Kim is currently a second-year master’s student in the Social Computing group, where she is designing new, tactile computer science materials for early childhood education as part of the Wildflower Montessori Project. Inspired by the simplicity and ideas of traditional Montessori education, Kim is designing new materials that break down the fundamentals of computation into a set of discrete and tangible concepts expressed in hands-on, tactile ways.
Kim joined the group in 2012, when she began collaborating on a variety of projects such as mathematical procedures in drawing and social interaction through art. Specifically, she and Sep Kamvar have developed a series of community-sourced, large-scale drawings that have been shown both nationally and internationally.
Originally from Arizona, she completed her BFA in Fine Art and Art History from Oregon State University, and holds an MFA in Fine Art from School of Visual Arts in New York City. From 2007- 2009, she served in the Peace Corps in rural Zambia as a Health Extension Agent and collaborated with the community to construct Hope Community School, the first preschool in the area.
Smith has worked in a variety of art-related fields such as illustration, book design, and software design. She worked closely on the Wildflower Project, designing the organization’s identity and all subsequent graphic design materials for more than 10 individual schools. As an artist, Kim creates process-based work that dwells in the in-between spaces of painting, sculpture, and installation. Inspired by her time in the Media Lab, she is additionally exploring the relationship between fine art and technology, and her work aims to unify the digital and the physical in an intuitive and beautiful way.