Museums - Smith College Museum of Art

The Smith College Museum of Art reopened in 2003 as an element of the school's completely renovated and expanded Brown Fine Arts Center. The museum's collection, established in 1879, is widely acknowledged as one of the most important art collections at an American liberal arts college, containing nearly 25,000 works of art, with particular strength in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century European and American art.
Growing collections of ancient art, Asian art, and tribal art add to the depth of the museum's permanent holdings. The tribal art collection represents cultures from West Africa, the Pacific, the Northwest Coast of North America, and the American Southwest. Notable objects in the collection include Southwest ceramics and baskets, Navajo blankets, and most importantly, a Luba ceremonial axe from Zaire, purchased in 1939.