Beej Nierengarten-Smith

Beej (Barbara Jean) Nierengarten-Smith was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, and grew up in the picturesque rural community of New Ulm. Her father, Edward Nierengarten, was an attorney; her mother Catherine had a degree in fine arts and was an accomplished watercolorist. The six Nierengarten children went to Catholic schools, which did not offer art classes. Although the young Barbara Jean did not have access to any formal art classes, her parents were avid museum visitors and frequently took the family to museums in Minneapolis. The house was also filled with her mother's art books, and in these ways Beej came into contact with all kinds of art. Beej's early attempts at drawing were not encouraged, but, despite the lack of opportunity, she knew she wanted to "make art."

Beej's first hands-on art experience was a printmaking class at the University of Minnesota, followed by drawing, painting, architectural drawing, illustration, weaving, batik, and any other studio classes she could take. She realized for the first time that people actually majored in art, but it never occurred to her to pursue this as a vocation.

Over the next 35 years Beej's career path centered on art history and art education, with successful careers in teaching and museum work, primarily as founding Director and Chief Curator of Laumeier Sculpture Park in St. Louis. But she never stopped making art. She taught herself ceramics, continued to take drawing and printmaking classes, became fascinated with bookmaking, and spent summer printmaking residencies at Penland School of Crafts, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and Anderson Ranch Arts Center.

Beej's home in St. Louis had a studio, and it was here that she made a series of autobiographical books in the late 1990s. In these books she used appropriated images and other techniques that are now the foundation of her prints. She also began to see that if she were ever going to make prints seriously, she needed to leave the museum world. This she did in 2001 when she moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Now a full-time printmaker. Beej merges a personal iconography with a singular printmaking technique, creating remarkable images that allow her distinct voice to be heard.