29 WE WERE DELIGHTED TO OFFER 19 PROGRAMS developed specifically for members during the past year. From exhibition previews and talks with curators and artists to reserved seating at lectures, members-only programs and benefits continue to provide meaningful ways to engage with the museum. In February 2017 three exhibition previews for Leisure and Luxury in the Age of Nero: The Villas of Oplontis Near Pompeii were a highlight of the year’s program offerings. Attendees enjoyed early access to the exhibition with Barbara Kellum, who teaches courses on the ancient Mediterranean world in the art department. Professor Kellum completed her master’s work in art history at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor where Elaine Gazda, the curator of the exhibition, was her first mentor in the field of Roman art. Professor Kellum’s field of scholarship focuses on the visual culture of the ancient Roman world. Another highlight: SCMA Associates had the special opportunity to see the museum’s very own Sea Window–Tinker Mackerel, an oil painting by Marsden Hartley, during a private tour of Marsden Hartley’s Maine at The Met Breuer with exhibition curator Randall Griffey, associate curator, Modern and Contemporary, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The special exhibition explored Hartley’s complex, sometimes contradictory and visually arresting relationship with his native state— from his early post-impressionist inland landscapes to the later roughly rendered paintings of Maine’s rugged coastal terrain, its hardy inhabitants and the magisterial Mount Katahdin. MEMBER ENGAGEMENT For more information on membership please visit www.smith.edu/artmuseum/membership-matters SCMA’S MEMBERS PROVIDE ESSENTIAL support for many aspects of the museum’s operations. Here’s a snapshot of some of the key ways in which members helped to sustain the museum this year. Student– Patrons provided crucial contributions to expand museum accessibility by supporting free Second Friday activities (pictured below) and K–12 school visits through bus subsidies. Contemporary Associates donated essential funding to support purchases of art for the museum’s growing contemporary art collection. Tryon Associates provided critical support for opera- tions, including collections care and management. Director’s Associates supported the expansion of expertise for new initiatives through professional development opportunities for staff. ABOVE: Educator Gina Hall (standing) visits with Second Friday art-makers