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

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

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Residencies

2025 A.i.R., ChaNorth Summer Residency (July), Pine Plains, NY

2024 A.i.R., Byrdcliffe Communal Summer Artist Residency (August), Woodstock, NY

2020                       A.i.R., Eastern Frontier Education Foundation Residency, Norton Island, ME              

                               Fellow Artist Award, Salem Art Works, Salem, NY (canceled due to Covid-19)

2017                       A.i.R., Access Arts, Columbia, MO

Awards and Honors

2016                     Graduate Assistantship Award, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ

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

2010                     Omicron Phi Chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, International English Honors Society, Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA

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