Colleen Francis Smith (b. 1989) is an artist working 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. Smith’s paintings meditate on contemporary narratives surrounding womanhood that are shaped by cultural and political expectations, illuminating the deep incision these narratives have made on the collective body of the female psyche. Here, the environment itself becomes a psychic extension of the central figure, reflecting resistance to patriarchal power structures and proclaiming the importance of disobedience and stubborn growth. In these tableaus, the nature character exists as something both strange and familiar, encapsulating the figure as she moves deeper into it. Through engagement with mythic figures such as nymphs and sibyls, questions arise of how feminine power, autonomy, and identity are negotiated in both visible and invisible ways. Often, the figure is present and rendered in full; other times it is obscured or recently absent, echoing the ways in which feminine agency manifests in western society. These threshold spaces, dripping with acidic color, are offered as spaces in which to navigate the mess that is our current reality. Smith holds an MFA from the University of Missouri (Columbia, MO), and a dual BA in Studio Art and English Literature from St. Joseph’s University (Philadelphia, PA). She is Assistant Professor of Fine Arts at Lincoln University of Missouri, where she teaches painting and drawing. She works out of her home studio in Rocheport, Missouri.
Education
2018 M.F.A. in Painting, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
2011 Dual B. A. in Fine Arts and English, Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA
Selected Exhibitions (* denotes solo and two-person shows)
2026 Trickster, Westwerk, Hamburg, Germany (curated by Sarah Arriagada)
Spirit World, Create! Magazine, Philadelphia, PA (virtual, curated by Shelby McFadden and Ekaterina Popova)
2025 Line of Sight, Orr Street Studios, Columbia, MO (curated by Robert Friedman)
Backyard Ecologies, TechArtista, St. Louis, MO (curated by Christopher Woodward)
Pietra Prize 2025 Artist Collaborations, Long Island City Artists, Long Island, NY (curated by Norma Homberg and Cristian Pietrapiana)
Artists in Residence 2024 Exhibition, Woodstock-Brydcliffe Artists’ 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, curated by Jessica Libor)
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
Teaching
2024-present Assistant Professor of Fine Arts, Lincoln University of Missouri, Jefferson City, MO
2022–2024 Assistant Professor of Fine Arts, Missouri Valley College, Marshall, MO
Curatorial
2025–present Florene Dawkins Art Collection, co-curator, Lincoln University of Missouri, Jefferson City, MO
2022–2024 Morris Gallery of Contemporary Art, curator and director, Missouri Valley College, Marshall, MO
2016 Corpus, curator, University of Missouri Craft Studio, Columbia, MO
Residencies
2025 Artist in Residence, ChaNorth, Pine Plains, NY
2024 Artist in Residence, Byrdcliffe Communal Residency, Woodstock, NY
2020 Artist in Residence, Eastern Frontier Education Foundation Residency, Norton Island, ME
Awards and Honors
2015 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
Artist Talks and Panels
2026 Between Control and Wildness, California State University-Stanislaus, Stanislaus, CA
Surrealism and Feminine Rebellion, Lincoln University–Missouri Regional Library, Jefferson City, MO
James Kasper Biblical Art Collection Panel via Hearing Voices/Seeing Visions, Orr Street Studios, Columbia, MO
2024 Eve, Artist Talk as Guest Presenter, Rotary International Rocheport Chapter, Rocheport, MO
Bibliography
2026 Local artist, Lincoln University professor uses nature to express femininity and change, Jefferson City News Tribune, Lisbeth Garcia, March
Interview and Essay on Consume (Daphne + Apollo), Trickster Exhibition Catalogue,Sarah Arriagada, June
2017 Celebrating Women’s History Month with the Work of Colleen Smith, University of Missouri Unions’ Arts Blog, Lauren DiSalvo, March
2016 Niche-Colleen Smith, Columbia Tribune, Aarik Danielson, March