Bio
April Smith was born in Milford, Connecticut in 2004. Now a Chicago based artist, she is studying to earn her BFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Working mainly with mixed-media, Smith primarily utilizes various printmaking processes, textile, and craft in her work. Using these mediums, she combines imagined characters and abstracted environments to explore identity, memory, and vulnerability. Smith’s work ranges from crochet and needlework to offset and litho prints to medium format film photography. Smith has exhibited sculptural and print work at New Haven’s Shubert Theater for their TEDx talks “Hello World” in 2022. She also has participated in a collaborative public installation project in downtown New Haven called “Windowed Worlds” in 2022.
EDUCATION 2022 – Present School of the Art Institute of Chicago BFA, Expected May 2026
2022 Joseph A. Foran High School
2022 Area Cooperative Educational Services (ACES) – Educational Center for the Arts (ECA)
GRANTS & 2024 Mencoff Internship Stipend
AWARDS 2022 - Present SAIC Honors Scholarship
John and Mary E. Hoggins Scholarship
SELECTED GROUP 2025 The Arts at Yale Health Spring Exhibition
EXHIBITIONS “Grow with Us”, New Haven, CT
2024 SAIC Department of Printmedia Artbook and Print Fair, Chicago, IL
2023 SAIC ARTBASH, Chicago, IL
2022 SAIC Sharp Building Installations, Chicago, IL
2022 TEDx New Haven Hello World, Shubert Theatre, New Haven, CT
2022 Windowed Worlds, New Haven, CT
2021 Mappers Delight, Artspace, New Haven, CT
ARTIST TALKS 2024 Medium Format Semester Project Artist Talk, Latitude Chicago, Chicago, IL