CARRIE MAE SMITH
STATEMENT
As the daughter of a butcher, I came to painting through the kitchen. Early on, I supported my practice by working as a private chef, spending long hours alone in the kitchen. There, amid ingredients, serving ware, and culinary tools, I began to consider the quiet power of domestic objects—their roles not just in sustenance, but in ritual, memory, and class.
I work from museum collections, historical archives, and my own inherited or collected china and silver. Flatware, raw lamb chops, a delicate pastry—are not merely compositional elements, but emblems of history, aspiration, and exclusion. Fine tableware and rare cuts of meat have long functioned as symbols of status; their presence at the table signals both abundance and access.
In the studio, I treat painting as an extension of the act of serving. The brushstroke becomes a gesture of care, a way to offer something to the viewer—much like setting a table or plating a meal. The works invite us to consider the social meaning embedded in the ordinary, and the ways beauty, labor, and class intersect in even the most familiar domestic objects and spaces.
CV
EDUCATION
2013 MFA Visual Studies, University of Delaware, Newark, DE
2005 4 Year Certificate Sculpture + Painting, Pennsylvania Academy of The Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
SOLO and TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2027 forthcoming, Dirkse Prim Gallery, Seattle, WA
2026 Offerings, Hawk & Hive, Andes, NY
2025 If for Once We Could Do Nothing, Lowell Ryan Projects
2024 Blue Roses, Lowell Ryan Projects, Los Angeles, CA
2024 Artifacts, Recitation Hall Gallery, University of Delaware, Newark, DE
2024 Gatherings, MARCH, San Francisco, CA
2023 Summer Oysters, Lowell Ryan Projects, Los Angeles, CA
2023 Four Plates and Four Forks, Lowell Ryan Projects, Los Angeles, CA, deemed a “Must See” by Artforum
2022 Absent yet Present: A Painterly Dialogue with the BMA's Pennsylvania German Collection
Berman Museum of Art: Upper Gallery, Ursinus College, Collegeville, PA
2021 In the Collection Of, Lowell Ryan Project, Los Angeles, CA
2021 Objects from the Young collection, Locust Grove Estate, Poughkeepsie, NY
2018 Ordinary Objects, Art on Paper, Pier 36, NYC, presented by Gates of the West
2017 Maternal Matters, in collaboration with Suzanne Schireson,
Wilber Mansion Gallery CANO, Oneonta, NY
2015 Fuller Chicken: A relational dining experience exploring power dynamics through chicken,
Fuller Projects, Bloomington, IN (performance in collaboration with Raphael Cornford)
2014 Robinsonaden, PSG Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
New Paintings, MARCH, San Francisco, CA
2013 The Servant Question, Chris White Gallery, Wilmington, DE
2012 Loss and Longing, Crane Arts Building, Philadelphia, PA.
Steven Layne and Carrie Mae Smith, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA.
2011 Good Times, Travis Kuhl Frames + Art, Oakland, CA, two- person.
2009 Cutlery, Meat and Shoes, Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, CT.
Two Person Exhibition awarded by William Bailey
2008 Historic Houses on the Vineyard, Etherington Fine Art, Tisbury, MA, solo.
2006 Small Collections, Etherington Fine Art, Vineyard Haven, MA, two- person.
Recent Paintings, Strode's Mill Gallery, West Chester, PA, solo.
2005 From the Kitchen to the Table, Twenty-Two Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, solo.
Local Landscapes, Oxford Art Center, Oxford, PA, solo.
2004 Urban Landscapes, Twenty-Two Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, solo.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS/ COLLABORATIONS/ PUBLIC SCULPTURE
2025 History Eats, a permanent installation of faux food created for Hyde Hall Historic Home and Museum,
Cooperstown, NY
2024 Featured artist on PLATFORM in partnership with David Zwirner, Nov 13- Dec 11
2024 Beyond the Classroom, Martin-Mullen Gallery, SUNY Oneonta
2023 Producing Humans, curated by Alyssa Matthews, Yasmin Reshamwala, and Alexandra Egan, Bushel
Collective, Delhi, NY
2023 Featured artist on PLATFORM in partnership with David Zwirner, Feb 1- March 1
2022 Balance, a 3-person invitational exhibition (including: Molly Welch and Stephanie Marcus) curated by
Megan Irving and Colleen O’Hara for the Community Arts Network of Oneonta, Oneonta, NY
2021 Dough, Hera Gallery, Providence, RI Juried by Catherine M. Piccoli, curator of New York’s Museum of Food
Isolation, Wilber Mansion Gallery, Community Arts Network of Oneonta, Oneonta, NY
86th Annual National Juried Art Exhibition, Cooperstown Art Association, Juried by Mary E. Murray,
Curator of Modern + Contemporary Art at Munson Williams Proctor Art Institute
Art on the Trail, Invitational outdoor art exhibition organized by the Butternut Valley Alliance,
Texas School House State Forest, New Lisbon/ Mt. Vision, NY
Oneida Nation Mural, 15’ Mural project commissioned to accompany the Richmond Artifact Collection:
A historic collection of Native American Artifacts from Otsego County, NY. Installed at the Gilbertsville Mount
Upton Public School Library, Gilbertsville, NY
2020 Bischie, letters from 1925-1950. In collaboration with Molly Evans for “Call and Response:
Creative Interpretations of Wylie House,” Bloomington, IN
2019 Beef Stew, A Faux Food Permanent Installation on board the USS Olympia, Philadelphia, PA
2017 A Place at the Table, The Smithy Gallery, Cooperstown, NY
2016 Victory Victuals, Independent Seaport Museum, Philadelphia, PA, Curated exhibition
IU Faculty Show, Grunwald Gallery, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN
2015 Implied Action: Performance Through Objects, Grunwald Gallery, Bloomington, IN
Swingers Swinging, The Kinsey Institute Juried Art Show, Grunwald Gallery
2014 I, Daughter of Kong: Primum Movens, organized by IDOKCFR + Alyssa Taylor,
Co-Lab Projects, Austin, TX
2013 Process: WOOD, PSG Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
I, Daughter of Kong, Galerija Miroslav Kraljevic, Zagreb, Croatia
New Wilmington Painting, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE.
Curated by Margaret Winslow, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art, Delaware Art Museum
Dovecotes, for the Southern Chester County Sculpture Trail, Herr’s Visitors Center, Oxford, PA
Everybody Wins, MFA Thesis Exhibition, Crane Arts Building, Philadelphia, PA.
2012 In Chrysler’s Absence, UD Botanical Gardens, Newark, DE.
2011 Painters of the Carlson Trust, Oxford Art Center, Oxford, PA.
2010 Family Matters,” Art Basel Miami, AJ Japour Gallery, Key Biscayne, FL.
Food, Pep Art, Vineyard Haven, MA.
2008 Painting As Presence, Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, CT. Juror: William Bailey
2006 Small Works Show, The Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia, PA.
Annual New Talent Show, The Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia, PA.
2005 Romania Redrawn, Photo West gallery, Philadelphia, PA.
2003 Annual Exhibition of Small Oil Paintings, Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia, PA.
AWARDS, GRANTS and RESIDENCIES
2024 Arts in the Community Grant in collaboration with Hyde Hall Historic Home and Museum
2021 NYFA Artist as Entrepreneur Grant
2016 Clowes Fellowship Full Scholarship, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
2014 RAIR, Philadelphia (Recycled Artist In Residency), Philadelphia, PA.
Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, Inc. Artist Grant
2013 Summer Research Fellowship in Material Culture Studies, University of Delaware
2012 Ruth and Harold Chenven Foundation, Artist Grant
Winterthur Museum and Gardens Artist-in-Residence, Wilmington, DE
Joe Moss Award for Sculpture, University of Delaware, Newark, DE
2006 Studio Assistant to Odd Nerdrum, Reykjavik, Iceland.
2005 The Pennsylvania Governors Award, The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Alexander Prize for Exceptional Promise, The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Faculty Award, The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2004 J.Henry Schiedt Memorial Travel Scholarship
Louis & Charles X. Carlson Landscape Painting Residency
Franklin C Watkins Memorial Grant
2003 Michael G. Capuzzi, Jr. Memorial Endowment
Robert Carlen Memorial Endowment
Lambert and Emma Cadwalader Prize for Landscape Painting
2002 Louis B. Sloan Prize for Landscape Painting
Charles J. Frith, Jr. Prize for Landscape Painting
PUBLIC TALKS/ CURATORIAL
2025 Artist Talk, UMass Dartmouth, Dartmouth, MA
2024 Artist Talk, Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY
2024 Artist Talk and Graduate Student Studio Visits, University of Delaware, Newark, DE
2023 “Milk Tongue” Co-Curator with Ashley Norwood Cooper, Martin Mullen Gallery, State University of NY, Oneonta, NY
2022 Juror: “Everyday Life, Everyday Art,” Tioga Arts Council
2022 Carrie Mae Smith In Conversation with Pennsylvania German Expert Lisa Minardi, February 10,
Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art, Collegeville, PA, Online Event
2021 Moderator: Legacy of Women Artists in Our Area: Friends of the Village Library, Cooperstown, NY
A panel discussion with presenters Christine Heller, Janet Wentworth and Sydney Waller
2019 Juror: Community Arts Network of Oneonta, Oneonta, NY. Served as one of three jurors
to select artists from a pool of applicants for 2019 gallery programing.
2019 Juror: Constance Saltonstall for the Arts, Ithaca, NY. Served as one of three jurors to
selected artists from a pool of 400 applicants for month long and two-week visual artist
residencies.
2015 Artist Talk at Lunch, Grunwald Gallery, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
2014 Juror: Art in the Garden, University of Delaware Botanical Gardens, Newark, DE
2013 Winterthur Museum, Library and Gardens: Lunchtime Lecture Series
Artist Talk: “The Servant Question”
2013 Co-Curator “UD: Past and Present,” Oxford Art Alliance, Oxford, PA.
2010 Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Boston, MA: Guest Critic
Invited to critique final review of Intermediate Life Drawing Class.
MEDIA/ PUBLICATIONS
New American Painting, publication #182, launched June 2026
Financial Times UK, “What is it that we really hunger for?” Okoro, Enuma, May 24, 2026
https://www.ft.com/content/6427ada4-87c4-42cd-8dd5-a6c477dba723?syn-25a6b1a6=1
SURFACE https://www.surfacemag.com/events/carrie-mae-smith-paintings/, April 2024
San Francisco ARTS: https://www.sfarts.org/event/march-x-carrie-mae-smith-exhibition-42CEFvVNi5lhh5IDBJjEDV
Hranek, Matt, “Artist’s Studio,” Interview and featured artist, WM Brown magazine, Print Issue #15, Fall 2023
Vargas, Steven, “Go Out Speed,” Los Angeles Times, March, 2023
Artforum “Must See” March 2023
Mooney, Erin, “In Conversation with Carrie Mae Smith,” Ursinus College, February, 2022, https://www.ursinus.edu/live/news/6427-a-conversation-with-carrie-mae-smith
Weiss, Mike and Martinsen, Virginia, “The Butcher’s Daughter,” September 2017
https://gatesofthewest.art/portfolio/context-carrie-mae-smith-004/
Schwartz, Chip, ”Recycled Materials Get Nautical At The Philadelphia Sculpture Gym,” Knight Arts, June, 2014
URL: http://www.knightarts.org/community/philadelphia/robinsonaden-philadelphia-sculpture-gym
McCarthy, Allison, “Some Like It Rare,” 7 X 7, San Francisco, February, 2014
URL: http://www.7x7.com/arts-culture/six-art-openings-see-february#/0
Durkin, Douglas, “My Highlights from FOG Design + Art,” January, 2014
URL: http://artsy.net/post/douglas-durkin-my-highlights-from-fog-design-plus-art
Fran Miller, “Carrie Mae Smith’s Meaty Masterpieces,” ACQTASTE, October, 2012
URL: http://acqtaste.com/the-feed/carrie-mae-smiths-meaty-masterpieces/
Sam Dean, “Rib Roast in Oil: The Meaty Art of Carrie Mae Smith,” Bon Apetit, August, 2012
URL: http://www.bonappetit.com/blogsandforums/blogs/badaily/2012/08/meat-art-carrie-mae-smith.html
Richard Martin, “Still Life With Meat,” Foodrepublic.com, March, 2012
URL: http://www.foodrepublic.com/2012/03/28/still-lifes-meat
Gretchen Krebs, Store front = Canvas, Local-Social.net , April, 2011
URL: http://www.local-social.net/2011/04/storefront-canvas/
Tony Japour, “Tony Japour Hits the Road; Art on the VIneyard,” SocialMiami.com, October, 2010
URL: http://www.socialmiami.com/articles/art-miami-Tony-Japour-1310.asp
Karla Arujo, “Four Young Artists,” Vineyard Style, December 2010
Judy Birke, “CAW Winner's Exhibit ... Simple is Often Better, “ New Haven Register, February 1, 2009
Tom MacMillan, “Presence Unwrapped,” New Haven Advocate, January 19, 2009
Stephen Vincent Kobassa,”Painted Over,” New Haven Advocate, June 5, 2008
Judy Birke, “Paean to Painting,” New Haven Register, May 18, 2008