Smith College Museum of Art

The Smith College Museum of Art, connected with the well-known Smith College, is a prominent art museum in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is considered to be one of the most impressive college museums in the country. The museum is best known for its remarkable compilation of American and European art of the 19th and 20th centuries, including superb works by Edgar Degas, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Gustave Courbet, Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet, Georges Seurat, Albert Bierstadt, John Singer Sargent and others. First established in 1879, the collection has expanded to include nearly 25,000 works of art, including a diverse collection of non-Western art. It is also a member of the Museums10 collective, a consortium of art, science, and history museums in Western Massachusetts. The SCMA serves as an important cultural and educational resource for the communities of Smith College, the Five College Consortium, and the town of Northampton.Building historyThe Brown Fine Arts Center, which opened in 2003 after a two-year, $35 million building renovation, now houses the art library, Art Department, and the Smith College Museum of Art. Designed by the New York City-based Polshek Partnership Architects (now known as Ennead Architects, the 164,000-gross-square-foot (15,236m²) building metaphorically and physically links the college with its neighboring community.