Artist Statement
Melissa Cowper-Smith is a painter based in Morrilton, Arkansas, whose work depicts the natural world in a state of flux. She utilizes handmade paper, bold color palettes, and intricate brush strokes to capture the movement and perspective shifts of the landscape. Working to bridge the gap between climate change, memory, and forgetting, Cowper-Smith's work calls attention to the timelessness of nature while exploring clouds, fires, and other phenomena in the world around her. Through the exploration of color, line, and form, she generates a narrative between the past, present, and future, building a visual record of the ever-changing nature of the land, and inciting conversations about the immediacy, absurdity, and uncertainty of the human experience in relation to nature.
Biography:
Melissa Cowper-Smith is a painter currently living and working at her place, Wildland Gardens, near Morrilton, AR. Originally from Alberta, Canada, she studied art at the University of Victoria, before moving to the United States in 2002 to complete a Masters of Art degree at Hunter college in New York City. While in New York she met her husband James Dow, a philosopher of mind who has an interest in art and aesthetics. The two moved to Arkansas along with their son in 2011. Using permaculture design theories, she developed Wildland Gardens. Melissa grows hundreds of varieties of medicinal, food, fiber, and flower plants. She uses her gardens as both inspiration and material for her work. She has gained mastery in papermaking, often using fiber plants from the garden. Melissa has received many awards for her art including inclusion in the juried Delta Exhibition (Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts), an Individual Artists Fellowship (Arkansas Arts Council), and an Artists Scholarship (Arkansas Committee of the National Museum for Women in the Arts).
Melissa is a licensed REALTOR with Keller Williams Realty Central in the State of Arkansas. She services all of Central Arkansas and particularly enjoys working with clients selling or buying horse and farm properties. For Real Estate questions you can reach Melissa on her cell at 501-722-7763 in the office at 501-907-5959 or at mcowpersmith@kw.com
More on Wildland Gardens
In 2011, Melissa & Jamie began the process of building an ecological farm on eight acres in the Morrilton Area of Central Arkansas. At Wildland Gardens you will find curving gardens filled with annual and perennial vegetables, herbs, grains, seeds, flowers, fiber plants, fruit trees and berries. They also have a flock of egg laying hens, ducks, guinea fowl, bees, sable rabbits, and two horses. They grow and sell plants that are productive in a garden ecosystem. Their website takes plant orders in the spring at wildlandgardens.org
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EDUCATION:
M.F.A. 2005 Hunter College, New York, NY
B.F.A. (honors) 2001 University of Victoria, Victoria, BC
AWARDS/SCHOLARSHIPS:
2018 Individual Artists Fellowship, Arkansas Arts Council
2018 Artists Scholarship, Arkansas Committee of NMWA
2018 Executive Director Fund, Anderson Ranch Arts Center
2015 Horn Scholarship, Penland School of Craft
2005 Carolyn David Horowitz Memorial Fund, Hunter College
2001 Helen Pitt Award, Vancouver Foundation
1999 Pat Martin Bates Scholarship, University of Victoria Women’s Club
1999 Presidents Scholarship, University of Victoria
SOLO AND TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2023, From the Ground, 211 South Gallery, Bentonville AR, May 23-August 12
2023, Cyclical Nature, 2- person show with Jessica Mongeon, Spiva Center for the Arts, Joplin MO, June
2022 Melissa Cowper-Smith & Jeff Horton, Boswell Mourot Fine Arts Gallery, Little Rock, AR May 7th -May 18th
2019 Melissa Cowper-Smith & Yelena Petroukhina, Boswell Mourot Fine Arts Gallery, Little Rock, AR May 25- June 15th
2019 Natural Treatment, Galleries at Library Square, Loft Space, Little Rock, AR June-September
2019 Natural Treatment, Batesville Area Arts Council Gallery, Batesville, AR, March-April
2018 Traces Remain, Rockford University Art Gallery, Rockford, IL, March 23- April 20
2017 Traces Remain (with Dawn Holder), Trinity Gallery, Historic Arkansas Museum, Little Rock, AR May- August
2015 Fleeting Gardens, Batesville Area Arts Council Gallery, Batesville, AR, March-April
2012 These Trees (with Julia Whitney Barnes), Sweet Lorraine Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2012 These Trees, (with Julia Whitney Barnes), Hendrix College Art Gallery, Conway, AR
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 Irene Rosenzweig Biennial Juried Exhibition, Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas, July-October
2022 Art of the South, Zeitgeist Gallery, Nashville, TN
2022 Winter Wonderland, Front Room NYC, Hudson, NY
2022 Mistletoe Mania, Boswell Mourot Fine Art, Little Rock, AR
2020 Radius, Bradbury Museum of Art, University of Arkansas, Jonesboro, AR
2019 SouthSAY (with Culture Shock), Historic Arkansas Museum, Little Rock, AR, September-December
2019 Art of the South, Memphis College of Art, Memphis TN, June-July
2019 Different Invisible Lines (with Culture Shock), Batesville Area Arts Council Gallery, Batesville, AR, February-March
2019 Faculty Show, Baum Gallery, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR January-February
2018 60th Annual Delta Exhibition, The Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, Arkansas, May 25 August 26
2018 Art of the Heirloom, National Heirloom Expo, Santa Rosa, California, September
2018 Fascination (with members of Culture Shock), Laman Library Gallery, North Little Rock, AR, June 15- July 11
2018 Small Works on Paper, Touring exhibition, Organized by the Arkansas Arts Council, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, Harding University, Arkansas Tech University, Community Creative Center, University of Arkansas Rich Mountain, The Arts Center of the Grand Prairie, Henderson State University, Batesville Area Arts Council (Gallery on Main), DeltaARTS and Arkansas State University Mid-South , January 2018- November 2018.
2017 Shelter In Place (with members of Culture Shock), William F. Laman Library Gallery, Little Rock, AR, September-October
2017 Nasty Women Gallery 1, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AR, August
2017 Nasty Women, Russell Fine Arts Gallery, Henderson State University, Arkadelphia, AR, March
2016 Shine Your Rubies, Hide Your Diamonds: Culture Shock, Concordia Gallery, Butler Center, Little Rock, AR
2016 Small Works on Paper, Touring exhibition, Organized by the Arkansas Arts Council, Batesvillle Area Arts Council, Hendrix College, Arkansas Tech University, University of Arkansas Fayetteville, University of Arkansas Fort Smith, Searcy Art Gallery, Delta Cultural Center, Art Center of the Grand Prairie, University of Arkansas Monticello, University of Arkansas Hope. January 2016-Novemeber
2015 Friends of BACC, Batesville Area Arts Council Gallery, Batesville, AR
2015 Painting 360, Hendrix College, Conway AR
2015 57th Annual Delta Exhibition, The Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR
2015 Art of the South, Hyde Gallery, Memphis College of Art, Memphis, TN
2015 Artists in our Midst, Rialto Gallery, Morrilton, AR
2015 Show & Tell Art Collective, Stephens Gallery, University of the Ozarks, Clarksville, AR
2015 Faculty Exhibition, Hendrix College Art Gallery A, Conway, AR
2014 Show & Tell Art Collective, Kresge Gallery, Batesville, AR
2014 Faculty Exhibition, Hendrix College Art Gallery A, Conway, AR
2014 66th River Valley Invitational, Fort Smith Regional Art Museum, Fort Smith, AR
2013 Looking In/Looking Out, A Synthetic Zero Exhibition, Bronx Art Space, Bronx, NY
2013 Papertrail, Asnuntuck Comminity College Gallery, Enfield, CT
2012 Art of the Heirloom, National Heirloom Expo, Petaluma, CA
2011 Art of the Heirloom, National Traveling Exhibition, more info at www.seedlibrary.org
2011 Billboard Art Project: Nashville, The Billboard Art Project, Shown simultaneously on 4 LED billboards, Nashville TN
2010 tART @ A.I.R.: What’s in a Collective, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2010 Yet Another Roadside Attraction, Richmond Billboard Project, LED billboard on Interstate I95, Richmond VA
2009 tART @ A.I.R., A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2009 First Exposure, Art-Bridge, NYC (print installed on West 23rd St, Btwn. 9th and 10th Ave)
2009 What Surrounds Us: Finding and Making Home, Ernest Rubenstein Gallery, NYC
2009 Adelphi Authors and Artists, Swirbul Library Gallery, Adelphi University, Garden City, NY
2009 I Heart Art, Work Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2009 Visual Aids: Postcards from the Edge, Metro Pictures, NYC
2008 Adelphi Faculty Exhibition, Adelphi University Center, Garden City, NY
2008 tART Summer Salon, Rabbit Hole Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2007 tART Spring Salon, 261 Broadway, NYC
2005 tART Fall Salon, 147 Bowery, NYC
2005 M.F.A. Thesis Exhibition, Hunter College, NYC (catalogue)
2003 Night of 1000 Drawings, Artists Space, NYC
2001 Helen Pitt Triennial Awards Exhibition, Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna, BC, (catalogue)
2001 Medium Rare/Well Done, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada (catalogue)
2001 Collecting Identities, Fernwood Community Center, Victoria, BC, Canada
1999 Sacred and Profane Love Machine, Visual Arts Gallery, University of Victoria, Canada
PRESS
2023 “Arts & Science Center announces selections for 2023 Irene Rosenzweig Biennial Juried Exhibition”, June 20
2020 “Interview with Melissa Cowper-Smith” Arkansas Arts Scene Blog, By Philip Mayeux, November 23
2019 Arkansas Arts Center presents “Delta 60” Documentary Film, Matthew Rowe, Premiered June 28
2019 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, “Two diverse artists deal in multiple forms”, By Ellis Widner, June 9th
2018 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, "Morrilton Artists Chosen for $4000 Fellowship", By Tammy Keith, Sept 24
2018 Only in Arkansas, "Nature in Art: Melissa Cowper-Smith", By Julie Kohl, August 7
2018 The Idle Class, The Artist Issue, "Artists We Love: Melissa Cowper-Smith", Pg. 49, Kody Ford, July 15
2018 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette- River Valley & Ozark Edition, "Area Artists Show Works in Annual Delta Exhibition", By Carol Rolf, June 24
2018 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette- River Valley & Ozark Edition, Front & Center, "Canadian Artist Finds Inspiration in Arkansas", by Tammy Keith, Photos by William Harvey, Sunday, January 21
2016 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette- River Valley & Ozark Edition, "Shine Your Rubies, Hide Your Diamonds at the Concordia Gallery, Butler Center", By Carol Rolf, May
2016 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette- River Valley & Ozark Edition, "Small Works on Paper", By Carol Rolf, January
2015 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette- River Valley & Ozark Edition, "57th Annual Delta Exhibition", Review by Carol Rolf, July
2015 Arkansas Times, "2015 Delta Exhibition, Arkansas Arts Center" By Leslie Newell Peacock, July 15
2015 Number Inc, Issue #83, Review by Carolyn Furnish, Summer
2015 The Riverter, "Q&A with Melissa Cowper-Smith, Arkansas Farmer" By Bekah Hall, May 20
2013 Bronx Art Exchange, Interview and Review, by Jeffrey Guard, November
2013 Arkansas Life Magazine, Pg. 14 Interview and commentary by Jordan Hickey (Image: American Heritage #8), August
2013 Jesus, Jazz, and Buddhism, "Memory," Commentary by Dr. Jay McDaniel
2014 No. Magazine, Issue #79, "Art Collectives: An Interview with Melissa Cowper-Smith" By Morgan Page
2011 Jesus, Jazz, and Buddhism, "Colors of the Past," Commentary by Dr. Jay McDaniel, October
2010 NY Art Beat, August (tART at A.I.R.)
2010 Richmond Times Dispatch, "Road Art is Coming Saturday to a Billboard Near I-95", September 30 (Yet Another Roadside Attraction
2009 ArtBridge "Artists in Profile: Melissa Cowper-Smith", October
2009 Todd Kelly's Art Space, Profile: Melissa Cowper-Smith", March
2009 The New York Times, City Beat Blog, March 27, (Art-Bridge)
2009 AMNY, March 20 (Art-Bridge)
2009 The Westsider, March 5 (Art-Bridge)
2009 Time Out New York, February 12 (I heart Art/Work Gallery)
2008 Black Book Magazine, July 3 (tART @ Rabbitholestudio)
2005 AmpPower, amppower.blogspot.com, May (Blog/Review)
RESIDENCIES & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
Anderson Ranch Arts Center, June 25-30 2016, Photo Encaustic: Luminous Layers, Taught by K Rhynus Cesark
Penland School of Craft, June 12-24 2016, The Topography of Handmade Paper, Taught by Mary Hark
TEACHING:
University of Central Arkansas, AR, Drawing, Color, Figure Drawing, 2D Design, Fibers, 2011-2020
Pulaski Technical College, AR, Introduction to Art (Online) 2019
Hendrix College, AR, Drawing, Digital Art 2011- 2017
Adelphi University, NY Digital Art, 2006 – 2011
Studio in a School, NYC Graphic Design, Drawing, Painting, Assemblage 2006 – 2011
Essex County College, NJ Art Appreciation, Foundations 2005 – 2007
WORKSHOPS TAUGHT:
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Discover the Grounds Workshop, “Beeswax & Flowers”, July 17th, 2021
Arkansas Tech University, Windgate Art Launch Workshop, “Handmade Paper”, June 17th and 18th 2021
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Virtual Art Workshop, “Architectural Collage”, August 14, 2020
Arkansas Tech University, “Handmade Paper”, 1-day workshop June 2019
University of Arkansas at Little Rock, “Made from plants: Handmade paper in a contemporary art practice”, 2- day workshop, April 2019
GUEST LECTURES:
University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AR (2019)
Arkansas Chapter for the National Museum for Women in the Arts, Little Rock, AR (2019)
Henderson State University, Arkedialphia, AR (2014)
Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY (2013)
Hendrix College, Conway, AR (2012)
Bellarmine University, Louisville, KY (2011)
Adelphi University, Garden City, NY (2008, 2011)
Brown University, Providence, RI (2008)
Hunter College, New York, NY (2006)
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, BC (2001)
University of Victoria Women’s Club, Victoria, BC (1999)
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS:
Culture Shock (formally The Show & Tell Art Collective) 2013-present
tART Collective, 2004-2011
EXHIBITIONS CURATED:
2012 (the)LAND, Black Box Student Gallery, UCA, Conway, AR
2001 Small Worlds, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
2000 Yellow Wallpaper, Visual Arts Gallery, University of Victoria, Canada
EXHIBITIONS JURIED
2019 Conway Arts Fest Exhibition
2018 Arkansas Tech University, Student Competitive Exhibition
2015 Conway Artists League, Faulkner County Library
EDITORIAL PROJECTS
tART Zine Vol.2, July 2010
tART Zine Vol.1, November 2007