BIOGRAPHY
Rose J. Smith was born in 1943 in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1950, she moved to the former Rondo neighborhood in St. Paul, Minnesota with her family. She currently lives and works in Eagan, Minnesota with her husband and fellow artist Melvin R. Smith. Together, in 2000 the husband-and-wife team founded the Oklahoma Museum of African American Art in Oklahoma City. Rose Smith began painting in her adolescence and attended the school for visual arts at the University of Minnesota. Working primarily in the tradition of portraiture, Smith’s expressive paintings resonate with tenderness and allegorical poeticism. In 2019, her work was presented in the exhibition Rose and Melvin Smith: Remembering Rondo at the Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Smith’s work has also been exhibited at United Theological Seminary, St. Paul, MN; Gaylord-Pickens Museum, Oklahoma City, OK; Eleanor Kirkpatrick gallery, Oklahoma City, OK; Omniplex, Oklahoma City, OK; Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY; and Markel/Sears galleries, New York, NY. Her work is included in the permanent collections of Chicago State University, Chicago, IL; Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO; Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK; Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN; Minnesota Historical Society Collection, St. Paul, MN; Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul, MN; North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, ND; Oklahoma State Art Collection, Oklahoma City, OK; Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma City, OK; St. Paul Insurance Companies of St. Paul, St. Paul, MN; University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN; Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. In 2019, Smith was awarded the Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant.
EDUCATION
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis and Saint Paul, MN
SOLO & TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2022
Melvin Smith and Rose Smith: Journey of a Lost Tribe, Fort Gansevoort (online exhibition).
2019
Rose & Melvin Smith: Remembering Rondo, Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, MN.
2011
New Orleans After the Storm, United Theological Seminary, St. Paul, MN.
2006
Messengers of Jazz, United Theological Seminary, St. Paul, MN.
2001
The Death of the Dream, Omniplex, Oklahoma City, OK.
2000
State Capitol, East gallery, Oklahoma City, OK.
1997
In Search of Validation: Harlem Revisited, United Theological Seminary, St. Paul, MN.
1995
Markel/Sears Galleries, New York, NY.
Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020
Inclusion in Art: Spirit of Color, Oklahoma Hall of Fame, Gaylord-Pickens Museum, Oklahoma City, OK.
1995
Multiculturalism in Oklahoma, Eleanor Kirkpatrick gallery, City Arts Center, Oklahoma City, OK.
GRANTS, AWARDS AND HONORS
2019
Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Chicago State University, Chicago, IL
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK
Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
Minnesota Historical Society Collection, St. Paul, MN
Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul, MN
North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, ND
Oklahoma State Art Collection, Oklahoma City, OK
Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma City, OK
St. Paul Insurance Companies of St. Paul, St. Paul, MN
University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN
Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2023
Keenan, Annabel. “Art Seen: Melvin Smith & Rose Smith: Recollections of Rondo” The Brooklyn Rail, December 14.
Scobie, Ilka. “Six New York Gallery Shows December 2023”, Artlyst, December 4.
2020
McDonnell, Brandy. “Getting in the ‘Spirit’: Inclusion in Art and Oklahoma Hall of Fame partner to showcase artists of color”, The Oklahoman, March 15.
Hencz, Adam. “Remembering Rondo, The Twin Cities’ Razed African-American Neighborhood”, Artland.
2019
Johnson, Cindi. “Celebrating Storytellers Melvin and Rose Smith”, The Canvas, September 3.
Broaddus, Adrienne. “Rose and Melvin Smith: Remembering Rondo”, KARE 11, July 19.
Diamond, Peter. “Remembering Rondo: Rose and Melvin Smith Reflect On a 50 Year Artistic Romance”, Mpls St. Paul Magazine, June 28.
Berdan, Kathy. “The art of community: Melvin and Rose Smith celebrate Rondo in Weisman exhibit”, June 7.
Beecham, Maya. “Remembering Rondo” Insight News, May 29.
Mullin, Diane. “Why America Should Remember Rondo”, Weisman Art Museum, May 23.
2009
Visual Theology: forming and transforming the community through the arts, Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2009.
2001
Brandenburg, John. “Couple share artistic vision”, The Oklahoman, February 20.
2000
Reagor, John W. Jr., “Experience Artistic couple share visions”, The Oklahoman, July 16.
1995
Brandenburg, John. “Multicultural Show Offers Intriguing Array of Styles”, The Oklahoman, August 4.