Statement
Colleen Francis Smith draws from myth, fairytale and personal narrative to craft paintings of richly hued, psychical environments that question deeply embedded narratives of femininity. Grounded in the botanical realm, the environment itself becomes a psychological 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. 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. She currently works out of Rocheport, Missouri.
Education
2018 University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
M.F.A. Painting
2011 Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia. PA
B. A. in Studio Art, Painting Concentration
B. A. in English, Creative Writing Concentration
Selected Exhibitions (* denotes solo / two-person show)
2025 Line of Sight, Orr Street Studios, Columbia, MO
Artists-In-Residence Show 2025, Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild, Woodstock, NY
2024 Tread Lightly, Columbia College, Columbia, MO*
Myths and Monsters, Columbia Art League, Columbia, MO
Lush, Columbia Art League, Columbia, MO
2023 She and All Her Flowers, Truist Art Gallery, Durham, NC *
2021 The New Pre-Raphaelites: Illumination, Era Contemporary, 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 *
2011 Senior Thesis Exhibition, Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA
Curatorial
2024-present Head Curator, Dorothy L. Steward Gallery, Lincoln University of Missouri, Jefferson City, MO
2022-2024 Head Curator, Morris Gallery of Contemporary Art, Missouri Valley College, Marshall, MO
2016 Head Curator, Corpus, University of Missouri Craft Studio, Columbia, MO
2014 Junior Curator, Unmonumental, Columbia, MO
Teaching and Professional Experience
2024-Present Assistant Professor of Fine Arts, Lincoln University of Missouri, Jefferson City, MO
2022-2024 Assistant Professor, Fine Arts, Missouri Valley College, Marshall, MO
2021 Arts Instructor, Painting and Drawing, 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
2017 Artist Assistant to Arline Jacoby, New York, NY
2016-2017 Graduate Assistant, Montclair State University, Montclair NJ
2015-2016 Events Coordinator for the Association of Graduate Art Students, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
2015-2016 Instructor of Record, Drawing One, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
2015 Intern at the Craft Studio Gallery, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
2014- 2016 Intern and Studio Assistant at Access Arts, 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
Residencies
2025 Artist in Residence, ChaNorth Summer Residency (July), White Plains, NY
2024 Artist in Residence, Byrdcliffe Communal Summer Artist Residency (August), Woodstock, NY
2020 Artist in Residence, Eastern Frontier Education Foundation Residency, Norton Island, ME
Recipient of Fellow Artist Award, Salem Art Works, Salem, NY (canceled due to Covid-19)
2017 Artist in Residence, Access Arts, Columbia, MO
Awards and Honors
2023 Recipient of Solo Exhibition Award at the Truist Gallery, Durham Art Guild, Durham, NC
2016 Recipient of Graduate Assistantship Award, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ
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
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