Creating a Collection: A Tour Through the Smith College Museum of Art

How This Works



This website is designed to let you decide how you want to explore the SCMA's collections. There is no set path, no correct way to use the tool—​it's up to you to explore!

With this in mind, here are some suggested routes:

  • Explore by level
    • Check out all the works on view on Level 3 (for example). Artworks on this floor will introduce you to why and how the SCMA adds things to its collection, as well as why and how it removes things. See how some museum favorites got here, and what has left the SCMA collection. 
 
  • Explore by question
    • Want to know why the SCMA removes artworks from its collection? Want to know how? Check out these pages and their tabs to learn about the museum's collecting practices throughout its permanent collection.
 
  • Explore by artwork
    • Did an artwork on the front page caught your eye, or do you have some favorite artworks that you always love to visit at the SCMA? Start by visiting that object's page and see what its "tags" are. Go visit it within the museum and check out other artworks nearby. 
 
  • Explore however you like! 
    • Jump around, mix and match, and have fun. 

And remember, you can always get back to the main page by clicking on "CREATING A COLLECTION: A TOUR THROUGH THE SMITH COLLEGE MUSEUM OF ART" or by navigating the Table of Contents, indicated by the three bullet points and lines at the far left of the title bar. 

To see tags...

If you want to explore the tags on any work of art (to see where it might be on view, or how or why it came/left the museum), click on the image or click on Citations (beneath the image). This will show you tags or information contextualizing an image. You can then click on a tag or click on the image title (highlighted in blue) to explore more. 

Works tagged "Deaccessioned"

When you see a work of art with the tag Deaccessioned, that means that the artwork no longer belongs to the Smith College Museum of Art (with a notable exception). Keep in mind that if you are learning about an artwork with this tag, you will not be able to find it in the SCMA. There's still a lot to learn, though!

This page has paths:

This page has tags: