Artist Bio:
Joey Schmidt is an artist and arts administrator based in Kansas City, MO. Cool, persevering, and prudent, his practice circles themes of time, memory, and the fragile negotiations between what is hidden and what is revealed. Schmidt uses painting, printmaking, and photography to transform fleeting moments into lasting expressions of identity and connection. His work balances tenderness with humor and theatricality, inviting others to see themselves reflected in color, form, and dialogue.
Passionate about accessibility in the arts, Schmidt extends this ethos into community engagement, using his leadership to foster belonging, dialogue, and shared discovery. Through his studio brand Studio Buddy, he cultivates a space for painting, collaboration, and future community sessions rooted in creativity and connection. Schmidt is a 2016 graduate of the University of Louisville’s Hite Art Institute and a 2025 Artist INC Fellow with Charlotte Street Foundation and Mid-America Arts Alliance. He also serves as Director of Corporate & Grant Partnerships at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.Find him on Instagram at @joeyyyschmidt and @studiooobuddy.
Artist Statement:
My work begins in the small moments that linger (an overheard laugh, a gesture at the cashrap, or the song that played) and grows into paintings, prints, and photographs that hold memory and emotion in wordless color and form. I work with the tools of my creative lineage to layer symbols, text, and graphic overlays that trace connections across time and space. Film photography and framing often anchor my process, mimicking composition and petrification of memory: recollections preserved as shapes and figures. I treat color as both prayer and dialogue, introducing tones to one another until they reveal kinship, tension, or resolution.
Currently, I’m working to expand both the scale and consistency of my studio practice, developing a more sustained rhythm that connects personal narrative with shared emotion. After years of investing in my professional nonprofit career and personal growth, I’m now tipping the scales back toward my art—seeking the time, space, and community to create work that is direct, grounded, and unafraid of judgment. Through this reinvestment in myself, I’m exploring what it means to make work that speaks openly, without disguise.