Saint Mary's College Museum of Art

Saint Mary’s College of California recently secured a competitive $50,035 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Climate Smart Humanities Organizations program. The funds will help the College protect the collections at the SMC Museum of Art (SMCMoA), enhance its physical surroundings, and become the first carbon-neutral building on the Saint Mary’s campus. 

Reaccredited in 2021 by the American Alliance of Museums—the highest national recognition afforded to museums in the United States—SMC’s Museum of Art is at a pivotal stage of its development, said Lauren MacDonald, Executive Director of the museum and Dean of the Library and Academic Resources. SMC’s museum leadership worked carefully and intentionally to align SMCMoA’s planning efforts with both the College’s Transformation 2028 strategic plan and its Climate Action Plan. The museum has also partnered with SMC’s Office of Sustainability to develop a “climate smart” operations model that can be used for other buildings on the Saint Mary’s campus.

What are the artistic possibilities of common and discarded materials? Saint Mary’s College Museum of Art (SMCMoA) highlights this question through the opening of two new exhibitions: Isole: A Voyage Among My Dreams and Visceral Processes. These exhibitions bring Cianne Fragione's artistic vision into conversation with those of her predecessors Jay DeFeo, Frank Lobdell, and Manuel Neri.

The museum will host an artist talk with Fragione on Wednesday, September 18, from 1:30 to 3 p.m. This event will take place at the Soda Activity Center on the Saint Mary’s College campus. There will be an opening celebration for fall exhibitions the next day, Thursday, September 19, from 5 to 7 p.m. Opening remarks will be delivered in the museum courtyard. Both events are free and open to the public. After opening, Isole will remain on view through June 22, 2025; Visceral Processes will remain on view through December 15, 2024.