Born in Marin County and raised on the beaches of California’s central coast, Laura Smith Blair was heavily inspired by her environment.
Starting in 1987, she began her arts education from University of California at San Diego where she earned her BFA in Visual Arts with a concentration in painting. Having worked with many professors including Faith Ringgold, Laura’s own work embraced the current conceptual movements of the time, like identity performance art. She pursued painting for two summers at the Rhode Island School of Design. Upon graduating, she painted alongside master muralist, Dong Sun Kim through 1994, where she was embracing a tighter technical style of painting through commercial and residential projects. With her passion for murals, she painted the next fifteen years in this large scale format throughout many city streets and residences. From 1999-2006, she and her husband opened up their own gallery for emerging artists, The Canvas. This connection to paintings shifted her direction to the fine art world.
Smith Blair has been in numerous galleries throughout California and her public collections include The Stanford Hospital, Children’s Hospital in Oakland, St. Mary’s Hospital in San Francisco, and Pacific Catch Fish House Restaurants throughout the Bay Area as well as many private residences in the United States and overseas.
RESUMÉ
Education
1992 BFA in Visual Arts, University of California, San Diego
1991 Rhode Island School Of Design (summer session)
1987 Rhode Island School Of Design (summer session)
EXHIBITIONS
2024 – Solo Exhibition, “Human Nature”, Dominican University, San Rafael, CA
2023 – Group Show, “Hardly Strictly Mini”, Bolinas, CA
2022 – Solo Exhibition, Slate Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2022 – Group Show, Riverwalk, Edwards, CO
2022 – Group Show, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, CA
2021 – Group Show, “Hardly Strictly Mini”, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
2021 – Solo Exhibition, “Somewhere”, Marrow Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2019 – Group Show, “Hardly Strictly Mini”, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA
2019 – Solo Exhibition, “Our Last Temptation”, Marrow Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2018 – Group Show, Found By Maja, San Francisco, CA
2017 – Solo Exhibition, “Nature Interrupted”, Art House Agency, Los Angeles, CA
2014 – Exhibition, “In Return”, Room Art Gallery, Mill Valley, CA
2014 – Solo Exhibition, Saks Fifth Avenue, San Francisco, CA
2014 – Design Showcase House, San Francisco, CA
2014 – Group Show, Simon Breitbard Fine Art, Marin County, CA
CORPORATE COMMISSIONS
2023 Notable Capital, San Francisco, CA
2022 Pacific Catch Fish House, San Francisco, CA
2021 Pacific Catch Fish House, Palo Alto, CA
2020 Stanford Hospital, Palo Alto, CA
2020 Pacific Catch Fish House, Santa Clara, CA
2018 Pacific Catch Fish House, Dublin, CA
2018 Pacific Catch Fish House, Walnut Creek, CA
2014 See Change Health, San Francisco, CA
2014 Industry Ventures LLC, San Francisco, CA
2014 Park Presidio Capital, San Francisco, CA
2014 Pacific Catch Fish House, San Mateo, CA
2014 Belveron Real Estate Partners, San Francisco, CA
2013 Pacific Catch Fish House, Mountain View, CA
2012 Math Solutions, Sausalito, CA
2012 XOJET, San Francisco, CA
2012 Children’s Hospital, Oakland, CA
2010 St Mary’s Hospital, San Francisco, CA
GALLERIES
2001-2007 Co-owner of Canvas Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2014 McEvoy Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
2014 Room Art Gallery, Mill Valley, CA
2015-2018 Christopher Hill Gallery, Healdsburg, St. Helena, CA
2018-2024 Marrow Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2024 – present Curate Vail Gallery
2024 Monica Graham Fine Art Gallery, Carmel, CA
PRIVATE COMMISSIONS
2024 – The McIntosh Residence, Belvedere, CA
2024 – The Cox Residence, Mill Valley, CA
2023 – The Blair Residence, Mill Valley, CA
2023 – The Beck Residence, San Rafael, CA
2023 – The Yang Residence, Corte Madera, CA
2023 – The McCarthy Residence, Belvedere, CA
2023 – The Willat Residence, Belvedere, CA
2022 – The Manolov Residence, San Rafael, CA
2022 – The Pewitt Residence, Tiburon, CA
2021 – The Squiers Residence, Greenbrae, CA
2021 – The Lee Residence, Alameda, CA
2021 – The Cless Residence, San Anselmo, CA
2021 – The VanProoyen Residence, Belvedere, CA
2021 – The Moody Residence, New Orleans, LA
2020 – The Kahn Residence, Belvedere, CA
2020 – The Kaufman Residence, Greenbrae, CA
2020 – The Bowman Residence, Mill Valley, CA
2020 – The Sigurd Residence, Norway,
2020 – The Svanfeldt Residence, Tiburon, CA
2020 – The Pills Residence, Edwards, CO
2020 – The Stephens Residence, Tiburon, CA
2019 – The Hawthorne Residence, Cayman Islands
2018 – The Tamara Residence, Belvedere, CA
2018 – The Belmonte Residence, Mill Valley, CA
2018 – The Cunningham Residence, Belvedere, CA