BRENDAN L. SMITH
Work Experience
Arts and Humanities Coordinator, City of Takoma Park, 2017-present, manage all programs of the Arts and Humanities Division, including a diverse range of public art projects and the Takoma Park Arts cultural series, which features free concerts, art exhibitions, theater, film screenings, and poetry readings at the Takoma Park Community Center
Maryland State Arts Council Public Art Juror, 2021-2022, served on the Public Art Across Maryland jury panel to judge grant submissions for public art projects across Maryland.
Arts Writer, 2012-present, research and write art reviews, artist profiles, and features for various publications, including Hyperallergic, Bmoreart, Smithsonian Insider, and the Washington Diplomat
Smithsonian Videoconference Presenter, 2016-2019, Artful Connections program, Smithsonian American Art Museum, developed and led live interactive videoconferences on art topics with schoolchildren and seniors across the United States.
Art Instructor, 2015-17, Project Create, volunteer art instructor in D.C. schools and public housing for students from low-income and underserved neighborhoods
Art Instructor, 2015-17, Lee Montessori Elementary School, organized and taught students in after-school mixed-media art club
Exhibitions
2021
The Places We Forgot, solo exhibition featuring more than 30 pieces of mixed-media artwork and sculpture, Workhouse Arts Center, Lorton, VA
2020
Artist’s Choice, national online juried exhibition, Foundry Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Baltimore Artscape, juried online artists’ market, Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts
2018
METROPOLIS, site-specific suspended installation with battered street signs, Takoma Park Community Center
Fluid Dynamics, mixed-media work from three series in curated group exhibition, Takoma Park Community Center
2017
Selfie: Me, Myself, and Us, juried group exhibition by the Sparkplug Collective exploring themes about technology, identity, and digital deception, Flashpoint Gallery
Smithsonian American Art Museum, artist talk by the Sparkplug Collective in the Luce Foundation Center for American Art about the Selfie: Me, Myself, and Us exhibition
2016
Power (I Know It When…), site-specific installation about gun violence, curated exhibition by the Sparkplug Collective, D.C. Arts Center
2015
Art All Night, grant-supported multi-media installation in historic Carnegie Library featuring melted vinyl artwork, interactive sound-activated video projection, and DJ beats
G40 Art Summit, featured artist, curated group exhibition of outsider artists, Art Whino Gallery annex, 700 H Street NE,
Dis/Satisfaction, curated group exhibition by the Sparkplug Collective, D.C. Arts Center
Laser Cat, artwork projected during performance art party by the Barcelona-based Hungry Castle collective that featured a giant inflatable cat with laser eyes, The Yards Park
Cherry Blast, group exhibition curated by Art Whino Gallery, official event of the National Cherry Blossom Festival
Art Night, juried fundraiser for Washington Project for the Arts, Hickok Cole, Georgetown
Lost & Found, juried group exhibition featuring found objects, Off Rhode Gallery
(Re)Creation: An Artist’s Exploration, curated group exhibition, ReCreative Spaces Gallery
#WeTweetArt, group exhibition featuring interactive social media, artDC, Lustine Center, Hyattsville, Md.
2014
Ghosts in the Machine, solo exhibition of Ghosts in the Machine series in the American Visionary Art Museum’s top-floor restaurant, Baltimore, Md.
Mayhem, national juried group exhibition, Gallery Underground, Crystal City, Va.
2012
Artomatic, volunteer gallery manager and featured artist, Crystal City
1460 Wall Mountables, group exhibition, D.C. Arts Center
2011
Dia de Los Muertos: The Art of Remembrance, juried group exhibition, Target Gallery, Torpedo Factory Art Center, Alexandria, Va.
Art on Belmont, juried art fair during Adams Morgan Day
Marcatus, art fair juried by Art Whino Gallery, The Yards Park
2010
First on First Art Walk, featured artist, First Street NW
Curves, juried exhibition exploring human body, Art League, Alexandria
Found, juried group exhibition featuring found objects, Art League
2009
My Space on 7th, group exhibition, Touchstone Gallery
Artomatic, volunteer gallery manager and featured artist, 55 M St. SE
1460 Wall Mountables, group exhibition, D.C. Arts Center
2008
My Space on 7th, group exhibition, Touchstone Gallery
1460 Wall Mountables, site-specific installation, D.C. Arts Center
2007
Art on the Small Side, juried group exhibition, Touchstone Gallery
1460 Wall Mountables, group exhibition, D.C. Arts Center
National Arts Program, group exhibition, National Press Club
2004
Recycle Santa Fe, group exhibition of recycled art, Sweeney Convention Center, Santa Fe, NM
sELECTIONs, social protest art exhibition, Santa Fe Art Institute
2003
Read Street Fine Art, founding member of co-op gallery in downtown Santa Fe
Peace Show, political art exhibition, Artists Resistance Movement
2002
Merging Worlds, solo exhibition of mixed-media artwork and sculpture, Back Street Bistro
Arte de Descartes III, juried group exhibition of recycled art, Stables Art Center, Taos
ALPHA Fine Arts, curated group exhibition in Santa Fe gallery
Education
University of North Carolina, B.A. with honors in journalism, Phi Beta Kappa member, merit scholarship recipient, and student member of the journalism school’s Board of Visitors
Manchester University, England, studied art history, English literature, and other subjects; traveled to art museums across Europe by bus, train and right thumb
Awards and Grants
2020
First Place, Commentary and Criticism award for arts writing, Dateline Awards, Society for Professional Journalists, D.C. chapter
2019
First Place, Commentary and Criticism award for arts writing, Dateline Awards, Society for Professional Journalists, D.C. chapter
2018
Artist Fellowship Program, juried competitive grant awarded by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities in recognition of artistic merit and contributions to local arts community
Honorable Mention, Commentary and Criticism for arts writing, Dateline Awards, Society for Professional Journalists, D.C. chapter
2017
Honorable Mention, Commentary and Criticism category, Dateline Awards, Society for Professional Journalists, D.C. chapter
2016
Artist Fellowship Program, juried competitive grant awarded by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities in recognition of artistic merit and contributions to local arts community
2015
Art All Night, grant for site-specific installation in the Carnegie Library awarded by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities
Affiliations
Washington Sculptors Group, member since 2016
Washington Project for the Arts, member since 2012
D.C. Arts Center, member since 2007
Media Coverage
Washington Post and Washington Post Express, previews of Selfie exhibition at Flashpoint Gallery
On Tap magazine, review of Selfie exhibition
Washington Post, review of Power exhibition at D.C. Arts Center
Washington Post, review of Dis/Satisfaction exhibition at D.C. Arts Center
Washington Post Express, preview of Laser Cat performance art installation at The Yards Park
Washington Post, review of Wall Mountables exhibition at D.C. Arts Center
Washington City Paper, artwork featured in Found Art section
Santa Fe New Mexican, preview of solo exhibition at Back Street Bistro