Meet the author of Trash Talks: Revelations in the Rubbish (Oxford University Press, 2016)!

Author and philosopher Elizabeth V. Spelman will talk about her “deep dive” into trash to discover who we are and what we value. Scavenging with abandon from sundry sources, including Darwin, Freud, Plato, Buddha, Milton, and Locke, the author explores the extent to which people rely on trash and waste to make sense of their lives and to shape connections with others.

Elizabeth V. Spelman is Professor of Philosophy and Barbara Richmond 1940 Professor in the Humanities, Smith College.

4–7 PM Hands on! Art making for all ages, inspired by works on view. Imprinted by Plastic: Use interesting bits of plastics, light sensitive paper, and the sun to create an artwork that reminds us of the lasting imprint of plastic on our environment.

6 PM Open Eyes: Guided conversation exploring a different art object each month.

Museum shop open + complimentary light refreshments. 

Amanda Williams, a distinguished visual artist who lives and works on Chicago’s South Side, will be in residence at SCMA from June 9 – July 7, 2019.

Williams’ creative practice employs color as a way to draw attention to the political complexities of race, place and value in cities. Williams’ installations, paintings and works on paper seek to inspire new ways of looking at the familiar and in the process, raise questions about the state of urban space and citizenship in America.

About the Artist-in-Residence Program

The Smith College Museum of Art Artist-in-Residence Program invites an emerging or mid-career artist to campus for a period of creative exploration and experimentation rooted in sustained contact with students, faculty, staff and greater Northampton. Amanda Williams is its inaugural artist.

The Artist-in-Residence Program is made possible by a foundational gift from Robin Bracken Villa ’65 and the bequest of Jane Herb Rinden in honor of Thor Rinden. It is co-conceived and managed by Emma Chubb, Charlotte Feng Ford ’83 Curator of Contemporary Art.