Patrick Smith having way too much fun at his studio bench
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Patrick is a full blood, enrolled citizen of the Navajo Nation. He was born on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona, where he attended boarding school. His family moved to Flagstaff, Arizona, where he completed his education through high school. He studied computer programming and business administration at Yavapai College and at the University of Arizona.
On a whim, he traveled for a year across the U.S. in an old Ford truck, financing the trip by selling Navajo jewelry he made by hand on the road using traditional techniques learned from his family. After crafting old-style jewelry for a while, he yearned to acquire expertise in more advanced metalsmithing techniques to create the exciting contemporary jewelry designs that he envisioned.
Eventually he returned to his hometown of Flagstaff to study art in earnest. He completed his BFA and Master of Arts degrees at Northern Arizona University. His M.A. is in Jewelry and Metalsmithing. Patrick later won an Arlene Feddes fellowship for Excellence in Art from the Southwestern Association of Indian Arts (SWAIA). His jewelry was selected to travel across the U.S. for three years on the ArtTrain USA—a traveling art museum—when it was curated to display contemporary art of a small number of Native American Indian artists from across the nation. His art was purchased for display at The British Museum in London and has also been featured in art exhibits, quality jewelry books, and other publications.