Events

Highlights from 2022

Evermore Nevermore

Hunterdon Art MuseumClinton, NJ
Jan 23-April 24, 2022

opening reception, Jan 23, 2-4 pm

Hunterdon Art Museum 2022 show card front
Hunterton Art Museum 2022 show card
Highlights from 2021

Embodied Abstraction

Wexler GalleryPhiladelphia, PA
July 9-September 24, 2021

opening reception, July 22, 5-7 pm

Felsic Morphology: Artist Talk

411 GalleryColumbus, IN
April 29 – June 25, 2021

MEET THE ARTIST, JUNE 24, 5 – 7 pm

Oluce Cloud Scoop, installed with backsplash
Photo credit: Jeremy Hogan

The Sister Dennis Virtual Visiting Artist Speaker Series

The College of Saint Benedict & Saint John’s University Art Department
zoom/virtual workshop

Companion gallery Workshop series

Humboldt, TN

INVITATIONAL SHOW: BREAKFAST

International Dinnerware Museum, Ann Arbor, MI

April 10-August 28, 2021

TEXT MESSAGES: A Collection of Words on Pots, Curated by Naomi Clement

Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN

Opens April 30, 2021

WORKSHOP

Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN
June 13-18
Highlights from 2020

Art Basel-Miami / Miami Design

Miami Beach, FL

Spotlight

Photo credit: Kris Tamburello

Critical Function 2

NCECA, The Visual Arts Center, Richmond, VA

Malcolm Mobutu Smith
photo credit: Owyn Vernius Johnson Smith

Constructors in Clay

Alma’s RVA, Richmond VA

SMALL FAVORS 2020: EXPANDING THE FIELD

The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA

Gravity Gallery Exhibition (Postponed)

North Adams, MA (2020)

WORKSHOPS, LECTURES, DEMOS

  • Demo + talk (virtual), Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN (video)
Highlights from 2019

INAUGURAL INDIANA POTTERY CONFERENCE

Keynote Speaker & Demonstrator, Fort Wayne, IN

STRICTLY FUNCTIONAL POTTERY JURIED SHOW

Juror + Exhibitor, Lancaster, PA

DRAFTING DIMENSIONS

Canton Museum of Art, Canton, OH

CLAY CURRENTS: THE WICHITA NATIONAL CERAMICS INVITATIONAL

Ulrich Museum Of Art, Wichita, KS

UPROCK

One-person show, Merwin Gallery, Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL

VESSELS FOR DRINKING

University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND

NCECA 2019 EXHIBITIONS

Minneapolis, MN

  • You got served
  • Alternate Endings II Book Ends NCECA
  • YOU AM I, Veronique Wantz Gallery
  • More Than That, Flaten Art Museum, St Olaf College
  • Amaco Ceramic Supply NCECA Exhibition

WORKSHOPS, LECTURES, DEMOS

  • Lecturer, Stellaccio Lecture series, Illinois Wesleyan University, IL
  • Workshop, Illinois State University, Bloomington, IL
  • Juror/Lecturer/Demonstrator, Strictly Functional Pottery National, Lancaster, PA
  • Workshop, Peters Valley Craft Center, Layton, NJ
  • 25th Annual Residency, Watershed Center of Ceramics, Newcastle, ME
  • Juror, Northern Clay Center Fellowships, Minneapolis, MN
Highlights from 2018

HEAVE

Solo show, Ruth Reese Gallery, St. Louis, MO

BRIXTAPE

FPOAFM Calico Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

VERGES

Solo show, Shircliff Gallery, Vincennes University, IN

THICKNESS

Solo show, Solomon Gallery, Youngstown, OH

NEW CUPS

Solo show, Clay Art Vegas, Las Vegas, NV

[RE]IMAGINING SCIENCE

Esther Klein Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

GARDEN PARTY TABLE TOP EXHIBITION

Santa Fe Clay, Santa Fe, NM

THEY

Clay Art Center, Port Chester, NY

NEW WORKS

One-person show, Clay Arts Vegas, Las Vegas, NV

NCECA 2019 EXHIBITIONS

Minneapolis, MN

  • Alternate Endings Bookends
  • Funk: American Dada, Manchester Craftsman Guild
  • Container Show, Standard Ceramics
  • Penn State Alumni Show
WORKSHOPS, LECTURES, DEMOS
Highlights from 2017

LIVE DEMONSTRATOR

NCECA 2017, Portland, OR

DOMESTIC MYSTERIES

Exhibition at Yingge Museum of Ceramics, Taipei City, Taiwan

PEOPLE OF COLOR, COLOR OF CLAY

Exhibition at Baltimore Clay Works, MD

Don't Sip Up

WORKSHOPS, LECTURES, DEMOS

  • Montgomery Community College Philadelphia, PA
  • Keene College, NH
  • Hartford Art School, Hartford, CT
  • Workshop +Communitas Lecture Series, Utah State University, Logan, UT (video)
  • Juror, DePauw University Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition, Greencastle, IN

THE LAST DROP: INTOXICATING POTTERY, PAST AND PRESENT

North Carolina Pottery Center in collaboration with the Chipstone Foundation of Milwaukee, WI

Highlights from 2016

ALLOW ME: FACING IDENTITY

Fine Art Gallery, Southwestern University, TX

FROM THE WHEEL TO THE WALL

Garcia Squared Contemporary, Kansas City, MO

POETICS OF VOIDS: CONTAINERS THAT ANTICIPATE

Lawrence, KS

Workshop, Lectures, Demos

Indiana University-Southeast, New Albany, IN

Highlights from 2015

 Mutations

Solo show at Luise Ross Gallery, New York City, NY

Planet Rock

Gallery 15th and West, Chicago, IL

Recent Works: Jacqui Lubbers and Malcolm Mobutu Smith

Ellis Walker Gallery, Bowling Green, KY

Draftsmen Draft

Luise Ross Gallery, New York City, NY

WORKSHOPS, LECTURES, DEMOS

  • “Turntablism,” two-week teaching workshop, Haystack Mountain School Of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME
  • Lecturer & Panelist, “Diverse, New, and Dangerous: Political Ceramics,” NCECA 2015, Providence, RI
  • Faculty Show, Haystack Mountain School of Craft, Deer Isle, ME
More Highlights from the Past

Ceramics Monthly 

Cover and featured article, October 2008

Malcolm Mobutu Smith: Improvisations (2013)

Solo show, Evansville Museum of Art, Evansville, IN

Improvisations booklet, inner pages
Improvisations booklet, back cover
Improvisations exhibition booklet cover

Cloud Busting (2013)

Public Art Installation, Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital of Indianapolis

More about this project

DODADS (2014)

One-person show at I Fell Building, Bloomington, IN

Backjumps (2008)

Ruschman Gallery, Indianapolis, IN

Shift: new works by Malcolm Mobutu Smith (2007)

Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, Backroom Gallery, KCMO

Rigmarole: Object/Image (2005)

SoFA Gallery, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

Rigamarole Show at SOFA Gallery, 2005

Glyphs: Ceramics by Malcolm Mobutu Smith (2007)

Solo show, NCECA, Pyro Gallery, Louisville, KY

Iffyglyphic Cloud Cup, view 2

Inner City Inspiration: An Artist’s Evolution in Clay (2011)

Solo exhibition at iMOCA (Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art)

Indiana State Museum, Indianapolis, IN

  • Heartland Art: Selections from Your Indiana Collection (2011-2013)

  • Heartland: Indiana Artists from the Permanent Collection (2012)

Baggage, on exhibit

Considering the Kylix (2014)

Peters Valley Gallery, Layton, NJ & Mahady Gallery, Sheilds Center for Visual Arts, Scranton, PA 

Parallax Futured: Transtemporal Subjectivities (2014)

Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion, Skirball Museum, Cincinnati, OH

Haan Museum Exhibition (2014)

Lafayette, IN

Ceramics and Sculpture Invitational (2014)

Shircliff Gallery, Vincennes, IN

Workshops, Lectures, Demos

  • Artist in Residence, BreckCreate Inauguration, Breckenridge, CO (2014)
  • Workshop & Lecture, Central Michigan University, MI (2012)
  • Member, Art Selection Committee for the Indianapolis Cultural Arts Committee – African American Artist selection for Cultural Trail (2013)
  • Lecturer/Featured Artist, Roberto Lugo Conference Presentation “From the Wheel to the Wall,” NCECA 2013, Houston, TX (2013)
  • “Salad Days Artist: Then and Now,” Watershed Center of Ceramic Art, Watershed, ME (2012)
  • Workshop and Lecture, Central Michigan University, MI (2012)

Navel Gazing: Christyl Boger and Malcolm Smith (2010)

Pewabic Pottery, Detroit, MI

RENDERING AND MEANING EXHIBIT

University of North Carolina Pembroke Workshop (2004)

YouTube videos