Artist Statement
Wess Smith’s work emerges from a lifelong curiosity about the world and a belief in serendipity — the discovery of things he didn’t know he was seeking. His practice centers on “seeing” beyond the obvious, capturing the moment when light reveals its true behavior. Rather than treating light as mere illumination, Smith explores how it bends, refracts, hides, and exposes. His images ask viewers to look closer, to recognize that the light itself is speaking.
Smith’s work blends photography, myth, and symbolic storytelling. He creates visual narratives about vulnerability, fear, and the quiet interactions between his characters — whether a plant revealing its beauty long after death or a bird navigating danger in the deep woods. His art functions as a form of alchemy: transforming the ordinary into the symbolic, the invisible into the visible, and the physical into the emotional. Each image feels suspended between reality and myth, inviting viewers into a world where visual phenomena become story.
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Education & Professional Background
Smith holds BFA, MFA, and MA degrees in fine art painting, printmaking, and digital arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art and San Diego State University, with additional MBA coursework at Johns Hopkins University. He received the Henry Walters Museum European Travel Scholarship and spent a year painting in Spain.
His career spans academia, corporate media, and strategic communications. He served eleven years as Art Department Head and Associate Professor of Studio Arts at Coppin State University, followed by fifteen years as Manager of Video Production for Westinghouse. He later became General Manager of Meridian, a corporate video division of Production Masters Inc., and President of the Ameritel Consulting Group. Throughout these roles, Smith continued to make art, and for the past thirty years has devoted himself to his studio practice full time.
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Exhibitions & Honors
Smith has exhibited in more than 150 regional, national, and international juried exhibitions. He received the MICA Artist in Residence Award in Rochefort‑en‑Terre, Brittany, France, and has exhibited in both France and Spain. His work has appeared in three U.S. solo exhibitions, the Carnegie Museum of Art AAP Centennial Exhibition, and four consecutive Art of the State exhibitions in Pennsylvania. He is a recipient of the Joan Massey Award and has been juried into multiple Pittsburgh Society of Artists Annual Exhibitions.
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Arts & Civic Leadership
Smith has served as President of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, one of the nation’s largest artist organizations, and held leadership roles with the Pittsburgh Society of Artists, Pittsburgh Filmmakers, the Parent and Child Guidance Center, and Family Links. His commitment to both art and community continues to shape his work and his engagement with the cultural life of Pittsburgh.