CONNECTING PEOPLE TO ART: VOICES, VIEWPOINTS AND VISION audience to concepts they have not thought about before or helping them see things for the first time, or in a whole new way. DC: Unlike a public art museum, college art museums are in the unique position of having a wealth of resources at their fingertips. Whether it be professors who are specialists in their area of study or students who are conducting research for their classes, the museum becomes more akin to a library or laboratory where learning actively takes place. And because we’re geared toward teaching and research, there is a level of intellectual curiosity that informs our collecting. SB: I’ll add that our work in-house shares the same educational ethos as our front-facing work with students and the community. I’m constantly learning from my colleagues and there’s a strong sense of mentorship and collaboration that goes with working at an educational institution. Post-baccalaureate positions like mine are an educational opportunity as much as a professional step- pingstone, and for someone who didn’t study art history formally, it’s been a really valuable learning experience. On another note, being at an educational institution gives us space to do critical and reflective work that I think would be harder to do at a public institution with a different mission. We’re supported in integrating our curatorial processes in the same ways students are in the larger liberal arts environment of the college. Let’s talk about working with students. How does this influence and enrich your experience? DC: Students are our target audience at the museum. In a sense, this really is their collection. One of the most fulfilling parts of my job as a curator in a college art museum has been interacting with students in various capacities. Whether it be sharing ideas with them while viewing a work of art together during class time or offer- ing more pointed curatorial training, students are often deepening my own understanding of works of art by helping me see them through their eyes. SB: I graduated from Smith in 2017, so my interactions with students come pretty naturally and I find it really energizing. I coordinate Student Picks (the museum’s student curator/mentorship program, page 17) and work on student programming with the other post-bac- calaureate fellows, so I’ve been able to collaborate with students in a variety of ways. I interned at Visual AIDS in New York City as an undergrad and maintain a strong connection with them and their projects, including the Day With(out) Art program, ALTERNATE ENDINGS, RADICAL BEGINNINGS, which Emma and I hosted for World AIDS Day in December 2017. We collaborated with the Student Event Committee and PRISM, the organization for queer students of color, and that was an incredibly meaningful and generative experience. I had the chance to connect my activist leanings with my aesthetic and sociopolitical values as an emerging museum professional who is black and queer, and it helped me model the way I’d like to continue that student-centered work going forward. YW: Smith students are super smart and absorb knowl- edge and ideas like sponges! Although Asia may be a distant place and the subject of Asian art and culture may be unfamiliar to some students, I feel a strong responsibility, as a curator of Asian art, to enlighten and broaden young minds. Historically, Asia was closely tied to American society economically, politically and culturally, and in today’s hyper-connected world, these ties are increasingly strong. To fulfill Smith’s ambition of educating “women for the world,” I think it’s very 10 ABOVE: Henriette Kets de Vries (center) connects with visitors during Free Fun Friday