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Reunion 2022 Hours
Friday, May 13: 11–5 
Saturday, May 14: 11–5
Sunday, May 15: 11–4

Friday, May 20: 11–5
Saturday, May 21: 11–5
Sunday, May 22: 11–4
 

In addition to old favorites, there are some new collection and exhibition highlights to check out. Remember to leave time for the SCMA Shop. Sign up or renew your membership today to enjoy 10% off all purchases.

Lower Level

Red Hook at Bedford Terrace is a work by artist Sheila Pepe. Red Hook at Bedford Terrace is a celebration of intersections and connectivity, of places, people and their labor. The people celebrated in Pepe’s collaborative artmaking process include Ann Johnson, the longtime assistant to the director whose retirement the work honors, and the many Smith students and SCMA staff who knit portions with lime green and orange yarn according to Pepe’s instructions. 

In conjunction with Smith College’s 2021–22 campus-wide initiative, “Year on Democracies,” SCMA presents three recent film and video installations that examine notions of democracy, nationally and globally:

Isaac Julien: Lessons of the Hour is inspired by episodes in the life of freedom fighter Frederick Douglass (1818–1895). The film depicts Douglass as one of the most powerful voices and visionaries of the 19th century and demonstrates how his analyses continue to resonate.

FX Harsono: NAMA focuses on the historical erasure and oppression suffered by Indonesia’s ethnic minority Chinese community, who were forced to change their names. The mournful collective performance indicates the artist’s choice of healing and reconciliation over anger or protest when dealing with injustice and trauma.

Jennifer Crandall: Whitman, Alabama is a 52-part film the artist describes as an ongoing “experiment in using documentary and poetry to reveal the threads that tie us together–as people, as states, and as a nation.” Jennifer Crandall is the 2022 Lucille Geier Lakes Writer-in-Residence.


First Floor

Maya Lin: Mappings showcases art by artist and new Neilson Library architect, Maya Lin. The exhibition brings attention to environmental issues such as climate change, species extinction and the relationship between humans and the world we inhabit.


Second Floor

The Ancient World Gallery reimagines the display of SCMA’s ancient art collection to provide a more global view of the ancient world. Previously, this gallery’s scope had been limited to Egyptian, Greek and Roman art. The gallery now includes ancient objects from Asia and North and South America besides the Mediterranean region already included. Arranged in thematic groupings, these artworks span several millennia and encompass a wide range of media.
 

Third Floor

Arts of Africa, c. 1825–1960 was guest-curated by Dr. Christa Clarke, and features a selection of African art from SCMA’s collection. The works are displayed prominently on the third floor and in proximity to works from Europe and the United States, with a shared thematic emphasis on tradition and transformation. This framework highlights the entangled histories of these regions and centers African visual culture within a broader art history of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, enriching the stories we tell about art.

American Realism, c. 1879–1910 explores the themes of everyday life, still life, and landscape in American art at the turn of the twentieth century. A photograph by James Van der Zee, a photographer who chronicled life in Harlem, is rotated every few months. Other artists in this gallery include George Bellows, Childe Hassam, Robert Henri, and John Singer Sargent.

A case dedicated to the American Arts and Crafts movement features a selection of pottery from the early twentieth-century and today. Many of the works on view are by women, who were among the most celebrated American art potters. The pottery on display originates from prominent companies such as Rookwood, Newcomb, Roseville, and Rozane. With a nod to more contemporary practices, Amanda Williams’ Matterful Black Lives Tea Set is part of her project An Imposing Number of Times. One of three sets she created for Smith, it activates the campus tradition of Friday afternoon teas to reflect on how campus traditions create belonging and for whom. 

Public Art on Smith Campus

Beyond the Museum: Art on Smith's Campus Tour
Location: Around Campus 
Did you know that Smith campus is home to more than a dozen publicly accessible, mostly outdoor artworks that you can visit anytime you are on campus?   Click here to discover the works that are part of your favorite campus spots.

Amanda Williams: An Imposing Number of Times
Location: SCMA Facade (Elm Street and Seelye lawn sides)
Check out the banners on SCMA and the tulips planted between Happy Chace ’28 Garden and Paradise Pond

Inspired by the student-made Black Lives Matter banners on residential houses, Amanda Williams (SCMA’s inaugural Artist-in-Residence in 2019) reflects on language and self-determination at Smith, a place where campus traditions and the house system play a large role in student life. 

Click here for more information about Amanda’s project as well as how to purchase her publication detailing her experience on campus. Each book is constructed by hand and has a unique cover printed by the artist.

Along the Cappawonganick (Mill River)
Location: Neilson Library
While exploring the new Neilson Library, make sure to check out the work Along the Cappawonganick (Mill River) by Maya Lin. Click here to read more about the installation process from the experience of SCMA’s Chief Preparator, Nikolas Asikis. Spoiler Alert: A lot of glue was used to make this installation.