Oakland, California – San Francisco-based artist and longtime education advocate Leslie Plato Smith has developed a multifaceted career rooted in artistic expression, civic engagement, and a lifelong commitment to equity. Through expressive figurative painting, large-scale public art projects, teaching, and institutional leadership, Leslie has consistently explored the relationship between personal experience and broader social realities. Her work challenges viewers to look more closely at questions of truth, vulnerability, power, justice, and shared humanity while encouraging communities to recognize the importance of education, representation, and collective responsibility.
Bold forms, rich texture, dynamic surfaces, and an instinctive use of color and composition define Leslie’s artistic practice. Working primarily with painting knives and gestural techniques, she seeks to capture the essence of her subjects rather than simply reproduce their outward appearance. Her paintings are designed to create an immediate emotional response, after which viewers are invited to consider the deeper analytical, political, and human meanings within the work.
The figures that populate Leslie’s paintings frequently embody a tension between strength and vulnerability. Through their positioning, expression, and surrounding visual language, she explores the complexities of inner truth and how political and social circumstances shape individuals. For Leslie, every new work is an opportunity to question assumptions, examine reality, and reconsider what truth means through visual expression.
Her commitment to art extends beyond the studio. Throughout her long career in public education advocacy and institutional leadership, particularly through her decades of work at City College of San Francisco, Leslie has demonstrated an understanding of creativity as a civic force. She has taught, participated in governmental relations, organized public-facing initiatives, and used art as a tool for activism and community engagement.
Among her most notable efforts have been large-scale public art projects designed to illuminate the human consequences of policy decisions affecting higher education. Her “Missing Student” initiative, for example, used life-size figures to make visible the people affected by budget cuts and reduced educational access. Through marches, installations, and other public projects, Leslie has worked to elevate student voices and reinforce the idea that education is not simply a service, but a fundamental component of a healthy democracy.
Leslie’s academic background includes an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, as well as academic training at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her combination of business education, teaching experience, artistic practice, and advocacy has allowed her to approach complex issues from multiple perspectives. Rather than separating art from public life, she sees the two as deeply interconnected.
This philosophy is also evident in the communities and professional organizations with which Leslie is affiliated. She is a member of the American Crafts Council, American Museum of Ceramic Art, Art Span, Berkeley Art Center, Bluelinearts.org, International Sculpture Center, National Council on Education for Ceramic Arts, Pacific Rim Sculptors Chapter, ProArts, and The Richmond Art Center. These affiliations reflect her ongoing engagement with the broader artistic community and her commitment to learning, collaboration, and cultural exchange.
For Leslie, however, the foundations of her work reach beyond professional credentials and institutional affiliations. She attributes her success to values instilled in her from an early age, particularly a strong belief in fairness and the equality of women. Family played a central role in shaping those principles, while a pivotal experience during graduate school transformed her understanding of resilience, intuition, and personal strength.
As a graduate student, Leslie survived a violent attack by a serial predator. Through presence of mind, communication, and intuition, she was able to escape. With support from others and law enforcement, particularly two women detectives in New Orleans, the case was successfully prosecuted, ultimately resulting in the perpetrator’s conviction and life sentence. The experience reinforced Leslie’s belief in the importance of trusting intuition, standing firmly in one’s values, and having the courage to live authentically.
Those principles continue to influence both her art and her advocacy. Leslie believes meaningful work requires honesty and a willingness to confront uncomfortable realities rather than retreat from them. She also believes that perspective and resilience are essential when pursuing ambitious goals or challenging systems that need to change.
Some of the most influential advice Leslie ever received came from her mother. One piece of advice was simple: never be afraid of making mistakes because that is what erasers are for. The second was to always draw off the edge of the paper. To Leslie, those words represent far more than artistic instruction. They are a philosophy for living without unnecessary limitations.
She frequently shares that lesson in her artist statements and conversations because she believes too many young people, particularly women, are taught to be cautious rather than courageous. Leslie encourages others to pursue their dreams without allowing fear to define the boundaries of their ambitions.
That message is particularly central to the advice she gives young women entering the arts and other creative industries. Leslie encourages women not to be conservative with themselves, but instead to put their hearts, values, and identities fully into their work. She believes women should not hide who they are or minimize their power. Authenticity, in her view, is not a liability—it is an essential source of strength.
Her understanding of women’s place in public life is also informed by her family history and Choctaw heritage. Leslie’s middle name, Plato, comes from her grandfather, who was born on the Choctaw Reservation. She is an enrolled and voting member of the Choctaw Nation, and Indigenous memory and identity have become increasingly important elements in her current creative vision.
Among her current ambitions is the World of We project, which Leslie hopes to have funded as a large-scale sculpture initiative inspired by Olmec culture. The project would address the homicides affecting Indigenous women and men, using monumental public art to create awareness and encourage deeper reflection on issues that have too often remained invisible.
At the same time, Leslie continues to devote significant energy to the future of accessible higher education in San Francisco. Having taught at City College of San Francisco for approximately 30 years, she has witnessed major changes in how the institution serves its surrounding communities. She is particularly concerned about the proposed closure of the downtown center at 4th and Mission and the broader reduction in access to educational programs for adults.
Leslie points to the role community colleges can play in opening doors for people from different backgrounds and at different stages of life. She recalls a model in which students could access English-language instruction, transition into business and computer classes, participate in culinary programs, and begin credit coursework toward degrees—all within an environment designed to serve working adults and newly arrived residents.
For Leslie, lifelong learning is inseparable from democratic participation. She believes education creates opportunities for people to better understand one another, participate meaningfully in society, and pursue greater economic and personal independence. She has been developing what she believes are legal arguments to help preserve educational access and is seeking legal support for those efforts.
Her advocacy reflects the same principle that guides her artwork: make the invisible visible. Whether she is portraying a human figure, presenting a public sculpture, teaching students, or challenging educational policy, Leslie approaches her work as an invitation to look again—to see the individual behind a statistic, the human being behind a political issue, and the possibility behind a difficult circumstance.
At the center of Leslie’s personal and professional philosophy are three values: truth, justice, and equity. Recently, after someone asked her about humor, she considered adding a fourth. She believes the ability to laugh, maintain perspective, and retain a sense of balance is fundamentally important, especially when confronting difficult challenges.
Together, those values define Leslie’s continuing journey as an artist, educator, advocate, and community voice. Her career demonstrates how creative expression can extend beyond galleries and studios to become part of public dialogue. Through painting, sculpture, teaching, activism, and education advocacy, Leslie Plato Smith continues to pursue work that encourages people to recognize their shared humanity, question established assumptions, and create space for a more equitable future.
Learn More about Leslie Plato Smith:
Through her Influential Women profile: https://influentialwomen.com/connect/leslie-smith-1
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