Melissa Smith is a Launceston based artist who primarily works with print. Her artistic practice explores aspects of the landscape, including the shifts associated with climatic changes. She is particularly drawn to remote places, where the opportunity to listen deeply to the environment provides a greater sense of understanding and awareness.

She has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout Australia and overseas. Melissa won the inaugural WAMA Art Prize in Victoria in 2021 and more recently the 2024 Women's Art Prize Tasmania and the 2024 Bay of Fires Art Prize. She has been a finalist in a number of major art prizes including the Glover Prize, Burnie Print Prize, Sunshine Coast Art Prize,  Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize and the Hadley's Art Prize. Her prints were acquired in the following Awards - 2001 Rena Ellen Jones Print Award, Warrnambool Art Gallery, VIC, 2011 Silkcut Print Award and the 2012 Fremantle Print Award. Melissa’s work is represented in corporate, tertiary, college and private collections in Australia and overseas, and in the following Public galleries; National Gallery of Australia, ACT; Burnie Regional Gallery, Devonport Regional Gallery, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, TAS; Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, Grafton Regional Gallery, Tweed River Regional Art Gallery, NSW and the Warrnambool Art Gallery and Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, VIC.

Melissa currently balances her arts practice with her role as a Roving Curator with Arts Tasmania.

Represented by Handmark Gallery - Hobart, Tasmania; Australian Galleries - Melbourne and Queenscliff Gallery, Victoria.

​Studio portrait - Melanie Kate Creative @melanie_kate_creative

exhibitions

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
The Silence that Follows - Handmark Gallery, Hobart, TAS
2023
Tracing a Line - Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery - Royal Park, Launceston, TAS
2022
Without a Sound - Handmark Gallery, Hobart, TAS
2021
Without a Sound - Devonport Regional Gallery Solo Commission 2021, Devonport, TAS
Melissa Smith / Anita Iacovella, Queenscliff Gallery, Queenscliff, VIC
From there to here - 25 Years, The Gallows Gallery, Launceston College, TAS
2020
Beyond Thoughts - Handmark Gallery, Hobart, TAS
2018      
The Blue of Distance, Handmark Gallery, Hobart, TAS & Port Jackson Press, Melbourne, VIC
2015
Between Islands, Handmark Gallery, Hobart, TAS & Port Jackson Press, Melbourne, VIC
2013
​Touching Ground, Handmark Gallery, Hobart, TAS
Dissolve II, Little Gallery, Devonport Regional Gallery, Hobart, TAS
​2012
Dissolve, Sawtooth ARI, Launceston, TAS
2011
Shifting State, Handmark Gallery, Hobart, TAS
2010
Collective Traces (Selected Works 2004-2009), Academy Gallery, University of Tasmania Launceston, TAS & 146 Artspace, Arts Tasmania, Hobart, TAS
2009
Trace Elements, Handmark Gallery, Hobart, TAS
2002
Melissa Smith – Works on Paper, Main Street Gallery, Hahndorf, SA
1996
Abintra, Snakepit Art Gallery, Launceston, TAS


SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
(Winner) Bay of Fires Art Prize,  Panorama Hotel, St. Helens, TAS
(Winner) Women's Art Prize Tasmania,  QVMAG, Launceston, TAS
tidal.24 : City of Devonport Tasmanian Art Award, Devonport Regional Gallery, TAS
Works on paper, Handmark Gallery, Hobart, TAS
Celebrating National Tree Day, Handmark Gallery, Hobart, TAS
In Essence - Paula Jenkins / Melissa Smith / Clayton Tremlett, Queenscliff Gallery, Queenscliff, VIC
Latitude, Print Council of Australia Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
Impressions - Land, Sea and Sky, Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne, VIC
Winter Escape, Australian Galleries - Melbourne, VIC
12th Ulsan International Woodcut Print Festival, Ulsan Culture and Arts Center, South Korea.

2023
Geelong Acquisitive Print Awards, Geelong Gallery, VIC
WAMA Art Prize, Ararat Art Gallery TAMA, VIC
Burnie Print Prize, Burnie Regional Art Gallery, TAS
somewhere here, Megalo Print Studio, Canberra, ACT
Works on paper - print makers, Handmark Gallery, Hobart, TAS
nowhereprint - Derwent Valley Arts Centre, New Norfolk, TAS
Paper: The Permanence of the Temporary, Justin Art House Museum, Melbourne, VIC

2022
Waterhouse Natural Science Art Award, South Australian Museum, Adelaide, SA
Honourable Mention) Hadley’s Art Prize, Hadley’s Orient Hotel, Hobart, TAS
Celebrating Tasmanian Printmakers, Handmark Gallery, TAS
From Here II, Poimena Gallery, Launceston, TAS
Distanced - nowhereprint, IMPACT 12, Centre for Print Research, Bristol, UK
tidal.22 : City of Devonport Tasmanian Art Award, Devonport Regional Gallery, TAS
​
2021
(Winner) Inaugural WAMA Art Prize, Grampians, VIC
The Natural World, Australian Print Workshop Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
Intaglio Online Exhibition, Megalo Art Studio, Canberra, ACT
Peebles Print Prize, Queenscliff Gallery, Queenscliff, VIC
Burnie Print Prize, Burnie Regional Art Gallery, TAS
(Highly Commended) Bay of Fires Art Prize, Panorama, St.Helens, TAS
From a Distance, May Space Gallery Online, Sydney, NSW
From Here, PressWEST, Unconformity Festival, Queenstown, TAS
Celebrating our landscape, Handmark Gallery, Hobart, TAS
​
2020
Glover Prize 2020, Falls Park Pavilion, Evandale, TAS
Megalo International Print Prize, Megalo Gallery, Canberra, ACT
Tidalectics – Print Portfolio, Southern Graphics Council International Printmaking Conference, Puerto Rico, USA
Women’s Art Prize Tasmania,  Maker’s Space - Burnie  
Sunshine Coast Art Prize, Caloundra Regional Gallery, Caloundra, QLD
Swan Hill Drawing and Print Award, Swan Hill Art Gallery, VIC ​
Intaglio Online Exhibition, Megalo Art Studio, Canberra, ACT
Blacktown City Art Award, Blacktown, NSW
tidal.20 : City of Devonport Tasmanian Art Award, Devonport Regional Gallery, TAS
Herself: Inspiring Artists from the Collection, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, TAS

2019
Manly Dam Project – Manly Art Gallery and Museum, Sydney, NSW
(People’s Choice) Peebles Print Prize, Queenscliff Gallery & Workshop, Queenscliff, VIC               
Hadley’s Art Prize, Hadley’s Orient Hotel, Hobart, TAS
Glover Prize 2019, Falls Park Pavilion, Evandale, TAS
Burnie Print Prize, Burnie Regional Art Gallery, TAS
St Kevin’s College Art Show 2019, Toorak, VIC

2018
Australian Print Triennial Print Award, The Art Vault, Mildura, VIC
Collins Place Summer Salon, Suite 19, 45 Collins Street, Melbourne, VIC
Inkmasters – 4thBiennial Print Exhibition, Tanks Art Centre, QLD
TasArt 2018 Exhibition, Burnie Regional Art Gallery, Burnie, TAS
Stanthorpe Art Prize, Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery, QLD
Bay of Fires Art Award 2018, Tidal Waters Resort, St Helens, TAS
Habitat, West Thebarton Gallery, Adelaide, SA
Burnie Regional Art Gallery: 40 Years, Burnie Regional Art Gallery, Burnie, TAS
Eventide, New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale, NSW
Swan Hill Print & Drawing Acquisitive Awards 2018, Swan Hill Regional Gallery, Swan Hill, VIC
Wyndham Art Prize, Wyndham Art Gallwery, Werribee, VIC

2017
Banyule Award for Works on Paper, Hatch Contemporary Arts Space, Ivanhoe, VIC
Whyalla Art Prize, Middleback Arts Centre, Whyalla, SA
Bay of Fires Art Award, St Helens, TAS
Works on Paper, Handmark Gallery, Hobart & Evandale, TA
Wyndham Art Prize, Wyndham Art Gallery, Werribee, VIC
Gippsland Print Award 2017, Gippsland Art Gallery, Sale, VIC
Nature, Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne, VIC
Burnie Print Prize, Burnie Regional Art Gallery, Burnie, TAS 

2016
Swan Hill Print & Drawing Acquistive Awards 2016, Swan Hill Regional Gallery, Swan Hill, VIC
Eventide, Morington Regional Gallery, Mornington, VIC
Landscape Show, Handmark Gallery, Evandale,TAS
SCOPE Galleries Art Award 2016 – Art Concerning Environment, Warrnambool, VIC
Contemporary Paper, Port Jackson Press, Melbourne, VI
Lola Greeno and Friends, Handmark Gallery, Hobart, TAS
Scratching the Surface, Port Jackson Press, Melbourne, VIC

2015
Glover Prize 2015, Falls Park Pavilion, Evandale, TAS
Burnie Print Prize, Burnie Regional Art Gallery, TAS 
Bay of Fires Art Award 2015, St Helens, TAS
Hutchins Art Prize, Long Gallery, Hobart , TAS
Parallel Prints NZ - Australia, Art Gallery of Ballarat, VIC & Art at Wharepuke, NZ
Gippsland Print Award 2015, Gippsland Art Gallery, Sale, VIC
Paper Contemporary, Sydney Contemporary, Sydney, NSW
The Mildura BMW Australian Print Triennial Prize, The Art Vault, Mildura, VIC
Rick Amor Print Prize 2015, Montsalvat, Eltham, VIC

2014
Works on Paper Art Fair, Science museum, London, UK  
Tasmanian Landscape, Academy Gallery, TCotA, Launceston, TAS
Prints 25, Print Council of Australia, Whitehorse Artspace, Box Hill, VIC
Australia - land - people; a visual narrative of the land and it people, Kyoto Hanga 2014
International Print Exhibition, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum, Kyoto Municipal Museum, Fukuyama Art Museum, JAPAN

2013
Living Data: Art from Climate Change, Muse Gallery, Ultimo TAFE, Sydney, NSW
Burnie Print Prize, Burnie Regional Art Gallery, TAS
Tasmania Today: An Island State, Academy Gallery, TCotA, University of Tasmania, TAS
Think.Make.Change, Design Tasmania, Launceston, TAS
Muswellbrook Art Prize, Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre, Muswellbrook, NSW

2012
(Acquired) Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award, Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle, WA
2012 Silkcut Award, Glen Eira City Council Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
Waterhouse Natural History Prize, South Australian Museum, Adelaide, SA
Living Data: Animating Change, Muse Gallery, Ultimo TAFE, Sydney, NSW
Launceston NOW, New Gallery, University of Tasmania, Launceston, TAS
Beautiful Soup, St. Heelers Street gallery, Abbotsford Convent, Melbourne, VIC 
SCOPE Galleries Art Award 2012 – Art Concerning Environment, Warrnambool, VIC
Bay of Fires Art Prize, Parnella Gallery, St. Helens, TAS
New Prints from Tasmania, Port Jackson Press, Melbourne, VIC
(Commendation Award) Tasmanian Art Award, Perth, TAS

2011
(Acquired) 2011 Silkcut Award, Glen Eira City Council Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
Biennial International Print show, Art at Wharepuke, Kerikeri, New Zealand
Geelong Acquisitive Print Award, Geelong Gallery, Geelong, VIC
16 th International Print Biennial Varna 2011, Bulgaria
Sunshine Coast Art Award, Caloundra Regional Art Gallery, QLD
Esk Collection 2001-11 Collecting contemporary Art, Academy Gallery, University of Tasmania, TAS
CPM National Print Award, Tweed River Art Gallery, Murwillumbah, NSW
Burnie Print Prize, Burnie Art Regional Gallery, TAS
Colour and Movement, Port Jackson Press, Melbourne, VIC
The Delicate Art of the Woodcut and Lino printing, Port Jackson Press, Melbourne, VIC
Contemporary Australian Printmaking, James Makin Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
The things we denote to keep, Sawtooth ARI, Launceston, TAS
Think Tank – the visual diary, Academy Gallery, University of Tasmania, TAS

2010
2010 Silkcut Award, Glen Eira City Council Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
Sunshine Coast Art Prize 2010, Caloundra Regional Art Gallery, QLD
Williamstown Festival Contemporary Art Prize, Williamstown, VIC
Something in the Water – Tasmanian Printmakers, Port Jackson Press, Melbourne, VIC
Works on paper, Handmark Gallery, Evandale, TAS
Annual Tasmanian Print Show, Handmark Gallery, Hobart, TAS
Beyond the Chalkboard, Academy Gallery, University of Tasmania, TAS

commissions

2011
Print Council of Australia Commissioned Print
Tasmanian Government Art Site Scheme, Holman Clinic, Launceston General Hospital, Launceston, TAS
2010
Tasmanian Government Art Site Scheme, Albuera Street School, Hobart, TAS
2005
Print Council of Australia Commissioned Print
1997
Patron Print, Snakepit Gallery, Launceston, TAS