Born and raised in Grants Pass, Oregon, Jill McAlvage Smith attended high school in Bangkok, Thailand. It was her encounter with the intricate mosaics of Thailand’s Buddhist temples that first sparked her passion for the medium.
After earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology and counseling, Jill spent nearly three decades working in the mental health field as an adolescent and family therapist. Just as she helped clients assemble the fragments of their lives into a coherent whole, Jill forges exquisite patterns out of the fragile, discarded, and broken remnants that call to her from yard sale curbs and thrift store aisles.
A member of the Society of American Mosaic Artists (SAMA) and Contemporary Mosaic Artists (CMA), Jill serves on the City of Grants Pass Committee on Public Art, Kairos Board of Directors, and Rogue Winterfest Steering and Event Committees.