Vero Rose Smith Art

03/08/2025

We're fresh out of new utopias.

It's difficult to envision a hopeful future when concrete reality threatens people and places you love. It may even seem like a waste of time and energy to imagine beyond this moment.

But in an era of hot takes and comment feuds, attention and intention are invaluable resources.

Or rather, our attention is actually extremely valuable. With the help of sophisticated algorithms, tech billionaires profit from your earnest attempts to connect with others, from your outrage in response to goading bots.

My hopeful future? Human connection as a default, not a commodity.

Come envision with me IRL at , 12pm -4pm. Maybe leave your ☎️ @ 🏠.

[ID: Abstract teal bubble shape surrounded by tiny copper and azure bubbles rendered in watercolor, colored pencil, cray pas, and metallic pigment on archival paper]

02/08/2025

12/13/2024

12/13/2024

Gift-giving season is here! Give your dollars to local artists so that you can give unique, meaningful gifts to those you love. I'll be peddling portals and reading tarot at on Saturday, December 14 (12-4pm) at !

Can't make it to the market?

You can find my ⚡new⚡ line of interactive portal art prints and stickers at lovely local shops across the great city of Chicago, including , , and - these hubs of artistic community create opportunities for creatives and keep our city vibrant!

10/21/2024

Arts in the Dark parade with
- such a blast to get silly and serious with other designers!
We were tasked with capturing a favorite architectural moment in wearable form. What a joy to see so many creative, beautifully crafted odes to Chicago's incredible built environment, and to relive the glory days of marching with the Renegade Regiment! Huge thanks to Chana Haouzi for organizing, and for Annabell Ren of NEW OFFICE for inviting me to participate!
My partner and I designed and fabricated this water crib parade piece in our home studio. Often called a “Wonder of America and of the World,” the Great Chicago Lake Tunnel bores some 3.5 (originally 4) miles into Lake Michigan, and came into operation in 1892. 9 were built, 6 still stand, and 2 still channel fresh water to waiting purification plants and then on to thirsty Chicagoans.
This specific model was based on the Harrison Dever Crib located off of the North Avenue Beach. The model was 3D-printed on our home Prusa, and consists of ingenious interlocking parts that (almost) eliminate the need for glue. We'll make the model available for free use soon, in case you also want to parade around as a crucial piece of civic infrastructure.

10/11/2024

Spooky friends! I'm excited to perform in this Tarot-themed variety show at - I'll be embodying tarot archetypes, transformed by the incredible designs of Diane Hamm. Shows October 24, 25, 26, and 27 - hope to see you there!

🌛🌝🌜 Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-tarot-fashion-show-and-variety-hour-tickets-1025510147457

09/11/2024

Portals for sale! Portals for sale! Get yer own to customize and metamorph-ize from - Pocket Portals currently in stock. Great for interdimensional lint travel.
💙
💛
💙
ID: 1. Abstract, elaborately textured watercolor and marker shapes in neon yellow and deep teal and blue. 2. A retail display of tiny cellophane-wrapped prints abstract paintings.

08/21/2024

I'm excited to participate in this panel discussion on Friday (8/23) at 7pm at DANK Haus German American Cultural Center in support of the exhibition I am honored to be a small part of! See you there?

"Power Frauen: German Women Who Dared to Dream" will be on display from August 9 - September 20 in the DANK Treffpunkt. Thank you to the artists: Vero Rose Smith, Victoria Pater, Elaine Luther, Sara Roberts, Sunny Gandy, Danielle Anson, Cam Best, Erin McNamara, Deniana Clemente, Marvi Sayon, Jill Li...

08/09/2024

TODAY is the opening reception for Power Frauen at DANK Haus German American Cultural Center from 6-8pm! I'm so grateful for the opportunity to exhibit with a ton of other wonderful Chicago artists, and for the opportunity to play with installation modalities. I spent a lot of time delighting in the idiosyncrasies of Medieval representations of architecture, and tried to capture that joy in this work.
See you tonight?!

https://dankhaus.com/event-5785036

[IDs: 1. Vero selfie in front of the installation. Vero has pale skin, lots of freckles, and medium brown hair and her brown lipstick accentuates her silly smile. Behind Vero is a part of her installation, which is comprised of various colors of masking tape arranged to look like an abstracted architectural tableau surrounding a glittering metallic painting. 2. The installation, titled "Visions," which combines linear elements rendered in masking tape and paint maker to create an architectural environment for the central painting. The painting is built from 26 pieces of refuse plastic that have been sculpted together into an abstract bloom-like shape that is lit from behind with twinkle lights. 3. A close-up image of the sculpted painting, which is suspended in a neon pink frame.]

08/02/2024

I'm thrilled to be part of this show, curated by Sami Lundeen opening next Friday at DANK Haus German American Cultural Center!

Come chat with me about twelfth-century mystic Hildegard von Bingen, and how the language of visions and visionaries might help us think about how to better communicate the urgency of climate change.

[IDs: 1. Black and white poster for DANK Haus Power Frauen exhibition with the text "Exhibition Open August 9 - September 20, 2024: Power Frauen: German Women Who Dared To Dream" and six vertical rectangular images of historical German women. 2. Illumination accompanying the third vision of Part I of Scivias, created by Hildegard von Bingen in 1151 or 1152. This image is an abstract oval comprised of concentric rings of flaming wings and floral patterns rendered in rich blues, reds, and golds inside an orange rectangular frame. 3. Work-in-progress in my studio. A pile of reused plastic packaging filled and adorned with acrylic paint in vibrant reds, pinks, blues, greens, and neon yellows. 4. Work-in-progress in the alley outside of my studio. A rough oval comprised of 26 pieces painted reused plastic packaging woven together into a sculpted painting, gilded with spray paint. The 26 individual pieces of plastic correspond to Hildegard von Bingen's 26 visions, published in her treatise Scivias.]

06/26/2024

June is in bloom. I've been carrying my camera more frequently. Equinoctial gilding - literal lilies, neighborhood fences. I made these images on the short walk home from the Blue Line and thought of high school photography classes, thought of my thoughts collapsing the full frames of past, present, and possibly future into squares of infinite now. I thought of how maybe fences are meant to be mended by decaying in place. Boundaries dissolve into the feral, a distinctly urban wild. In an attempt to escape my own judgement, I allowed myself a single frame for each moment. Light does not wait. Creative constraints offer structure, wrought iron for curling vines and twining stalks.
🌿
🌿
🌿
There's a lot of pain in the world, but there's also beauty in looking for and finding and making moments. Light does not wait, light does not last.
🌿
🌿
🌿
Anyways, let's makes some beauty together this coming Sunday (6/30) - I'm excited and honored to collaborate with Into the Feral to facilitate one-on-one creative workshops using tarot cards as prompts! There are a few slots still available: https://www.theferalherbalist.com/into-the-feral-events/p/tarot-tea-creativity