b'from the directorTHE MAKING OF A MUSEUMis as layered as the works inside its walls. It raises questions about whowe are and who we want to be; what we do and why we do it; who our audiences are and how best to serve them. As we celebrate our first century, its been an opportunityand certainly a privilege, as well to reflect on the museums core values and sense of purpose, past, present and future. For SCMA, our centennial marks the momentin 1920 when Smith made a museum, taking itsart collection out of the province of any one academicdepartment and into a space for the broadercommunity, complete with its own building. Thatis the foundation, literally and figuratively, of todays SCMA: an accessible resource for teaching, learning, connection and reflection that serves our communityand enriches lives.All of the contemplation and reimaginationthat accompanies the marking of a milestone tookon new meaning in March 2020, when COVID-19 upended life as we knew it and forced us to move quickly from theory to practice. We went from thinking more broadly about what our audiences need fromus to creating new programs and delivery systemsthat would allow us to remain present for the peoplelooking to us whether as an educational resourceor a space to make sense of the world. Professionallyas an institution and also personally as individuals, advance our mission, albeit in different ways. This,we have all had to adapt in real time.and our refreshed brand introduced last year, may SCMA is well-positioned for this work. Our seem on the surface to be very functional in nature current strategic plan talks about moving beyond but deep down they are about extending our reach, four walls, and our redesigned website launched expressing our identity and bringing new stories in the fall of 2019 has allowed us to do just that. forwardsomething thats very much a theme in our Having this wonderful new infrastructure in placework this year. when forced to pivot a few months later to being, Being unexpectedly liberated from a physical in effect, a virtual space has had some benefits, actually, when it comes museum meant weto connecting with people. We love serving our local could continue to community, the college and those in surrounding 5'