The senior from Kansas, by way of Jacksonville, Fla., has
been a top performer in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) since her freshman year.
Off the field, Smith is finishing up her degree in fine arts
and has a flare for creating “cool” pieces.
On April 14, a milestone was attained as one of her pieces had the honor
of being displayed on the side of the Foster-Tanner Fine Arts Building, square
in the center of FAMU’s campus. The 22’
x 11’ canvas titled “Own It,” is part of an homage assignment in a public arts
course taught by Professor Aja Roache.
The assignment was to pay homage to a great artist by
creating an homage piece. Smith spent
countless hours on the project and had to be very innovative in getting such a
large piece done by hand. “My
inspiration for this piece came from Milton Glaser, who is a leading American
artist and designer. This is a tribute
to him and all of his work and illustrations,” Smith said.
You may not know the name Milton Glaser, but you’ve seen his
work. He is the designer of the “I love
New York” logo, as well as the “Hope” poster for now U.S. President Barack
Obama’s presidential campaign.
Working with such a large canvas made it difficult for Smith
to find a workspace. She ended up asking Athletics Director Milton Overton for
permission to use the back area of the Gaither Gym. Implementing a grid method,
Smith then laid out the canvas in the back hallway of the gym.
“This was a no-brainer,” said Overton. “We intend to offer
every resource we can to our student-athletes to succeed in the classroom. Jaymee has been a model student for four
years, winning championships along the way and we intend to do what we can to
see her cross the most important finish line…the stage at commencement,”
Overton said.
Smith, who finished third overall in the MEAC in 2014 in the
javelin event, has been a solid performer for Head Coach Darlene Moore and the
Lady Rattler track team. “Since joining
our team in 2012, Jaymee has been a person we can depend on. She is a solid thrower, consistent with high
academics and the perfect teammate. As a
coach, you understand an athlete’s athletic ability from their statistics. What you don’t know is how well that athlete
will mesh with the rest of the team. I
can truly say that Jaymee has been a good fit for our team,” Moore said.
Teammate Ashley Ivey, also a senior, was present for the
ceremony and was amazed at what she saw.
“I’ve known Jaymee for four years and to see her accomplish something so
dear to her heart, which is fine arts. . . . It’s a proud moment to see her light
up looking at her piece hanging 22 feet tall. Oh my gosh, it’s just a great
feeling as a friend and as a teammate,” Ivey said.
The piece is a combination of a silhouette and a color burst
coming from the top. Smith carefully
chose the colors to match the style of Glaser. Smith didn’t want to use colors that would remind people of something
else, so she took great care in implementing a color combination that would be
unique to the piece. It echoed the
subtler colors used by Glaser on several of his works.
A full course load and a scholarship to maintain in track is
demanding upon student-athletes. Still,
Smith manages to fit it all in.
“I make
time. That’s one of my biggest
challenges right now, time management.
When I am at track practice, I am 100 percent into track. When I am working on art, I have to immerse
myself 100 percent into art. If I ever
lose focus, then I’m going to get behind and it’s just too difficult to make up
for lost time when your schedule is as tight as mine,” Smith said.
Smith manages to impress on both ends. Last season the Lady Rattlers captured the
MEAC Outdoor Track & Field Championship.
The pressure is on for Smith and her teammates to perform on the track. Moore has been pleased at Smith’s ability to
maintain the school and athletics balance.
Her instructor, Roache, is just as impressed by her abilities. “Jaymee did a really wonderful job of
capturing Glaser’s aesthetic with the colors and the lines. She entitled it, ‘Own It.’ It’s about women’s
empowerment and owning your abilities. . . [owning] the great thing about
yourself.”
With her patented smile, Smith talked about her emotions
from the day’s activities. “It is so
exciting. It’s so extravagant to have
something that I love. And to actually pursue that dream as a major was a big
challenge and a huge leap of faith to take.
To actually go with a major that I love makes me very happy.. . . . My
teammates kind of know about my art, but I think it’s kind of hidden because I
don’t show it at practice. When I’m at
practice, I’m working on my craft, which is the javelin. In order to have any success, I realized I
had to keep the two separate,” Smith concluded.