Ronnie Lott by Sydnei SmithJordan
(CAPE MAY, NJ) -- This summer, acclaimed visual artist Sydnei SmithJordan is turning highways into hallways of healing with the launch of The Legacy Link Mobile Art Studio, a fully equipped art classroom on wheels. She will be bringing her vibrant, customized 32-foot recreational vehicle (RV) across New Jersey — and beyond — bringing pop-up art instruction, community connection and emotional restoration to residents at a time when joy and healing are needed more than ever.
Known for her unique pop fusion style oil paintings, some adding collage, metal and fabric, she has been presented the ArtTour International Magazine’s Top 60 Masters Award — known as the Oscar of Visual Arts. This year, the magazine named her one of two international Art Titans.
The journey begins Saturday, June 28, 2025 from 10:00am to 4:00pm at the Wildwood Naval Air Station Aviation Museum (500 Forrestal Road) in Cape May where SmithJordan will host her inaugural event, welcoming individuals and groups to participate in hands-on art workshops designed for all ages and experience levels. Participants will paint on items such as canvas, glass and even sneakers.
Jackie by Sydnei SmithJordan
For SmithJordan, this mission is deeply personal. During a difficult childhood, she stopped speaking for a time. Art became her voice. What started as doodles became pen and pencil drawings, then a mastery of markers and soon her love affair with oil paint was born. She went on to study fine art at the College of Design, Art, and Architecture at Santa Monica College under the mentorship of Ronn Davis and illustration at Rhode Island School of Design. After a stint in medical illustration, she took the plunge into visual art.
SmithJordan’s work has appeared in exhibitions in Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland and Germany, publications such as the New York Times, Baltimore Sun, Cape May Magazine and Visions Fine Art Magazine and private collections — including those of Denzel Washington, Whoopi Goldberg, Sylvester Stallone, Patti LaBelle, Park Overall, Forrest Whitaker and Damien Escobar. She is widely respected for her art education programs and advocacy.
“Simply put, art saved my life,” she says. “Now I’m taking it on the road to help others find their happy place amidst so much sorrow and uncertainty.”
The mobile studio is equipped to accommodate up to 32 participants at a time and is open to youth, seniors, civic organizations and clubs, women’s and men’s groups, bachelorette parties and more. Organizations can hire SmithJordan to bring The Legacy Link directly to their community.
Each workshop is tailored to the needs of the group and guided by SmithJordan’s belief in the healing power of creative expression.
Lieutenant Colonel Linda Walker by Sydnei SmithJordan
Known for her richly expressive, historically rooted art, SmithJordan creates work that captures overlooked moments and figures in Black history. Her series on the Negro League Baseball and Tuskegee Airmen — which show in galleries and cultural centers across the country— stand out as tributes to Black excellence in an era of systematic erasure of Black history. She also has created a 20-piece (and growing) series of veterans, honoring the service of those of all stripes who have donned the uniform to protect our nation and one about women in history.
Through The Legacy Link, she continues that mission — to preserve stories, honor legacies and encourage dialogue through brushstrokes.
To find out more about her work, visit SmithJordanarts.com. To bring The Legacy Link to your town, email [email protected] or call 609-972-0674.
Sydnei SmithJordan, courtesy of Photo Illusions
Sydnei SmithJordan is a dynamic visual artist, educator and cultural storyteller whose work fuses vibrant figurative painting with deep-rooted narratives of African American history and personal resilience. A tumultuous childhood led her to art, where she found her voice — translating silence into creative expression. Today SmithJordan honors that journey by depicting underrepresented narratives, from Negro League baseball players to veterans, reclaiming memory and identity and replacing the ugliness of life with beauty with each brushstroke.
She went on to study fine art at the College of Design, Art, and Architecture at Santa Monica College under the mentorship of Ronn Davis and illustration at Rhode Island School of Design. Since 1995, SmithJordan has worked for both commercial and private venues nationally and internationally. Her work has been shown in galleries and public spaces across the globe.
Beyond her studio practice, SmithJordan is the visionary behind The Legacy Link Mobile Art Studio, a converted RV that brings hands-on art workshops to youth, seniors, civic groups, friends groups of all ages and underserved communities across New Jersey. Committed to art as a force for healing, empowerment and connection, she works with organizations and local partners to foster creativity, preserve history and spark social transformation — mile by mile, masterpiece by masterpiece.
