Nelson's work reveals his ongoing exploration of relationships between objects/images, language, and sound. Whether working with the surface of a painting or with an installation environment, he integrates his vocabulary of images, texts, schematics, sounds, and objects.

Based in Detroit for many years, Nelson Smith is an artist currently based in central Kansas. He has been awarded four state Michigan Council for the Arts Individual Artist Grants, the national Art Matters grant, several artist residencies including a Residency Fellow at Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Ireland, Oregon College of Art and Craft, Senior Artist in Residence, New Works Residency at Harvestworks, New York City, Vermont Studio Center Fellowship, and many other honors and commissions.  He earned a Master of Fine Arts in painting from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a Bachelor's from the College of Wooster. He studied with Agnes Denes, George Ortman, and George Olson. Other mentors include Charles McGee and Rose E. DeSloover. His paintings are included in many significant public and private collections including the Museum of Modern Art's Artist Book Archive, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and University of Kansas Medical School. Besides composing for his own spectacle productions and sound works, his sound designs and scores have also been commissioned for the films and performance works of Sue Carman-Vian and the Catharctic Circle, among others. These works have been presented in a variety of galleries and non-traditional art spaces in Detroit, New York, and Cleveland.
In addition to his studio practice, Nelson was board president and co-director of the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit, produced and art-directed the Detroit Focus Quarterly, organized community art events, and organized or curated numerous exhibitions. He has produced many performance and music events including co-directing the Ear Whacks! Festival with Frank Pahl, and producing John Cage's Europera 5 directed by Jack Behrens. For over 20 years Nelson worked as an art director and designer for several advertising firms and through his own Obscure Studios. Nelson was an art educator for over 25 years at several higher education institutions in Detroit and Kansas. Currently, he is the co-founder/co-director of the Mother's Milk Art Residency in a reimagined dairy farm in Newton, Kansas.

Contact – email: nelsonsmithart@gmail.com

CV

AWARDS AND HONORS
2011 Lighton International Artists Exchange Program Grant – Travel Funding for Research in Ireland
2011 Fellow of the Foundation, Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Six-Week International Residency in Ballycastle, N. Mayo, Ireland 
2011 Senior Artist-In-Residence in Painting and Drawing – Six Week National Residency at Oregon College of Art and Craft, Portland, OR 
2007 Fellowship Grant Award, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT – Four Week National Residency 
2000 Michigan Individual Creative Artist Grant, Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs/ ArtServe Michigan – Funding for “A Man at a Desk” Project 
1997 Residency as Associate Artist, Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL – Video and Performance Work with Merce Cunningham & Elliot Caplan 
1996 New Works Residency, Harvestworks, Studio PASS sound studios, New York, NY – Recorded and Digitally Processed Sound Compositions for “Human Radiation" installation/performance 
1994 First Place, Celebrate Michigan Artists, Michigan Foundation for the Arts, Paint Creek Art Center, Rochester, M, Juror: Mary Anne Wilkinson, Curator Detroit Institute of Arts 
1992 Michigan Individual Creative Artist Grant, Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs/Arts Foundation of Michigan, Funding for “Psychological Gravity” Sound/Performance Work 
1988 Fellowship, Art Matters Inc., New York City – Funding for “The Missing Persons (States of Mind)” Performance Work 
1986 Michigan Individual Creative Artist Grant, Michigan Council for the Arts – Funding for Publication “Victims of Circumstance” Book 
1982 Focus Gallery Grant, Michigan Foundation for the Arts – Funding for Site-Specific Installation 
1981 Michigan Individual Creative Artist Grant, Michigan Council for the Arts – Funding for Painting and Book Works 
1977 Gold Medal Award, Detroit Scarab Club, Detroit, MI           

COLLECTIONS AND COMMISSIONS           
University of Kansas Medical School - Salina, Commission (in collaboration with Geraldine Craig), Salina, KS 
Ballinglen Museum of Contemporary Art, Ballycastle, County North Mayo, Ireland 
Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, PA 
MOMA/Franklin Furnace Artist Book Collection, Museum of Modern Art, New York City, NY
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI 
Wayne State University Collection, Detroit, MI 
Cleveland Performance Art Festival Collection, Michael Schwartz Library, Cleveland State University 
Emprise Bank, Wichita, KS 
Ameritech, Southfield, MI 
City of Livonia, Michigan 
Fore Art, an art/miniature golf installation commissioned by the Detroit Artists Market, Detroit, MI 
The Martin Luther King Center, Detroit, MI 
Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone, Detroit, MI 
Neiman Marcus, Houston, TX 
Western Michigan University Print Collection, Kalamazoo, MI
and numerous private collections  

EDUCATION    
MFA – Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI – in painting with studies in printmaking 
BA – College of Wooster, Wooster, OH – in fine arts with studies in music         
Apprenticeship with artist Agnes Denes in New York, NY          

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE          
Co-Founder/Co-Director. with Geraldine Craig, Mother's Milk Art Residency, Newton KS
Associate Professor of Art, Bethany College, Lindsborg, KS
Instructor of Art, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS
Associate Professor of Art , Department of Art, Marygrove College, Detroit, MI
Lecturer In Architecture, Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, MI
President and Co-Director, Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit, Detroit, MI 
Design Editor, Detroit Focus Quarterly Magazine, Detroit, MI
Designer/Art DIrector/Studio Artist, Obscure Studio                   

SOLO EXHIBITIONS – Selected           
2015 Salisbury University Art Galleries, Fulton School of Liberal Arts, Salisbury University, Salisbury, MD      Paintings & Drawings 
2013 Kansas City Artists Coalition, Kansas City, MO – Paintings and Drawings 
2013 The John Sloan Fine Arts Gallery, Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, PA – Paintings 
2012 Diane Kidd Gallery, Tiffin University, Tiffin, OH – Paintings 
2010 "Distillation," The Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery, Lindsborg, KS – Paintings 
2009 "Land as Language," Alexandre Hogue Remix Series, Monterey Peninsula College, Monterey, CA – Paintings and Drawings 
2008 "Land as Language," Alexandre Hogue Remix Series, Alexandre Hogue Gallery, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK – Paintings and Drawings 
2007 "Grammar of Tension," Mark A. Chapman Gallery, Kansas State University,  Manhattan, KS – Paintings and Drawings 
2005 "Throwing Voices," District Arts Gallery, Birmingham, MI – Paintings and Drawings
2002 "Sublime Machinations," Mott Community College, Flint, MI – Paintings 
2001 "A Man at a Desk and Other Late Developments,"  detroit contemporary gallery, Detroit, MI – Storyboards and Paintings 
1999 "Forced Air," Center Galleries, College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI – Installation (also Performance) 
1997 "Sweet Alchemy," Bunting Gallery, Royal Oak, MI – Paintings 
1985 “Nelson Smith,” Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI – Paintings 
1982 "Used Flyswatters and Abandoned Refrigerators," Pontiac Art Center, Pontiac, MI      Paintings and Installation 
1981 "Nelson Smith," Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI – Paintings (also Performance) 
1980 "Nelson Smith," Willis Gallery, Detroit, MI – Paintings and Bookworks

TWO-ARTIST EXHIBITIONS – Selected           
2015 “2 x 22, (2 Artists, 22 Years, 22 Works)” Geraldine Craig and Nelson Smith, Manhattan Art Center, Manhattan, KS 
2014 "In the Eye of the Beholder: Nelson Smith & Jemison Faust," Krause Gallery, Moses Brown School, Providence, RI 
2011 “Transcribed Identities: JenClare Gawaran & Nelson Smith,” Gallery of Macomb Center for the Arts, Macomb Community College, Clinton Township, MI 
1993 “Go Figure” - Gerry Craig & Nelson Smith, Willis Gallery, Detroit, MI 
1986 “X + Y =,” Andrea Eis & Nelson Smith, Buckham Fine Arts Project, Flint, MI 

GROUP EXHIBITIONS – Selected
2023 "Marking • Time," Marvin Gould, Lindsay Smith, Duane Noblett, and Nelson Smith, Manhattan Art Center, Manhattan, KS
2020 "Mountain Plains Contemporary Art Biennial, juried by Ksenya Gurshtein, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Ulrich Museum of Art, Salina Art Center, Salina KS
2017 “Reformation Revisited,” Invitational, Concordia College, St. Paul, MN 
2017 “Departures - The Art of Leaving This Place,” Salina Art Center, Salina, KS 
2015 re:Members, Kansas City Artists Coalition, jurors: Philomene Bennett, James Martin, Jim Sajovic, and Janet Simpson, Kansas City, MO [ catalog ] 
2009 "Symbolic City," Songjiang Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2008 "3rd Annual National Juried Exhibition," Katharine Butler Gallery, Sarasota, FL       juror: Elaine D. Gustafson, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Tampa Museum of Art 

SOUND AND PERFORMANCE           
2008 “Eve of St. Agnes,” original sound composition and live performance commissioned by Sue Carman-Vian for her original performance work, Marygrove College Theater,  Detroit, MI 
2007 “Vexations,” one hour piano performance of a 20 hour Eric Satie marathon, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI 
2003 "Natural Selection,” concert selections from my music/theater work, Rivera Court,Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI 
2003 “Europera 5,” John Cage, directed by Jack Behrens, performed electronic sound mix, Marygrove College Theater, Detroit, MI 
2000 “It Takes One To Be One” original sound composition and live performance commissioned by Sue Carman-Vian for her original performance work, Marygrove College Theater,  Detroit, MI 
1999 “Forced Air” and “Home” sections of “Natural Selection,” a sound installation/live theater work with original sound, texts, and electronics, Center Galleries, College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI 
1998 “Home,” a solo version with video, sound, and live electronics Cleveland Performance Art Festival: Invitational, Public Theater, Cleveland, OH 
1997 “HumanRadiation,” and “Home” with Electrifying Nerve Brigade (one of a group of three), Greenwich Village Center Theater, New York, NY 
1997 “Home,” a solo version with video, sound, and live electronics, Short and Sweet series III (one of 5 performances), Detroit Focus, Detroit, MI 
1996 “HumanRadiation” a sound installation/solo performance work with original sound compositions, texts, and electronics, sound produced in part at Harvestworks/Studio PASS, NY, Performance Network, Ann Arbor, MI 
1995 “Radiation (HumanRadiation)” solo performance with live electronics and original sound composition, Cleveland Performance Art Festival: Open, Colonial Arcade, Cleveland, OH 
1995 “Electricity” section of “Natural Selection” a sound installation/performance work with original sound composition, texts, and electronics (also a work-in-progress version of “HumanRadiation”), Convent Performance Space, Detroit, MI 
1993 “Psychological Gravity,” a sound/multi-media/performance work with original sound compositions, texts, and projected video, Detroit Artists Market, Detroit, MI 
1990 “Greenhouse,” original sound composition and sound design commissioned by Sue Carman (Vian) for her theater work, Detroit Chamber of Commerce Theater, Detroit, MI
1989 “The Missing Persons (States of Mind),” a performance work in five parts, original sound compositions, set design, texts, and multi-media, Alternative Worksite/Detroit Artists Market, Detroit, MI 

MEDIA WORKS           
2004 “Candy Store,” original soundtrack composition for a short film commissioned by Sue Carman-Vian and Jeff Bloomer, premiered at the Detroit Film Center, Detroit, MI 
2000 “Tableze,” original soundtrack composition for a short film commissioned by Sue Carman-Vian and Jeff Bloomer, premiered at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, Ann Arbor, MI
1990 “Cross Dressing,”original soundtrack composition for a short film commissioned by Sue Carman (Vian), premiered and an award winner at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, Ann Arbor, MI 

PUBLICATIONS/ BOOKS 
2002 Nelson Smith,“A Man at a Desk,” artist’s book of storyboards, published edition of 100, Michigan Council for Art and Cultural Affairs and ArtServe Michigan 
1989 Nelson Smith, “The Missing Persons (States of Mind),” catalog of performance work, Art Matters, New York, NY 
1987 Nelson Smith, “Victims Of Circumstance” published in a cloth bound edition of 110, Michigan Council for the Arts           

RECORDINGS 
2006 Nelson Smith, "Natural Selection," concert version, limited edition of 200, 8100 Studio/Obscure Studio 
1994 Nelson Smith, "Commercial, Psychological Gravity," with Frank Pahl and Sue Carman-Vian, "Romantic Side of Schizophrenia," Frank Pahl, FOT Records           

EXHIBITIONS CURATED           
2013 “MIX,” Anne Austin Pearce, Kent Michael Smith, Tanya Hartman, Joe Bussell, Larry Thomas, and Amy Kligman, Mark A. Chapman Gallery, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 
2012 “Hasan Elahi: The Willard Portal,” Mark A. Chapman Gallery, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS (Co-Curator with Geraldine Craig) 
2007 “Short and Sweet,” performance event, Carla Harryman, Holly Hughes, Blair, Alana Bartol, The Gallery, Marygrove College Detroit, MI  (Producer and Curator) 
2006 Anita Thacher, exhibition and workshop, The Gallery, Marygrove College, Detroit, MI (Producer and Curator) 
2006 “Short and Sweet,” performance event, Nick Tobier, Melanie Manos, James Lieja, Jawbone, The Gallery, Marygrove College Detroit, MI  (Producer and Curator) 
2005 Sonya Clark, exhibition and workshop, The Gallery, Marygrove College, Detroit, MI (Producer and Curator) 
2005 “Short and Sweet,” performance event, Frank Pahl, Satori Circus, Debbie King, Sue Carman-Vian, The Gallery, Marygrove College Detroit, MI (Producer and Curator) 
2004 “Alison Knowles: Fluxus in Detroit,” exhibition, performance and workshop, The Gallery, Marygrove College, Detroit, MI (Producer and Curator) 
1998 “Short and Sweet,” a series of evening-length presentations of short performance works, artists include: Terri Sarris, Graham McLeod, Barbara Neri, Whitley Setrakian, Sue Carman-Vian, Clem Fortuna, Detroit Focus Gallery, Detroit, MI (Producer and Curator) 
1995 “Its My Party, The Art of Kathy Clifford,” a memorial retrospective, Detroit Focus Gallery, Detroit, MI (Co-Curator with Sharon Zimmerman)           

COMMUNITY BASED PROJECTS           
2011 Participant/Donation, Kansas Art for Japan Fundraiser, Strecker-Nelson Pop-up Gallery,  Manhattan, KS 
2003 Participating Institution Coordinator, “Design Engine,” The Gallery, Marygrove College, with the Detroit Institute of Arts, Cranbrook Academy of Art, College for Creative Studies, Lawrence Technological University, Detroit, MI 
1994 -1997 Exhibition Committee, Detroit Focus Gallery, Detroit, MI 
1994 Co-Producer, “Ear Whacks, Festival of New Music,” Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit, Alvin’s Bar, Performance Network, and Urban Park 
1993 Co-Producer, “Ear Whacks, Festival of New Music,” Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit, multiple venues, Detroit, MI 
1992 Designer & Co-Producer, “Art Time Capsule,” a community timecapsule/ceremony in Harmony Park, Event included speaker Senator Jack Faxon, Parade, Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit, Detroit, MI 
1992 Co-Producer, “Subject to Change,” an interactive installation, collaboration with two institutions, Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit /Willis Gallery, Detroit, MI
1981 Production Assistant, volunteer, “Aluminum Nights, Ten Years of New Video, Dance, and Music,” featuring Laurie Anderson, Robert Ashley, Meredith Monk, Philip Glass Ensemble, many others, The Kitchen, New York, NY