For some reason I wasn’t expecting to see so many crucifixes at the Smith College Museum of Art.
My fault for presuming the vibe, especially when the main exhibit on view was European Painted Wood Sculpture from 1300-1700. Naturally there was going to be a lot of Christian art in there. I didn’t go there for that exhibit though. I went because it’d been announced that as of July 1, the museum is now free for all visitors.
A free art museum? In walking distance of my apartment?! Hell yes!
I quickly discovered the catch though—or at least a potential reason for it being free. The museum at the time of my visit was heavily under renovation. My admission mostly involved the greeter informing me of all the areas of the museum that were closed, including all of Level 3.
With one floor totally closed, and the atrium and the Asian Art wing also closed, the museum felt pretty small, but also eerily intimate. There were so few visitors. I could take my time exploring, stopping at whatever I wanted to see. That was kind of a nice change from the big and bustling museums like the ones in Boston, where you’re always at risk of being in someone’s way or photobombing.
There was a lot of Christian art and some ancient art. More fitting for the vibe of Noho though was the protest prints and photographs exhibit. I also enjoyed the video gallery, where I stood alone in a dark room watching a black-and-white video of ocean waves.
But my favorite exhibit of all was…the bathrooms! Art in toilets, who knew! On the lower level there are two all-gender artist-designed restrooms. I checked out both of them, even though I didn’t really need to pee. No one was around so I got to wander without feeling too weird. That discovery alone was worth the (free!) visit.