SOFA Cushion Fund Projects

The Smith Office for the Arts (SOFA) launched the SOFA Cushion Fund in spring 2025 and supports a variety of arts related projects from students, faculty, and staff. Funded projects include professional recording sessions for a cappella groups, costumes and props, supplies for exhibitions and woodworking projects, subsidizing student ticket cost for student created theater performances, and more. Learn more about these funded projects and consider how the SOFA Cushion Fund can support your creative projects.

Spring 2026 Projects

LEGO Braille Pop-Up

A collaboration between the Jandon Center’s STEAM Team and the international nonprofit Women’s Brick Initiative, this pop-up invited the Smith community to build with Braille LEGO bricks—an interactive, accessible experience that connects art and engineering while building solidarity with low-vision communities through play.

ST✩RGRL

A two-part multimedia project by a student artist: a concept album blending hyperpop and 1990s punk rock, paired with a series of neon, cyberpunk-inflected music videos. The work explores mental health—depression, ADHD, and the disorientation of a reality turned upside down—and invites broad student participation through an open campus casting call and a planned album-release event with WOZQ.

Phoenix

The Smith Science Fiction and Fantasy Society produced the Spring 2026 issue of Phoenix, its student-run publication of original speculative writing and art, giving campus writers and artists a venue to share imaginative work. The submissions for Phoenix opened from March 9 to April 6, accepting 25 submissions for print, which consisted of a variety of works, including short stories, poetry, digital art, and photography.

Nadya’s Senior Recital: And The Melody Still Lingers On

A senior recital marking the culmination of a student musician’s work at Smith, shared with the campus and local community through an evening performance featuring jazz, funk, and soul, at the Parlor Room in Northampton. Performances included collaborations with fellow Smith students Ajika Sawyer ’28, Amara Singer ’28, Dani Justo ’27, and Elijah Nathman (UMass ‘27).

Vibes: 30th Anniversary Album

Marking 30 years since their founding, the Smith College Vibes recorded their first professional album—an anniversary collection of eight songs arranged by current and recent members. Recorded at Northfire Studio in Amherst, the project documents the group’s repertoire for current singers and alumnae, capping years of work for an ensemble that introduces more new music each year than any other Smith a cappella group.

INHABITED LANDSCAPES: le 14e arrondissement et plus loin

Building on a body of photographic work begun during the Smith in Paris program and first shown in the Nolen Art Lounge, this project produced an archival artist book exploring how environments shape identity, memory, and belonging. Through sequencing, pacing, and material design, the book translates the experience of moving through the exhibition into a lasting, tactile format. Copies of the archival artist book will be received and available through the Smith College Archives, the Department of French, and the Architecture Studio.

Chrysanthemum: Closing Keynote Talk for the 5PAN Conference

SOFA supported the closing keynote for the 5-College Pan Asian Network (5PAN) Conference, a student-led coalition connecting Asian and Asian-American organizations, activists, and students across the Five College Consortium. SOFA Cushion Fund support helped bring Chrysanthemum Tran, a Vietnamese American poet, writer, and performer based in Rhode Island, as the keynote speaker.

A Study on the Past, Present, and Future of Ovine Matrilineality

This project pairs the artist’s study of ancestral mythology with the history of sheep and pastoralism in New England. Using hand-spun, botanically dyed wool from three generations of shepherdesses in her family, the artist created a wearable sculpture and a short film shot across her family’s farm, Grow Food Northampton, and the MacLeish Field Station—lands tied to the work's agro-ecological themes—accompanied by a song sung in the round.

Summer Admin Pottery Class

A summer ceramics class with local art studio Easthampton Clay, offering the Smith College administrative staff cohort hands-on experience at the wheel, extending the arts to staff across the college.

Collection of Memories

A student-curated exhibition conceived as an inclusive “third space” for reflection, storytelling, and community engagement, bringing together student artists to present thoughtful work in a professional, cohesive setting.

My Sister

A faculty film project in the theatre department brings professional film artists to campus to shoot a new short film, creating opportunities for students to observe and learn across acting for the camera, production design, costume, and sound. SOFA support funds equipment rental for the shoot, with the finished film to be shared with the Smith community.

Neurodiverg-ART

A planned permanent on-campus exhibit featuring work by local autistic artists, creating a lasting space for neurodivergent artists within the Smith arts landscape.

453: Massachusetts Endangered Species

A student exhibition spotlighting Massachusetts endangered species, presented at Smith Arts Day, pairing ecological awareness with creative practice.

Contrast Ecology

Drawing on the artist’s background in botanical dye and field ecology, this exhibition highlights the dye properties of Massachusetts flora classified as native or invasive. The work deliberately dissolves binaries between the arts and the sciences, tying its materials and process to the Pioneer Valley landscape and Smith’s liberal-arts identity.

Larissa Bates Artist Talk

An artist talk by painter Larissa Bates, bringing a contemporary working artist into conversation with the Smith community about her practice.

Fall 2025 Projects

Koanbanchinemma (do you see the light (in me))

The Botanic Garden’s first group exhibition brought together Nipmuc artists to share their creative practices of connecting with the land and with their more-than-human relatives. Staged in Lyman Church Gallery and running from October 2025 through July 2026, the show paired photographs with culturally significant objects—including a wetu, saved seeds, textiles, and natural dyes—to acknowledge histories of erasure while imagining a reparative paradigm grounded in Indigenous knowledge and reciprocity with the land. As one of the most public-facing spaces on campus, the Garden shared the exhibition with K–12 groups and thousands of visitors.

A Space of Encounter Between Design, Landscape, and Dance

Hosted by the Department of Dance, this talk by dance historian Janice Ross (professor emerita, Stanford) explored how the home and gardens of Anna and Lawrence Halprin became a radical template for postmodern dance and its expansion into civic, social, and environmental life. The conversation traced how choreography became a medium for collective problem-solving and for reimagining landscapes, gardens, and shared public space.

Fiddler on the Roof

The Valley Troupe, a student musical-theatre organization in only its second year, staged its most ambitious production to date—a full-scale Fiddler on the Roof with a roughly 20-person cast and a live pit orchestra. SOFA funded props and costumes for a staging that emphasized an accurate, research-grounded portrayal of shtetl life and the themes of Yiddishkayt.

Bossa Nova Across Borders

Presented by the Departments of German & Italian and Spanish and Portuguese, this performance-and-conversation event shared Brazilian musical traditions with the Smith community, developed in collaboration with student organizations including LASO and a newly formed Brazilian culture club. Held in April 2026, the program reached across the music and dance departments and beyond to invite the wider campus into vibrant performance cultures and traditions from around the world.

Workshop at UMass Glassblowing Laboratory

The Student Event Committee organized a series of glassblowing workshops for 22 students at the UMass Glassblowing Laboratory, led by glass artist Sally Prasch—an art form not otherwise available at Smith. Participants learned the history and science of glassblowing, developed hands-on technique, and made their own glass pieces. SOFA support covered participation fees so the workshops could be offered free of charge, keeping this cross-disciplinary experience accessible to all.

New Album Recording

The Smithereens, one of Smith’s a cappella groups, used SOFA support for a professional studio session to record and release new music, documenting the group’s repertoire and sound for current members and audiences alike.

Spring 2025 Projects

Regrowth, a collaborative dance piece performed at the Black culture show Essence on April 5, 2025, featured dancers from Smith, Hampshire, and Amherst Colleges with varied backgrounds in Afro-Diasporic movement. Through personal storytelling and shared choreography, the work celebrated growth, resilience, and creative expression in uncertain times, supported by thoughtful costuming and props that helped bring the dancers’ stories to life on stage.

Students dancing in purple light

Two Nuns, staged at the Academy of Music in Northampton, MA, is a full-length play independently written and produced by Smith students, providing hands-on experience in developing and staging work outside the theatre department’s resources. SOFA Cushion Funds supported industry costs and subsidized student ticket prices. The project encourages student-led creative initiatives and celebrates the supportive arts environment at Smith.

Smith Tap Ensemble created durable, portable wooden tap boards to support their growing membership and enable performances in multiple campus spaces. As the only regular tap group in the Five College community offering beginner classes, they needed safer, better-sounding boards larger than their old plastic ones. With SOFA support, they built interlocking 2-by-2-foot boards that can be easily transported and assembled. These boards allow full-ensemble performances and broader collaboration with other student groups. They now serve as a shared resource for the Smith arts community.

Wellspring Recording Session

The Smiffenpoofs recorded their 12th digital album, Come Home to My Heart, at Wellspring Sound Studio in May 2025. They received support from the SOFA Cushion Fund to cover professional recording, mixing, and mastering costs. The album documented the group’s evolving sound, showcased new arrangements, and served as a polished representation of their artistry for streaming platforms, aiding in recruitment, collaborations, and outreach.

Hosted by the Southeast Asian Student Alliance, this interactive and educational workshop shares and celebrates the art of bamboo dancing.

Uncovering Women Figures of Film History

This short documentary film brings to life the story of a largely forgotten woman who helped shape film as an art form. Through a lively, research-driven narrative guided by an enthusiastic host, the film blends archival footage, photographs, interviews with scholars, and personal discovery.

Crush Magazine, Smith’s arts and literary magazine for students of color, focusing on poetry, prose, art, and more, published their second print issue with support from the SOFA Cushion Fund.

This series of workshops introduced participants to the Italian theatre style Commedia dell’Arte, and included Boston-based theatre company Pazzi Lazzi. The workshops were moderated by Italian actress Chiari Durazzi and a partner, a musician who plays music from the Renaissance.

Body Freedom for Every(body) is a traveling exhibition project that takes place inside a 27-foot box truck featuring the work of more than 100 artists with an emphasis on bodily autonomy, community, and joy.

A multidisciplinary program combining the unforgettable experience of astronaut-captured visuals from the International Space Station and Steve Thomas’ genre-straddling Guitarscapes and Folktales and Fusions music. Former NASA astronaut Cady Coleman shared videos and inspiring stories from her book Sharing Space, An Astronaut’s Guide to Mission, Wonder and Making Change. A cinematic, multimedia, educational experience, designed to provoke thinking about the whole Earth and planetary stewardship.

This short horror film was created with a collaborative crew of over 25 students, the project provided hands-on filmmaking experience beyond the classroom and fostered a creative environment that helped strengthen the Smith arts community through mentorship, rehearsal, and shared learning.

Students filming a movie in a dorm room.

A Music Video

Don’t Blink Media, Smith’s only student-run film production group, creates hands-on opportunities for students across disciplines to explore filmmaking outside of the classroom. With support from the SOFA Cushion Fund, they produced a collaborative, interdisciplinary music video for “F.E.M.M.E.” by emerging artist Molly Grace—a joyful yet powerful anthem about femme identity in the queer community. The project brings together dancers, actors, musicians, designers, and more, and helps foster a more connected, cross-disciplinary Smith Arts community.

Field Works is an interdisciplinary exhibition that blends plant ecophysiology, conservation, and studio art through handmade botanical inks, highlighting the cultural and ecological significance of species tied to the Smith landscape.

Framed prints of flowers and plants.

Groove A Cappella released their first album in seven years—a long-overdue project featuring over 25 previously unreleased songs recorded since before the pandemic, completed through extensive mixing, mastering, and licensing efforts. Led by two senior co-pitches, the group created the album to honor past members whose work was interrupted by Covid and to empower future Groovies to pursue new projects without the burden of unfinished work.

More Information for Students More Information for Faculty & Staff