Colleen Francis Smith (b. 1989) is an artist working predominantly in oil paint who
draws from myth, oral tradition and personal narrative to craft paintings of richly hued, psychological environments that question deeply embedded narratives of femininity.
Grounded in the botanical realm, the environment itself becomes a psychic extension of the central figure, where feminine duality is explored through mythic threads, specifically the paired dichotomies of submission/rebellion and good/evil. Smith seeks to create threshold spaces that reclaim the wildness lost under centuries of negative reinforcement and patriarchal power structures. Her paintings meditate on the impossibility of being free from the deep incision these narratives have made on the collective body of the female psyche and the importance of disobedience and stubborn growth.
She holds an M.F.A. from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and a dual B.A. in Studio Art and English Literature, which fuels storytelling and the rich mythical tapestry in her work. She has shown in several states throughout the US as well as in Ukraine when she lived there as a Peace Corps volunteer. She currently teaches drawing and painting at Lincoln University of Missouri and works out of her home studio in Rocheport, Missouri.
Education
2018 University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
M.F.A. in Painting
2017 Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ
Additional graduate courses under Julie Heffernan and Ken Johnson
2011 Saint Joseph’s University
B. A. in Fine Arts with a Painting Concentration
B. A. in English with a Writing Concentration
Selected Exhibitions (* denotes solo and two-person shows)
2025 Line of Sight, Orr Street Studios, Columbia, MO
Artists in Residence Exhibition, Woodstock-Byrdcliffe Artist Guild, Woodstock, NY
2024 Tread Lightly, Sidney Larsen Gallery, Columbia, MO*
2023 She and All Her Flowers, Truist Gallery, Durham, NC *
2021 The Modern Pre-Raphaelites: Illumination, Era Contemporary in partnership with the Delaware Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA (virtual)
Dreamland, Arts to Hearts Project, New Delhi, India (virtual)
Dreams and Nightmares, Gallery Underground, Arlington, VA
2019 Small Art/Big Stories, Montminy Gallery, Columbia, MO
2018 Ekphrasis, The Box Gallery, Kansas City, MO
Gradualism, George Caleb Bingham Gallery, Columbia, MO
Foresteria, George Caleb Bingham Gallery, Columbia, MO*
2017 The Neidermeyer Experiment, Historic Neidermeyer Apartments, Columbia, MO
Women’s History Month Exhibition, Unions’ Art of the University of Missouri, Columbia, MO*
In the Studio, Montminy Art Gallery, Columbia, MO
Audubon Mural Project, through Gitler_& Gallery, New York, NY
2016 Pathways and Passages, Columbia Art League, Columbia, MO
(dis)enchanted, Central Bank of Boone County via Columbia Art League, Columbia, MO*
2015 Women in the Arts, The Craft Studio, Columbia, MO
White Walls, George Caleb Bingham Gallery, Columbia, MO
2013 Annual Zakarpattya Oil Painters’ Exhibit, Bokshay Painters’ Museum, Uzhhorod, Ukraine
Recent Works, Oblast Library, Uzhhorod, Ukraine
Residencies
2025 Chanorth Artist Residency, Pine Plains, NY
2024 Byrdcliffe Communal Summer Artist Residency, Woodstock, NY
2020 Eastern Frontier Education Foundation Artists and Writers Residency, Norton Island, ME
Recipient of Fellow Artist Award, Salem Art Works, Salem, NY (canceled due to Covid-19)
2017 Access Arts Artist Residency, Columbia, MO
Awards and Honors
2024 First Place, Lush, Columbia Art League, Columbia, MO
February Featured Artist, Art Off the Trail, Rocheport, MO
2016 Recipient of Graduate Assistantship Award, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ
First Place, Pathways and Passages, Columbia Art League, Columbia, MO
2015 Recipient of Dorothy Rollins Memorial Scholarship for Drawing and Painting, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
2014–2016 Paul D. Coverdell Peace Corps Fellow, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
2010 Omicron Phi Chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, International English Honors Society, Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA
2007–2011 Saint Joseph’s University Presidential Academic Award
Morgan J. Hand Scholarship Award
Curatorial
2022–2024 Curator and Gallery Director, Morris Gallery of Contemporary Art, Marshall, MO
2016 Corpus, University of Missouri Craft Studio, Columbia, MO
2014 Unmonumental, Columbia, MO
Teaching
2024-present Assistant Professor of Fine Arts (TT), Lincoln University of Missouri, Jefferson City, MO
2022–2024 Assistant Professor of Fine Arts, Missouri Valley College, Marshall, MO
2021 Arts Instructor, 2D Media, Cary Arts Center, Cary, NC
2019 Adjunct Professor, Drawing One and Two, Missouri Valley College, Marshall, MO
2018 Adjunct Professor, Art Appreciation One, Moberly Area Community College, Moberly, MO
Instructor of Record, Drawing One, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
2016–2017 Graduate Assistant, Montclair State University, Montclair NJ
2015–2016 Instructor of Record, Drawing One, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
2014–2015 Teaching Assistant, Art Appreciation, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
2012 Children’s Art and English Camp Director and Counselor, Uzhhorod, Ukraine
2011–2013 Teacher of English Language, United States Peace Corps Ukraine, Uzhhorod, Ukraine
Bibliography
2024 Brooke’s Exploration of Lush, Columbia Art League Blog, September 2024
2021 Doug Rule, Dreams and Nightmares, Metro Weekly, January 2021
Joanne Barrera, Dreams and Nightmares, juried exhibition at Gallery Underground, Patch.com, January
2017 Lauren DiSalvo, Celebrating Women’s History Month with the Work of Colleen Smith, University of Missouri Unions’ Arts Blog, March
2016 Aarik Danielson, Niche-Colleen Smith, Columbia Tribune, March