NORTHAMPTON, MASS.- The Smith College Museum of Art presents A City in Flux: Reflecting on Venice, an installation that explores the shifting identity of Venice and its enduring power to inspire artists across centuries. On view from September 19, 2025 through March 22, 2026, the exhibition is curated by undergraduate students at UMass Amherst and draws upon the Five Colleges’ rich collections of drawings, photographs, prints, and paintings.
Organization of this exhibition was facilitated by Monika Schmitter, Professor of History of Art & Architecture at UMass Amherst and Danielle Carrabino, Curator of Painting and Sculpture at SCMA. The student curators are Amelia Bachand, Leonard Bonn, Gianna Bruzzese, Gabriela Cueto-Melendez, Emma Hoffman, Arlo Kellie, Sunil Kumar, Mattea Lo-Sears, Sophia Lubin, Hannah McIver, Alejandra Salvà Martorell, and Kate Zelley. The exhibition is the result of their work in the spring 2025 course Curating Views of Venice.
For centuries, artists both local and foreign have responded to Venice’s paradox, its permanence and fragility, grandeur and intimacy. From the vedute (or “views”) of the eighteenth century to contemporary works exhibited at the Venice Biennale, the city has been imagined as both timeless and ever-changing. A City in Flux: Reflecting on Venice brings together works that reflect Venice’s dual identity: a city of enduring beauty and a springboard for imagining new worlds.
“It was a wonderful experience working with Monika and her students on this project. They brought their discussions and ideas about Venice from the classroom to SCMA, including new and updated research about the works,” said Danielle Carrabino, Curator of Painting and Sculpture at SCMA.
Student curators identified new findings as part of their research for the exhibition. Gianna Bruzzese, a recent graduate of UMass Amherst explains, “I researched the View of the Doge's Palace and Saint Mark’s Basilica from the Grand Canal. The most interesting part about this research is that it was originally put under Michele Marieschi in the files, but I actually found that it wasn't by that artist. I emailed back and forth with an art historian who specialized in Venetian paintings, and he helped me figure out who did paint this. It was likely Gaspare Diziani. So it's not actually by Marieschi, but it's still a very well-detailed, immaculate image.” said Gianna.
“Exhibitions like A City in Flux embody the essence of SCMA as a teaching museum. By placing students at the center of the curatorial process, we not only advance scholarship but also model how museums can be dynamic spaces for learning, collaboration, and discovery. Their research sheds new light on the works of art in our care and demonstrates the enduring relevance of Venice as a site of artistic imagination and cultural dialogue,” said Jessica Nicoll, Director and Louise Ines Doyle ’34 Chief Curator of SCMA.
