Saint Mary's College Museum of Art

What relationships exist between language and visual art? As a graduate student specializing in poetry, as well as an apprentice at Saint Mary’s College Museum of Art, I have spent the past year considering this question. When I first viewed work by the artist Cianne Fragione (b. 1952), I gained insight into the possibilities. In her recent exhibition, Isole: A Voyage Among My Dreams, language is both a central theme and a driving force. Featuring a combination of paintings, drawings, and assemblages that explore memories of the sea, this exhibition invites language to transform and transcend its visual elements.

Saint Mary’s College of California recently secured a competitive $50,035 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Climate Smart Humanities Organizations program. The funds will help the College protect the collections at the SMC Museum of Art (SMCMoA), enhance its physical surroundings, and become the first carbon-neutral building on the Saint Mary’s campus. 

Reaccredited in 2021 by the American Alliance of Museums—the highest national recognition afforded to museums in the United States—SMC’s Museum of Art is at a pivotal stage of its development, said Lauren MacDonald, Executive Director of the museum and Dean of the Library and Academic Resources. SMC’s museum leadership worked carefully and intentionally to align SMCMoA’s planning efforts with both the College’s Transformation 2028 strategic plan and its Climate Action Plan. The museum has also partnered with SMC’s Office of Sustainability to develop a “climate smart” operations model that can be used for other buildings on the Saint Mary’s campus.