beyond the Floating World: Viewing Japanese Prints with Smith Faculty 9.28.26