Born in Western Maine, Kathi Smith is an artist whose work is reflective of the landscape she finds herself within. Smith invites us to join her in close observation of familiar-seeming places, places that hold personal and universal narratives. Recent subjects include Great Cranberry Island, her family’s homestead in Nova Scotia, and her hometown of Wilton Maine. Smith works both in the landscape and in the studio to create real and remembered worlds.
Smith’s reputation and career have rapidly expanded as she has participated in numerous regional and national exhibitions and 5 significant artist residencies which include a Full Fellowship supported by the Joan Mitchell Foundation to the Vermont Studio Center. Other fellowships include VCCA, the Heliker-LaHotan Foundation, Weir Farm National Historic Site, The Alfred and Trafford Klotts International program for artists in Brittany France through the Maryland Institute College of Art. Smith was noted as “one to watch” by Dan Kany in his piece Art Review: Energetic pair of painters show in Portland, May 2018 and has been included in the Art Maine 2018, as a notable Maine artist. Previous press include Artscope Magazine, Kathi Smith’s New England, July 2013 as well as Maine Home + Design Expressive Impression, May 2016.
Formal education includes BFA in Painting & Drawing from the University of Southern Maine, and a MFA in Painting from the University of New Hampshire. Smith is an Assistant Professor of Studio Arts at Husson University in Bangor. Smith is an active participant in the Maine contemporary art scene and keeps her studio in Bangor, ME.