Martha Smith Brooks

1992-93 President

Martha is a graduate of Pfeffer College, USC-Columbia and UNC-Chapel Hill with degrees in English and health policy and administration. After many years in health care public relations, she began to paint full-time in 1985.

Martha’s paintings have been accepted in twenty-four semi-annual and annual juried exhibitions of the Watercolor Society of North Carolina receiving first place and merit awards. Recent awards include the American Artist Magazine Award for a painting in any media in the Cathanne Lorilard Wolf exhibition at the National Arts Club in New York and a finalist in The Artists Magazine competition. She has received first place and other awards in numerous local and regional shows in eastern NC.

She was the 1994 North Carolina Seafood Festival Artist with a poster of her painting named best poster for sale by the North Carolina Association of Festival Directors.

Martha joined the WSNC Board of Directors in 1989. She served as president from 1991-93 continuing on the Board through 1994. During her tenure as president, she pushed to continue a more business-oriented operation through annual audits and detailed line-item budgeting. She stressed geographic and artistic diversity in a schedule of nationally recognized artists for juried exhibitions and workshops.

Her greatest achievement while president was the development of a statewide mini-grant program to assist artists with demonstrated financial need to attend educational programs and to purchase supplies to use in teaching watercolor to special populations statewide. Martha continues to feel strongly that surplus funds in a non-profit organization like WSNC should be put to work at the grassroots level to promote watercolor education and exhibitions and not left in the bank account to draw interest.

Since “retiring” from WSNC Martha paints from her studio on Boque Sound near Morehead City.