FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 26, 2005

CONTACT: Jennifer Liewer, 623-930-2965
Marketing/Communication

LOCAL ARTIST SAMANTHA SMITH SHARES HER IMPRESSION
OF GLENDALE LIVING AT GALLERY OPENING

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Artist Samantha Smith says picking a favorite painting out of the 12 she was commissioned to do for the city of Glendale would be like “picking a favorite kid.”

Smith was commissioned by the city a year and a half ago to paint six of the city’s signature events and six of the city’s historic places for the city’s public art program.

The paintings will be shown at Glendale’s Historic Sahuaro Ranch Museum when it opens for the season on October 1. Smith’s work will be displayed through Thanksgiving at the museum, located at 59th Avenue and Mountain View Road.

Though Smith works with a fairly common media (acrylics), it’s the type of artwork she does that is so unique. Smith has a steady business of painting parties, weddings and functions of all sorts. And she does it all live. She’s one of only three such artists in the country, but she didn’t start off painting parties. She discovered her profession when she was asked to paint at one of her own shows at a gallery in Hollywood, CA. She did, and the concept grew from there. “I try to capture the essence of the event going on,” she says of her work.

Smith has been drawing and painting since she can remember. Her grandfather was an artist and taught her much of what she knows. He used to pull out one of his many Arizona Highways magazines, have Smith choose her favorite photograph in the issue and then have her paint it. “I started painting Native American art,” she says. “I won three Best of Shows at the (Arizona) State Fair when I was 10, 11 and 12.”

The 12 paintings Smith did for the city include The Spicery, The Bead Museum, Catlin Court, Sahuaro Ranch, Downtown Glendale, Fiesta Glendale, The Glendale Jazz and Blues Festival, Glendale Glitters, Enchanted Evenings, Glitter and Glow, The Glendale Chocolate Affair and Murphy Park.

For more information about the exhibit, call 623-930-4200. To view other paintings by Smith, visit www.paintingsbysamantha.com.