b'on view black refractions: highlights from thestudio museum in harlemJanuary 17March 14, 2020 (closed early due to COVID19)BLACK REFRACTIONS BROUGHT93 exemplarydeepen their engagement with art by artists of African works from the permanent collection of The Studiodescent. At Smith, the presentation focused on the Museum in Harlem to SCMA, making Smith the onlyhistory of The Studio Museum and the model it pro-Northeast venue for this nationally touring exhibition.vides for museums today: institutions that are rooted The Studio Museum, which opened in 1968, is thein a specific place and history while expansive in their nexus for artists of African descent locally, nationallyvision, voice and commitment to artists. The exhibition and internationally and for work that has been opened with pieces by artists who played essential inspired and influenced by Black culture. roles in the civil rights movement and in founding At SCMA, the exhibition filled two of the The Studio Museum alongside artworks that explore museums four floors with works by some of the mostplacemaking, in and out of Harlem, and expressions important artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, fromof Black identity. Other sections featured artists whose Elizabeth Catlett and Norman Lewis to Kerry Jamescareers are inextricably tied to The Studio Museum: Marshall and Carrie Mae Weems. Black Refractionsalumni of its prestigious artist-in-residence program also included works that are now icons of The Studio(begun in 1969) and artists included in the series of Museums collection and physical presence on 125thF-shows (begun in 2001).Street in Harlem: African-American Flag (1997) byBoth the exhibition and related programming David Hammons, Lawdy Mama (1969) by Barkley L.highlighted local connections. A third of the 76 artists Hendricks and Give Us a Poem (2007) by Glenn Ligon. in Black Refractions also have work in SCMAs perma-Black Refractions provided an opportunity fornent collection. Western Massachusetts is fortunate visitors unfamiliar with The Studio Museum to experi- to be home to many scholars whose work intersects ence firsthand the significance of its collection and towith the Studio Museums collection. For example, connecting people to art30'