Valerie Smith

About the Artist

Valerie Aleta Smith - Currently lives and work in Baltimore, Maryland Valerie Smith is artist working primarily in oils on canvas, bottle art, cigar box art and shoe art.  She often employs bold and bright colors in her surrealism style of painting. EDUCATON: Graduated:  Professional Institute of Commercial Art – 1984 Studied:  RETS Electronics and Architectural Design School; Maryland Institute of Art (fine Art); Towson University College of Art SOLO EXHIBITS: 2009 -  Joe Squared Restaurant 2013 – Padonia Stations Restaurant 2013 – Towson University, Department of Chemistry GROUP EXHIBITS 2012 – Ukazoo Bookstore 2013 – Stations North Coffee House 2014 – The Downtown Cultural Arts Center 2014-2018 Hamilton Arts Collective (HAC) 2014 – 2917 Max Galleries 2015 – The Wind-Up Space 2014-2017 Maryland Art Place (MAP) 2015 – The Peace of Art at Penn Stations 2015 – Collective Minds Event at Druid Hill Park 2015 – Industrial Arts Collective (IAC) 2015 -2018 Towson Arts Collective (TAC) 2014-2019 Soundheim and Baker’s Artist Awards 2014 – 2019 Hamilton Gallery Collective Arts 2018 – Columbia Arts Association 2018 – Artist Compound at Mount Vernon 2018 – Peale Museum 2018 – Lexington Market 2018 – Kromah Gallery at Howard Street 2019 – Member of the Upton Visual Artist’s Collective and exhibits 2019 – Arena Players Playhouse Exhibit 2019 – Batch Bakery of Harford Road Exhibit 2020 – Highlandtown Gallery – Magnolia Designs/LLC Member of:  the Hamilton Arts Collective, Artist U (GBCA –Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance), the Towson Artist Collective and the Sankofa Children’s Museum of African Cultures 2014 – Interviewed with Oswald Copeland Journalist of the Examiner and posted on You Tube as:  “Utopian Dreamer, Baltimore’s Val Smith” 2015 – Contributed a chapter to a book written by Jan Sinnott, PhD.  Chapter Entitled:  “Dual Identities as an Artist” 2015 – Mentioned in Gloria Garrett’s  - www.gloriasart.com/blog 2015 – Interviewed by a Towson University Sociology student for her studies in sociology classes VOLUNTEEER:  Creative Alliance and Everyman’s Theatre Has work in collections in Baltimore City and County, New Jersey, Nevada, Washington D.C , Hawaii and Africa.  

Artist's Statement

Valerie A. Smith, a Baltimore artist, and surrealist illustrator, and painter. Born in Baltimore Ms. Smith was raised in the Bronx, New York. As a child, she loved to read about mystical characters and mythological beings of fairy tales, folklore, and legends. The source of her work comes from her dreams and her great imagination. Her vivid and colorful paintings can tell a story that will leave an impression on the viewer. Ms. Smith studied Architectural Design, fine arts at Maryland Institute (MICA), fine arts at the Towson University’s College of Fine Arts and Communications. She studied Basic Electronics and learned a great deal about reading schematics. She earned her degree from the Professional Institute of Commercial Arts (PICA). Her work has a unique blend of architectural design, fine and commercial arts combined to make her distinctive surrealistic style. She is currently an active member of the Hamilton Arts Collective, Artist U (GBCA –Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance), MaxGalleries, the Towson Artist Collective (TAC), Upton African American Artists Collective, and the Sankofa Children’s Museum of African Cultures. Annually, she applies for recognition at the Soundheim and Bakers’ awards.