b'amanda williams:17th annual miller lecturerin art and art historyFebruary 6, 2020IN FEBRUARY 2020,Amanda Williams delivered Miller Lecture extended well beyond the lecture itself. the 17th annual Miller Lecture in Art and Art History.Williams conducted studio visits with senior art majors An artist who trained as an architect, Williams is widelyand spoke with sixth graders at the Campus School recognized for art that addresses how race shapesabout memory and monuments.space in cities. At the core of her work is a queryingThe Miller Lecture is an endowed programof value, often through a focus on the everyday andestablished by Dr. Michael Miller in memory of his the familiar. Her work asks how urbanism, architecture,wife, Dulcy Blume Miller, who was a member of the color and history confer and deny value and examinesclass of 1946. Each year, the lecture allows Smiththe relationship of economic value to cultural andto bring a distinguished artist or art historian to cam-social values. pus to deliver a public lecture and to connect with Although these questions are rooted in the many communities of students, faculty, staff and Chicagos South Side, where Williams lives and works,Northampton residents who make living and working their relevance extends well beyond. Williams spokein this slice of western Massachusetts so special.about the month she spent at Smith in 2019, whenPrevious speakers include artists Candice Breitz,she inaugurated SCMAs artist-in-residence program.Maya Lin and Lorna Simpson and art historians Anne connecting people to ideasShe shared early designs for, and the thinking behind,Lafont, Sonya Lee and John Pinto. An Imposing Number of Times (202022), her newWatch a video of the Amanda Williams Millersite-specific commission for SCMA. The impact of theLecture.49'