Artist of the day: Artist of the Day, September 10, 2026 : Owen Smith, an American illustrator (#2628)

Thursday, September 10, 2026

Artist of the Day, September 10, 2026 : Owen Smith, an American illustrator (#2628)

Owen Smith is a highly accomplished, tenured professor and an acclaimed illustrator whose extensive portfolio reflects a sophisticated fusion of historical influences and commercial success. Holding a Bachelor of Arts from the Art Center College of Design, Smith has built a distinguished career spanning nearly two decades in academia at California College of the Arts, where he recently completed a successful nine-year tenure as program chair. His corporate and editorial client list includes prominent institutions such as Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House, Time, Rolling Stone, the San Francisco Opera, and the Bay Area Rapid Transit system.

Notably, his editorial authority is underscored by the creation of 21 cover illustrations for The New Yorker, alongside a prestigious commission for the United Nations to design a commemorative stamp series celebrating the International Labor Organization.

Smith’s commercial impact extends into the entertainment and public sectors, highlighted by a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package for his design contributions to artist Aimee Mann’s album. As a public artist, his large-scale visual installations drive community engagement, featuring permanent mosaic murals at the 36th Street Subway Station in Brooklyn and extensive relief sculptures for San Francisco’s Laguna Honda Hospital, which earned two Public Art of the Year Awards. Visually influenced by 1930s WPA artists, Diego Rivera, and mid-century pulp magazine aesthetics, Smith maintains a robust fine art practice with gallery exhibitions spanning New York, Los Angeles, Rome, and Milan, successfully bridging the gap between commercial design execution and fine art excellence.

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