Michelle A. Smith

Michelle A. Smith is a sculptor from the DC Metropolitan area and a surviving military spouse. Her work carefully positions the viewer within her personal narratives, focusing on confronting and expanding the emotions of grief and loss. She invites her audience to experience the edges of what she feels using sculpture and installations that encompass a variety of media including metalwork, ceramics, painting, photography, and poetry.

Smith received the Tidewater Community College Award of Excellence, the Northern Virginia Community College Phoebe Saperstone Award, the George Mason University Gillespie Research Fellowship, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Graduate Fellowship, and a Technical Assistantship in Ceramics at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. Michelle earned her BFA in Sculpture from George Mason University and held the position of Ceramic and Sculpture Studio Manager at the Northern Virginia Community College before beginning her MFA candidacy in Studio Arts at James Madison University. Her sculpture Protective Nature was featured in the Peace of War: Intertwined through Art exhibition and is now a part of the Honfleur Gallery’s permanent collection in Washington, DC. Michelle A. Smith is also a founding member of the Healing Artist Collective (HAC) based in Northern Virginia. HAC is a group who believes that creating art has the power to help heal and open an honest dialogue about mental health. Michelle whole-heartedly asserts that creating art helps to bridge the gap between what is said and unsaid.