āThis is a funky, ugly house.ā Thatās what Phoenix artist Joe Willie Smith recalls thinking 15 years ago when he first saw the 1947 house he now calls both art studio and home. Smith was doing an estate sale at the time, and learned the family was hoping to sell the house. āThey were taking bids in a Mason jar,ā Smith says. āI put in the lowest bid, but I got the house.ā
It was a far cry from the Spanish Colonial Revival home in the F.Q. Story neighborhood, where heād lived before getting divorced. At the time, Smith was planning to buy a $350,000 house in North Mountain. And his art studio comprised the red brick building on Grand Avenue, where artist Karen Fioritoās anti-Trump billboard looms large today.
Smith went with the funky house instead, paying just $52,000 for it. Turns out, the familyās decision was driven by more than money. During the estate sale, heād talked with a woman named Lupe, whoād lived in the neighborhood since the 1940s. Lupe wanted Smith to get the house, he says. And that did the trick. Heās been living and working there ever since. Smith even left his full-time graphic design gig for The Arizona Republic, since his mortgage payments were so small. āGetting the house gave me a lot of freedom,ā Smith says.
Heās transformed the house through the years, filling the once-barren yard with found objects, artworks, and plants. The massive wooden sculpture that sits on his front porch today anchored his āCultural Savantā exhibit at Scottsdaleās Civic Center Library back in 2014. Nearby, thereās a white life-size sculpture of a big cat heās planning to transform with color and patterns for the next āChaos Theoryā exhibition in October. In a side yard, he grows rare succulents. āEvery state Iāve lived in, Iāve learned about local plant life,ā he says.
Smith was born in 1949, in Elaine, Arkansas. āMy family were sharecroppers,ā he says. āThey picked cotton until it became mechanized with the cotton gin, and then there was no need for manual labor.ā They moved to Milwaukee, where Smith recalls childhood days spent on creative pursuits. āI built strange things, did science experiments, made drawings and paintings, and worked in a little garden.ā As a teen, Smith turned an attic into his art studio. āIt was all Bauhaus, with my name painted in black and white on the door.ā
Today, Smith is still a maker, tinkerer, and gatherer.
Heās modified his house with hand-built window panes and tall niches that make it feel more spacious, and added on in the back so he has areas for storing found objects, working with power tools, and other creative pursuits. Thereās a traditional living room, sparsely furnished since it doubles as a staging area for exhibition prep, and a small computer area where Smith works surrounded by books lining salvaged shelves. In every room, art abounds, sometimes collected during travels to Cuba or other countries.
āIāve been collecting and making and selling art all my life,ā Smith says. āIāve never not thought of myself as an artist.ā
Smithās home studio reflects his diverse roots. āIām part Choctaw, Irish, and African,ā he says. āMy grandfather was half Native American.ā He uses all three names passed down from family members. Thereās Joe, from his motherās father, and Willie Smith, from his dad. Today, heās got three grown children and seven grandchildren. Naturally, several enjoy their own creative pursuits.
But, Smithās studio also channels his embrace of objects that others have left discarded. āMy mother used to take me to thrift stores,ā he recalls. Today, Smith still scouts them. And he's got a few favorite junkyards where he finds objects, like vehicle doors, that make good raw material for sculptural pieces. But heās also fond of foraging vacant lots and other urban landscapes, in search of materials to feed his eclectic sensibilities.
On any given day, you might find Smith building a sound-based sculpture, filming his own urban explorations, or getting ready for the next exhibition or performance. Itās all a beautiful extension of wonder well-cultivated during childhood. āIāve been lucky to stay a kid my whole life,ā Smith says.
Hereās a look at Smithās take on New Timesā studio visit questions:
Tell us about your work in haiku format.
My present work is the creation of āSonic Sculpturesā for performance.
What artist(s) are you really into right now?
I have been a great admirer of the work of sculptor/craftsman Martin Puryear.
What are you reading?
The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra
What's the last TV show, film, or video you watched?
Unforgiven. Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman
If you could collaborate with any artists, alive or dead, who would it be? And why?
James Turrell. I love the way he thinks about light and color.

Joe Willie Smith plays one of his sonic sculptures while setting up his solo show in Mesa.
Lynn Trimble
The last exhibit I saw was at the temporary LaJolla Contemporary Art Museum, works from the collection. I wasnāt impressed.
Jeff Koons or Marina Abramovic? And why?
I donāt understand this question.
What's the best advice you've ever received?
Advice from my track coach in high school. "To get to the finish line, every step is equally important".
What are you currently working on?
The installation of āKOMO, Not Knowingā at the Mesa Contemporary Art Museum. Opens September 14, 2018.
What's your most valuable tool as an artist?
Being as aware of the moment as I can be. Focus.