For Immediate Release
Media contact and image requests: Margi Caplan mcaplan@smith.edu
Student-Organized Show Surface Tension Opens at SCMA
Northampton, MA July 19, 2011— The Smith College Museum of Art is announces the opening of
Surface Tension: Reconsidering Water as Subject, the culminating exhibition for the Summer Institute in
Art Museum Studies (SIAMS), a six-week intensive for college students that is administered by the
Museum. This collaborative exhibition, organized by the 15 students attending SIAMS 2011, will be on
view July 22, 2011 through September 11, 2011.
Surface Tension consists of ten works by 20th-century artists that investigate the physical relationship
between water and its surroundings. The focused selection of paintings, prints, and sculpture (most by
American artists) invites the viewer to carefully explore each work on display. Several of the objects deal
explicitly with the rhythm and texture of water’s surface, finding new ways to elaborate on modern
modes of representation. Some transform common perceptions of the substance in order explore its
architectural qualities or its surprisingly solid appearance. Others obscure water’s perceivable
characteristics or treat it as an invisible, environmental force. Together, these pieces actively avoid
contextualizing and symbolizing water, unsettling one’s impulse to create narrative. Instead they
challenge the viewer to look carefully and critically, exploring the uneasy space between naturalism and
total abstraction.
The exhibition features modern and contemporary works from the Museum’s permanent collection by
Milton Avery, Richard Bosman, Marilyn Bridges, Vija Celmins, Harold Edgerton, Willi Hartung, Brian
Hunt, Margaretta Mitchell (Smith College class of 1957), Edward Ruscha, and Susan Heideman. Despite
the artists’ diverse styles and media, their works share a focus on water as an abstracted subject by
emphasizing its textural and formal qualities.
Founded in 2006 by former SCMA director Suzannah Fabing, SIAMS introduces college students and
recent graduates to the broad spectrum of career opportunities in the art museum field. Marion
Goethals, former deputy director and director of programs at the Williams College Museum of Art
(WCMA) and Katy Kline, interim director at WCMA and previous director of Bowdoin College Museum of
Art, led the program in its sixth year.
The SIAMS 2011 class includes five recent college graduates and ten undergraduates from ten states,
including Hawaii; seven of the 15 students attend one of three Five College schools: Smith (four
students); UMass Amherst (two students); and Mount Holyoke (one student). During the six-week
intensive program, students are exposed to the museum field in a variety of ways. Rigorous classroom
sessions explore the different facets of museum operations, supplemented by weekly trips to regional
museums.
Over the course of the program, SIAMS students visit over fifteen arts institutions ranging from
academic, historical, and encyclopedic museums to private collections, galleries and auction houses.
These visits expose students to a variety of career options within the museum field. Career exploration
days with museum staff throughout the Pioneer Valley also allow for first-hand experience and further
personal development.
Additionally, panels comprised of graduate students, faculty, and professionals help to guide students as
they consider post-graduate options and career paths. In addition to classes and museum visits, SIAMS
students work collaboratively over the course of the program to develop and produce an exhibition at
SCMA. At the start of this year’s program, students were presented with a general theme (water), as
well as a set of pre-selected works (39 total) from the Museum’s permanent collection. From these, the
group chose to develop a “focus show” – one that would delve deeply into a group of only ten objects.
Three teams were assembled: Curatorial, Education, and Design and Public Presentation. Each team was
assigned one or more mentors from corresponding departments within SCMA who worked closely with
students throughout the development, preparation, and installation of the exhibition. Beyond the
responsibilities of each individual team, students were also required to work together to generate and
implement a cohesive vision for the show.
During the development and design process, the students carefully considered the desired impact of the
art on the viewer. Their decision to focus the show on a small selection of works was made in an effort
to facilitate for the viewer an in-depth exploration of the water theme, as well as a personal experience
with the objects on display.
A comprehensive exhibition catalogue was assembled by the curatorial and design teams. The essays
included focus on the formal characteristics of the objects, relating them to the exhibition’s theme. The
catalogue also features essays which examine selected works of art more generally within the context of
their materials, the practice and methods of the artist, or in relation to theoretical considerations.
The supplementary materials accompanying this exhibition include gallery guides and interactive
materials produced by the education team, encourage the audience to look closely at the objects on
display and to reconsider the significance of and techniques by which water is depicted in art.
Smith College is grateful to The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Brown Foundation, Inc., of Houston,
the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, and several individual donors for partial support of SIAMS.
SCMA is open year-round to the general public, Tuesday through Sunday. The Museum is closed
Mondays and major holidays. For up-to-date information on hours, fees, amenities, special exhibitions,
and programs (including free Second Fridays), visit the Museum’s award-winning website:
www.smith.edu/artmuseum.
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