Ann Smith Downs, a 1967 graduate of Southern State College with a degree in elementary education, has had a love for art since the age of 14 when she took art lessons from Magnolia art teacher Margie Chamberlin. It has been said of Downs “she finds excitement and challenge in seeking to express the essence of a subject or the emotion it evokes. The possibilities are endless, and there is joy in the process.”
Downs, a signature member of Mid-Southern Watercolorists, uses a wide variety of media, as well as styles to express herself. She has explored both the traditional and the eclectic with the use of watercolor on paper and oils on canvas, to acrylic and enamel on folding wooden screens and furniture. Her subjects of interest include local scenery, figures, and animals. Downs’ paintings reflect her interest in sports and her love of nature. She is a tennis and fitness enthusiast, and she often paints figures in motion.
In 2000 Downs, along with Canadian artist Allen Wylie, was instrumental in the creation of the Movie and Oil Boom murals in downtown Magnolia, created in conjunction with the Magnolia Blossom Festival along with the Wildlife mural. Downs was recently commissioned by SAU to do five pieces of art to be placed in the Donald W. Reynolds Campus and Community Center depicting the history of the college from 1909, and she has been associated with the Magnolia Art Show since 1951.
Among the awards Downs has received are being among six artists selected to receive purchase awards from Small Works on Paper 2006 from the South Arkansas Arts Center in El Dorado, she has exhibited her works and won awards in several juried shows. Her works have been displayed in the offices of U.S. Senators David Pryor and Blanche Lincoln. She is a member of the Magnolia Arts Council Board and is a board member of Lyon College.
