Colette Odya Smith

Ms. Smith is an award-winning artist who has exhibited widely in the US as well as France, Germany, and China. She was the Invitee de Honneur of le Societe des Pastellistes de France in 2014. Other recognitions include being named a Master Pastellist – le Societe des Pastellistes de France, Eminent Pastelist and Masters Circle Member – International Association of Pastel Societies, Master Pastelist – Pastel Society of America (PSA), and Distinguished Pastelist – Pastel Society of New Mexico . She has been published in 3 books, featured multiple times in The Pastel Journal, American Artist, and Pratique des Arts magazines, and judged and written for The Pastel Journal. She teaches, offers critiques, and has juried “Enduring Brilliance”, the annual exhibition of the PSA at the National Arts Club in New York City, for whom she has offered portfolio reviews. She is in the collection of the Ming Art Museum, dedicated to pastel paintings, in Suzhou, China. Ms. Smith is a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, now living in Wauwatosa. She is known for her contemporary landscapes interpreted in a beautiful fusion of realism and abstraction.

My involvement with Wisconsin Visual Artists began in about 1998 when the group was called Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors, then Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors/Artists in All Media. WP&S was the main association I had heard of, and I had no other experience. I was thrilled to be accepted as a member, serving as a board member for about 5 years, representing the group at one of the early Governor’s Creative Conferences, and later on the membership jurying committee. I participated in many workshops and learned from the generosity of artist members who became friends and colleagues.
I co-founded, with Gary Gresl, the short lived MVAR, the Milwaukee Visual Artists Round Table which connected WVA with other art groups in the area including the then newly founded MARN.
Over the years I have exhibited in 28 WP&S/WVA shows, winning 7 awards. My Wisconsin connections also include being represented by the Katie Gingrass Gallery in Milwaukee’s Third Ward for 18 years, Woodwalk Gallery in Door County for 25 years, the Gallery of Wisconsin Art from its inception to its close. I am now represented by Fine Line Designs Gallery in Door County and by Lily Pad West Gallery in Milwaukee. I was awarded a Mary Nohl Suitcase Award in 2008 and 2014 and was chosen to design the awards for what was then known as the Sacagawea Award presented to women community leaders by Professional Dimensions in 2010. I have been included 5 times in “WOW: Women of Wisconsin” at Alverno College.
My interest in soft pastels has led to many opportunities outside of Wisconsin as well, exhibiting, teaching, jurying, judging, and writing, as well as traveling to places in the US as diverse as New York City, Anaheim, CA, Richmond, VA, and Albuquerque, NM, as well as France, and China.
While my efforts have not been overwhelmingly directed within the WVA organization, my friendships with fellow WVA members have provided a bedrock of support throughout my career and connect me to my identity as a proud Wisconsin artist.