Alexis Smith, my mentor…

Because Alexis Smith is having her first retrospective in 30 years, which I plan to visit soon, I’m pondering my incredible good fortune to have had some many wonderful mentors. When I was studying at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-arc) the immediate change in my life was an immersion into a group of people dedicated to creative work.

By my final year of study I had a bit of an ego about the ways I would change LA after I graduated. I spent that last year with the most amazing teacher I had ever had, Coy Howard. It was a transformational experience. He had away of seeing through the haze, and probing for what would induce deep change in his students.

I had heard many intriguing things about his girlfriend at the time, Alexis Smith, who was a collage artist. Coy new I was handy with building and construction. One day he asked if I could help out ‘Alex’ by caulking windows at her studio in Venice Beach. It wasn’t the sort of job I would usually be interested in, but on a hunch, I went over to do that job. We hit it off. And it developed into my going there for and interesting mix of projects I assisted her with on and off for about ten years. I learned a LOT about art. She also helped my sort out my conflicts about being an architect or an artist. She was probably the smartest person I ever worked with, and I enjoyed here sardonic humor.

Here’s a video I made about Alexis Smith, my mentor: https://youtu.be/ikp0RFkkBsM