Froukje in her studio.

About the Artist

Ms. Froukje Schaafsma-Smith is an artist and arts educator with over 20 years experience. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and Teaching Credential from the University of California, Riverside and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her autobiographical narrative art has been featured in one person and group exhibitions and is the public collections of UCR and UCLA. Her work was featured in The Ontario Invitational 2012, Ontario Museum of History and Art. She received The Curatorial Award, Members’ Art Exhibition 2012, Riverside Art Museum and The Fred Bird Memorial Award, Artist Council Exhibition 2011, Palm Springs Art Museum.

Schaafsma-Smith has participated in a number of professional growth opportunities including: Cross Currents In American Art, National Gallery, Washington DC (2010), Connecting Collections, Guggenheim, Metropolitan, MOMA, and Whitney Institution, New York City, New York (2011), and The National Endowment of the Humanities Landmarks of History and Culture Grant: Crafting Freedom, in The Research Triangle, North Carolina (2012).

She is the member of several organizations: The California Art Educators Association, The Palm Springs Museum of Art, Artist’s Council, The Riverside Art Museum, Southern California Artists, and The SCA Project Gallery where she serves on the board.

Froukje Schaafsma-Smith lives and works in Riverside, California.

News

UCR Alumni Interviews | Froukje Schaafsma-Smith

by UCR Alumni Association

Froukje's art is currently on display in the Alumni & Visitors Center's Goldware Library. She sits down to talk to us about her experience at UCR, grad school, and to walk us through her exhibition, "Linings: Silver and Otherwise."

Events

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Artist Statement

Ever since I can remember I have loved art. My earliest memories include drawing on everything. As I explored my love of art-making, I began to experiment with a variety of media in order to express myself. The theme of my work is narrative in nature. It is the visual story of the memories of my experiences.

Looking through a box of spare buttons, I found a large orange button for a garment that I no longer owned. I remembered my mother keeping extra buttons and notions in a red wooden box from Holland. The idea of saving small objects for possible future use inspired me. Button Quilt is a 168”x 84” piece composed of approximately 3,110 packages of extra buttons, spare yarn, beads, hooks, eyes, sequins, and snaps. The packages were initially taped together using a traditional nine-patch quilt block pattern. The blocks were fashioned into the quilt. Family, friends, colleagues, students, acquaintances, sales people, and strangers from across the nation and around the globe donated these packages for the quilt. Many people also shared stories of their memories of buttons; their memories of buttons transported us to a time when a collection of ordinary buttons had extraordinary possibilities.

View resumé

Artwork

Education
	1992	Master of Fine Art, University of California, Los Angeles
	1987	Ryan Single Subject Teaching Credential Art, University of California, Riverside
	1986	Bachelor of Art, University of California, Riverside
	1982	Associate of Art, Riverside City College, Riverside, California


One Person Exhibitions
	2013	Linings: Silver and Otherwise, Goldware Family Library, Alumni Center, University of California Riverside
	2012	Froukje Schaafsma-Smith at Walter’s Mercedes-Benz Showroom, Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, California


Selected Exhibitions
	2013	Artscape, Riverside Arts Council, Riverside County Administration Center, Riverside, California Persistence of Memory, Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, California In the City, Riverside Community Arts Association, Riverside, California Ontario Open Art Exhibition, Ontario Museum of History and Art, Ontario, California California Centered: Printmaking, Merced County Arts Council, Merced, California Right Under, University of California Riverside: Palm Desert Center Let It Snow, SCA Project Gallery, Pomona, California
	2012	Members Show, SCA Project Gallery, Pomona, California The Rose Show, The Main Street Gallery, Pomona, California OrangeAID, Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, California Long Night of Arts and Innovation, Culver Center, Riverside, California Community Art Project Gallery, Wells Fargo Bank, Laguna Beach, California 2012 Members' Exhibition, Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, California 99 Bucks, Hotel Zoso, Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, California Off the Hook, Yarn Bomb, SCA Project Gallery, Pomona, California Compulsory Collaborations, SCA Project Gallery, Pomona, California Waiting Room, J and J Check Only Station, Riverside, California The Modern Self Portrait, Mount San Jacinto College, San Jacinto, California
	2011	Barking up the Wrong Tree, SCA Project Gallery, Pomona, California Twisting the Edge, Southern California Artists, Pomona, California Artists Council Exhibition Fall, Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, California Normally on Paper, SCA Project Gallery, Pomona, California Dos Lagos Summer Art Exhibition, Corona, California Just Wing It, SCA Project Gallery, Pomona, California Ontario Open Art Exhibition, The Museum of History and Art, Ontario, California Artists Council Exhibition Spring, Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, California
	2010	Art Faculty Group Show, Phillip M. Stokoe Museum, Riverside, California
	2008	Paper Dolls, Division 9 Gallery, Riverside, California
	2007	Printmaking in the I.E., Division 9 Gallery, Riverside, California


Performances
	1995	Clean Slate, The Fence Project, Riverside Arts Foundation, Riverside, California
	1992	Early Grave, Mojave Desert, California Leaving Something Behind and Taking Something With You 48 Site Specific Markers, California, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada 40 Days and 40 Nights, Mojave Desert, California Het Cadeau van Oma, Wight Gallery, University of California, Los Angeles


Awards and Honors
	2013	Endowment of the Humanities: Landmarks of History and Culture Grant
	2012	Mayoral Recognition, Long Night of Arts and Innovation, City of Riverside Curatorial Award, Members' Exhibition, Riverside Art Museum National Endowment of the Humanities: Landmarks of History and Culture Grant
	2011	Fred Bird Memorial Award, Artists Council Exhibition Fall, Palm Springs Art Museum Juror's Award, Open Art Exhibition, The Museum of History and Art, Ontario, California First Place, Artists Council Exhibition Spring, Palm Springs Art Museum
	2010	Educational Grant, Kaiser Permanente, Riverside, California