Karen Burgess Smith

Governor John Lynch appointed Karen Burgess Smith of Exeter Chair of the NH State Council on the Arts in 2006. She joined the Council in 2003.

A native of New Hampshire, a photographer, and a long-time art educator, Karen Burgess Smith has been the Director of the Lamont Gallery at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter since 2003. Prior to that, she was the Vice President for Academic Affairs at the NH Institute of Art, and the Fine Arts Department Chair and Gallery Director at St. Paul’s School. She has curated over 50 original exhibitions since 1989, and says that, “To me, the art gallery is just an extension of the classroom.”

Smith has also taught at St. Anselm College in Manchester, and at Concord High School and Rundlett Junior High School. It was at the latter where she learned about the NH State Council on the Arts, and wrote her first grant proposals to introduce art and music students to musicians such as Randy Armstrong and Dudley Laufman.

Cited in a late 1990s Boston Globe article as “…one of the women who drive the arts in the Granite State…”, Smith was designated an “Outstanding Art Educator of the Year” in 1999 by the New Hampshire Art Educators Association. She has been a popular presenter at state and regional art education conferences, exploring topics such as “Getting Beyond ‘When Do We Eat?’: Helping Your Students Make the Most of Museum Visits”.

Smith has an undergraduate degree in Art Education from the University of New Hampshire, an M.A. in Liberal Studies from Dartmouth College and a certificate in Museum Studies and Administration from Tufts University. She served from 2001-2003 as a member of the NH State Department of Education Art Educator Certification Standards Committee, and was a 1999 Accreditation Team Member of the New England Board of Schools and Colleges.

Smith is especially proud that one of her classes at St. Anselm College nominated her for a Governor’s Art Awards in 1989, even though she didn’t win!

Last updated: February 29, 2008