The Smith College Museum of Art is widely recognized as one of the leading college museums in the country. Its collection of nearly 25,000 works spans several millennia of history and many continents. The museum is noted for its European and American art of the 19th and 20th centuries and for the depth and quality of its collections of prints, drawings, and photographs (there are over 18,000 in all). SCMA also has strong holdings in Asian, African, and Latin American art, as well as in classical antiquities. SCMA also has a strong public focus. It is located in the heart of Northampton, less than five minutes off I-91 and only a short walk from Northampton's vibrant downtown. Each year some 3,000 area schoolchildren visit the museum and more than 7,000 people of all ages participate in a diverse range of public programs, which include teacher workshops, lectures, exhibition openings, and performances. Founded in 1926 and since housed in several different buildings, the "new" museum - designed by the Polshek Partnership, architects of the Rose Planetarium in New York City and the Clinton Library in Little Rock, AK - opened its doors in 2003. This bold, contemporary, and fully accessible space encompasses four floors of galleries that house the museum's permanent collection as well as lively changing exhibitions. Visitors to the museum's soaring, sky-lit Atrium enjoy a special visual treat: Rufino Tamayo's monumental mural, Nature and the Artist: The Work of Art and the Observer. (43' long and 9.5' high). After forty years on loan, renovations allowed the mural to come "home" in March 2005 to its permanent location at SCMA, sixty years after its original commission by Smith. Visitor amenities also include two highly acclaimed artist-designed restrooms, eleven hand-crafted gallery benches made by a series of New England artists and fine art furniture makers, an inviting Museum Shop, and Sam's Café serving breakfast, lunch and light fare on weekdays from 9 to 5.