The Photography and Imaging Department would like to invite you to an informal Tea for Norma Smith in the Sinclaire Pavilion, 3pm on Thursday, March 14, 2019.

It is with great sadness that I share with you news about the passing of our beloved faculty member and friend, Norma Smith. For the last fifteen years, Norma’s courses in the Photography Department have played an important role in our curriculum.  She was one of the bright shining lights in our faculty and staff.  Even in illness, Norma’s commitment to her students and our department never wavered.  Over the years, Norma spoke about ArtCenter almost like a second home, and we know that her students experienced something in her teaching that invited them to see something bigger than the subject, while challenging them to imagine something deeper than just the assignment.  Norma managed to teach us something about ourselves as she helped us learn about photography. 

Norma asked that there not be anything official or formal, but that she wouldn’t mind if we invited her friends, colleagues, and students to a casual and social gathering. I think Norma let everyone know everyday in her own way how she might like
to be remembered.

To honor her wishes, we will be serving tea, coffee, and other small refreshments in the Sinclaire Pavilion starting at three in the afternoon. Please join us for conversations, stories and a get together that she would have attended.

We also thought it would be nice to collect photographs of Norma and put these in a book for her husband Dave. If you have any pictures of Norma, please do share them with us. You're welcome to email (photography@artcenter.edu), mail, or drop off prints in our office.