Who’s Stephanie A. Smelser
Stephanie A. Smelser is NOW…
Daughter, Mother, Educator, Curriculum Director, Yale New Haven Teachers Institute Published Curriculum Writer, Art awareness artist, Visual activist, Art therapist, Friend to many, a Boxer dog lover, Snowball lover, and we look forward to seeing what’s NEXT…
Helping BACA Open “The Painted Doors of Branford”
Stephanie is a creative force, one to be reckoned with. Stephanie Loves supporting Community. Stephanie has collaborated with many over the last three decades starting with the Baltimore Zoo recycled railroad. In 1998 the disastrous fire that burns at the heart of Brandford Center destroyed 12 businesses and 3 apartments fortunately no lives were lost. Stephanie joined other artist to create a wall of hope, a 167 foot long painted mural. https://www.timslife.com/town/town01.php
2020 Lots of Fish 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 knowledge”. 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.
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 with the 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. Only rain in the drain!! Back in the classroom time was spent teaching students how water goes down the sewer drain and eventually leads to the ocean.
In Spring 2023 Stephanie worked with Lots of Fish to create another visual art awareness mural with 75 Nathan Hale students and artist Joann Moran together again!
Smelser’s Art themes include circles, Venn diagrams, centering, pregnant bellies, spirals, radishes, circles of life, universal spheres, space, time, infinity, limitlessness, 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 people to be invited into the city street hole leading to the sewer line. 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.
Steff Smelser is an educator first, her art is often teaching something- A Visual Awareness Artist.
It’s no accident that Smelser’s first published writing was a unit plan that was featured in the Yale Teachers Institute on Spirals. When Stephanie was a young child Yale was influential because of Arthur Sachs who 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 very hard. He taught grit, determination, persistence. 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. For her half birthdays 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 was passed on to Stephanie.
Interpretation of Picasso’s First Steps
Stephanie has taken the power of arts to conquer adversity “From great power comes great responsibility” Sachs taught Smelser that through his own life actions, and how he rolled with adversity with ease and grace! Arts have been gifts to the soul. Stephanie began her recreated series in 1994, her first creation was for him, Arthur’s top favorite, First Steps (1881–1973) piece, was painted and set aside near his bedside for his final years. Stephanie recreated a few famous works yet always with a twist.
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 is a certified art therapist, uses spirals, circles, sacred geometry shapes, equations, numbers, engineering patterns, gravity, climate, genetics, the universe, energy, neurographic arts to transform, help others grow, and heal.