Colorado Abstract Expressionist painter Craig Marshall Smith was born in Flint, Michigan, in 1947. He received an MFA in 1973 from UCLA, where Richard Diebenkorn was his painting professor.

Smith's inspirations have been Diebenkorn, Franz Kline, and Jim Dine, as well as draftsmanship and calligraphy.

Smith was the drawing coordinator at Metropolitan State College (now University) of Denver from 1977-2003. He retired in 2003 as a Professor Emeritus.

Twenty-eight of Smith's paintings are currently featured in Paintings for Airports at the Denver International Airport, in the Y-Juncture area that leads to Concourse A. The paintings are installed until April 2015.

As a writer, Smith was a finalist for Colorado Book of the Year in the Creative Non-Fiction category for his first book, This is not a dachshund, a compilation of his weekly opinion columns that appear in eight Douglas County, Colorado, newspapers. 

Smith has since self-published two more books, also compilations of his columns.

He resides in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

Collections:   

Kirkland Museum of Fine Art, Denver, CO
University of Arizona, Yuma, AZ
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
University of Denver, Denver, CO
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, CO
Museum of Outdoor Arts, Englewood, CO
Littleton Public Library, Littleton, CO
Dain Rauscher Corporate Headquarters, Minneapolis, MN
Great West Life Assurance, Denver, CO
Norton Simon, Los Angeles, CA
Michael Lee and Connie Lee Collier, Lafayette, CA 
Roger Leitner and Cynthia Madden Leitner, Greenwood Village, CO
Greg Watts, Wheat Ridge, CO
Mark Ciglar & Carrie Dobro, Sherman Oaks, CA
Cinevative, Los Angeles, CA
Anne Akiko Meyers, New York, New York
Ralph Nagel, Denver, CO
Metropolitan State University of Denver
    Student Success Building
    Hotel and Hospitality Learning Center

Publication:

Smith is featured in Colorado Abstract, a comprehensive book that focuses on the

history of abstract painting and sculpture in Colorado. It is available at Amazon.com.