Ed Smida is a professional artist living and working in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a figurative sculptor focusing principally on the human form in bronze.

Ed attended university at the Colorado School of Mines and earned degrees in engineering and economics. From there he embarked on a thirty-year career spanning science, operations and finance primarily in the energy industry. The majority of his career was spent working internationally in over twenty-five countries around the world.

In 2012 Ed chose to leave the business world and devote himself full-time to his creative passion. The visual arts have always been a major part of Ed’s life, and the transition into the studio and commercial art world has been tremendously rewarding. He explains that making art is a journey that engages all levels of oneself, and it’s been thrilling for him to layer this creative pulse on top of a lifetime’s worth of experiences.

Ed models his sculptures in a variety of clays and waxes, and casts the majority of his pieces in bronze using the lost wax method. His work with the portrait and figure has been described as expressive, deeply emotional, and thought-provoking. As far as influences, Ed cites European masters such as Rodin, Rosso, and Giacometti, as well as more contemporary American sculptors Stephen De Staebler and George Carlson.

Ed is represented by Nedra Matteucci Galleries in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a Member of the National Sculpture Society in New York, and exhibited in their 85th, 86th, and 88th Annual Awards Exhibitions. In 2020 and 2021 Ed exhibited at the Annual Open Exhibition of the Society of Portrait Sculptors in London.

Exhibitions & Auctions

FACE2021 Annual Open Exhibition of the Society of Portrait Sculptors, London (The Society Prize Commended)

National Sculpture Society’s 88th Annual Awards Exhibition, Brookgreen Gardens

The Pandemic: A Sculptor’s View Exhibition, National Sculpture Society, New York

30th Annual ArtsThrive Art Exhibition & Benefit, Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque

Sculpture Created in Self-Isolation Exhibition, National Sculpture Society, New York

FACE2020 Annual Open Exhibition of the Society of Portrait Sculptors, London

29th Annual ArtsThrive Art Exhibition & Benefit, Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque

National Sculpture Society’s 86th Annual Awards Exhibition, Brookgreen Gardens

Through the Looking Glass Exhibition, The Harwood Museum of Art, Taos

Couse Foundation’s Sixth Biennial Gala and Art Auction, Taos

National Sculpture Society’s 85th Annual Awards Exhibition, Brookgreen Gardens

Couse Foundation’s Fifth Biennial Gala and Art Auction, Taos

Syrian Children’s Benefit, Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe

Art Students League of Denver (Various Group Exhibitions), Denver

Gallery

Nedra Matteucci Galleries, Santa Fe, New Mexico – Visit Website

Article

Fine Art Connoisseur, May/June 2019 – View Article