Who’s Stephanie A. Smelser

Mother, Daughter, Educator, Visual art awareness artist, visual activist, Art therapist, Published curriculum writer, Friend to many, a Boxer dog lover, and

May 5, 2014 – July 17, 2022 – Stony forever in many Hearts 

Steff Smelser’s brain is woven to use S.T.E.A.M. Disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) as her default program. Her braided S.T.E.A.M. fibers live within her soul and create many multi-layered cloths of innovative design thinking for units of study. Over the last two decades her teaching practices, writings, poetry, illustrations, and visual studio creations, have evolved to be published we look forward to seeing what’s NEXT

22.01.04: Spiral Introspective: Discover Spirals through Art in S.T.E.A.M

https://teachersinstitute.yale.edu/curriculum/units/2022/1/22.01.04/8

Stephanie taught at a small STEM-based magnet school in New Haven yet on Friday the 13th of March 2020  this and many other schools began temporarily closing. 

Many doors opened eventually yet this school closed forever. Smelser as well as many other teachers were forced to relocate. 

By summer 2020 the divisions that existed within many communities and even families were just sad to Stephanie. Not only did Stephanie see firsthand how remote education was not serving the whole elementary school child’s development she saw how older young adults were twisted internally.  The remote learning model was also not serving many families. The mental health of people became compromised. This all began as catalysts for change.  

Stephanie is a creative force, one to be reckoned with.  She teaches her own 3 kids as well as over 300 to 500 students each year to self-advocate for silence is dangerous!!  

Stephanie saw how families and friends slowly began banning or silencing each other due to politics or germs. Exclusions in many forms occurred in a short window of time. Not including family, friends, dogs and even using an obituary as an excluding platform. As an educator, Stephanie always loved chalk. Stephanie saw first-hand the real power of pink sidewalk chalk. The front lines of divisions make people choose between loyalty, betrayal, and or lies as the new theme in 2020. The true acknowledge or true information sadly no one knew. Stephanie so wished to close the Covid chapter of one door and open new warm blending doors!

This said artist Stephanie collaborated with Lots of Fish to use sidewalk chalk to design 2 amazing street murals and she joined many artists to support the opening doors BACA show. BACA is a local Connecticut art gallery Smelser painted doors designed to metaphorically show the ending of one cycle or closing of one door and to begin new cycles and open new doors of unknown possibilities!  

BACA’s outside art door show was to encourage people to start returning outside to support community stores, restaurants, galleries, and more. 

Einstein, a famous scientist said: “Imagination is more important than acknowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.  

Stephanie Smelser loves inviting the imagination, to open doors of possibility as well as ending cyclic swirling patterns going nowhere especially ending silence for talking is human. 

Helping BACA Open “The Painted Doors of Branford”

https://www.zip06.com/person-of-the-week/20201028/helping-baca-open-the-painted-doors-of-branford/

BACA’s Painted Doors of Branford 2022 Sept. 17

https://www.zip06.com/news/20220902/bacas-painted-doors-of-branford-2022-sept-17/

In 2021 and 2023 Stephanie also contacted Joann Moran from Lots of Fish. Together with over 100 students they painted on the street in New Haven. Together they used pink sidewalk chalk to positively blend people, ideas and create a community street awareness mural together.  Quinnipiac STEM school students worked hard painting after they filled many trash bags with trash and other debris. Students worked together to get the mural site clean and ready for painting. Stephanie taught the entire elementary school on Google Meet or Zoom all about sewer drains, runoff water, local rivers, and local fish. Only rain in the drain!!  Much time was spent teaching students this and how water goes down the sewer drain and eventually leads to the ocean. 

http://lotsoffish.info/case-study/storm-drain-art/?mibextid=Zxz2cZ

In spring 2023 Stephanie worked with Lots of Fish to create another visual activist or art awareness mural with 75 Nathan Hale students, and artist Joann Moran used the pink sidewalk to design and bring students together again! Togetherness is kind, caring, and a forever loving peaceful memory for many students and many viewers feel moved by the art as well! 

Imagination is the only thing that can open up our minds and our hearts to the possibility of the successful and fulfilling future that we all envision for ourselves but that may seem out of reach because we currently don’t have the knowledge to see the exact path or direction to take the next step to the unknown. 

Smelser is an overthinker at her core!! 

She loves analyzing details, observing the deliberate, direct, indirect, accidental, conscious, or unconscious cyclic patterns!

Smelser’s mind is often in service to the heart, love, and compassion of being human. 

Smelser’s Art themes include circles, Venn diagrams, centering, pregnant bellies, spirals, radishes, circles of life, universal spheres, space, time, infinity, limitlessness, eternity, endless possibilities in mathematics and metaphorically with respect to love, birth, explorations, transformations, shedding, deaths, acceptances, and rebirths!! 

The clock hands move so does each new cycle with a beginning, middle, and ending. Drawing our minds both from the past in reflection with much gratitude as well as to imagine the future in pure settled peace.  Having acceptance or resolution in  NOW! 

The circular manhole series touches on these exact principles.

2010 Manhole series began as a visual invitation into the inspection chamber.

This small circular covered opening on the floor, pavement, or other surfaces allows a person to enter. Generally, this is a special opening for only selected certain people to be invited into the city street hole leading to the sewer line. Often there is a single pipe that transports all from inside to the main line that’s underneath the manhole cover. 

In short the vertical hole in the ground, to the underground sewer pipeline it’s a very complex system.  If there is any leakage or blockage in the underground sewer pipeline-much gratitude exists for the willingness of one to go down there for deep tending. This Manhole series consists of drains from CT, NY, AZ, and CA. 

You can contact the artist directly for more information on this Manhole series which often is on display at selected galleries. 

Steff Smelser most loves being an educator, since her art is often teaching something.  Visual awareness art as a visual activist most loves as well as her musing writings.

Smelser’s musings found inside many moleskin books that she began in 1995 while traveling across the country and then continued in 1999 while in Italy. Since then well over two decades of musings and they are all waiting to be edited!  Smelser has filled books upon books of stories, show ideas, art ideas, poems, sketches, and passions. Demonstrating her use of line, shape, color, value, balance, contrast, landscape, figure, portrait, still life, and more.  Stephanie has been busy with three amazing souls as her priority so soon enough she will have the time to uncover the musing gems and share. 

Stephanie also loves installation art as well and welcomes opportunities to use the arts to bring about change or to address issues that need addressing!!! Since silence is dangerous! 

It’s no accident that Smelser’s first published writing was a unit plan that was featured in the Yale Teachers Institute of Spirals. Since Stephanie was a young child Yale has been influential. She applied yet was denied. 

Arthur Sachs attended Yale. He was a New Haven attorney and father of 6 kids. He loved art, speaking Italian, cooking and eating food, listening to Jazz, and practicing the law. Sachs inspired Smelser at a young age with his core way of living and working. He was proud when her art made the New Haven district art show as an elementary-aged child. Arthur would repeatedly teach her about Art History and take her to museum art trips. Arthur would take Stephanie to the Yale Art Gallery, followed by his favorite restaurant named Blessings,  He also took her to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His love for the arts and critical thinking skills gave him a gift that Arthur gave to Stephanie any chance he could.   

Stephanie, the first grandchild for 13 years, was appreciative of his time as well as accepting his genetic gifts of thinking beyond what’s obvious. Stephanie has taken the power of arts to conquer adversity. From great power comes great responsibility That is also what Sachs taught Smelser through his own life actions, reactivity, and how he rolled with adversity with ease and grace!  Arts have been gifts to the soul. Arthur Samuel Sachs worked hard to help bridge the gaps and Stephanie Ann Smelser uses her skills to bridge gaps as well.  Sachs shared his favorite works of Albert Bierstadt and Pablo Picasso with Stephanie.  Stephanie began her recreated series in 1994 first creating some of this art for him.  Stephanie recreated a few famous works yet always with a twist. 

Arthur’s top favorite, First Steps (1881-1973) piece, was painted and set aside near his bedside for his final years. 

Interpretation of Picasso’s First Steps

Interpretation of Grant Wood’s American Gothic

Interpretation of Mary Cassatt’s Mother and Child

Belly Cast Artist Recreation

From Arthur Sachs Stephanie saw firsthand the power of the arts to manage adversity that arises or comes into life. Stephanie, now a certified art therapist, uses art to help others grow and heal. 

The use of spirals, circles, sacred geometry shapes, equations, numbers, engineering patterns, gravity, climate, genetics, the universe, energy, and matter, all visually blends to transform her creative brain thinking processes, and art knowing and we look forward to what is next for this girl is on fire.