Treye Jenkins Smith Art Fund-Sharing the love of Art

My son, and only child, Treye Jenkins Smith, was a Cincinnati, Ohio visual artist, who tragically passed away Wed., Nov 11, 2021. This type of loss is never fully understood or processed but in celebration of my son's legacy of art, below I am sharing some of Treye's art work, showing the level of talent and love he had for his work. In his love for art, we have created an art fund in his name to provide monies and later art supplies to those young people who show a love and passion for the visual arts.Our aim is to bring a little love and light to young peoples lives in this challenging and difficult world that they navigate. The arts, I know helped Treye navigate as best as possible this world. When Treye was about 4 years old, his mother began to notice his artistic drawing ability, and she immediately began encouraging and developing this talent by buying him various types of art supplies, and visual stimulation. Treye was encouraged to attend local art show exhibits and artist openings where he was introduced to local artists. He even worked with a host of local artists in Cincinnati who worked on murals at a local elementary school. He attended classes taught by Robert O'Neal, and hung out in the art loft of Tarrance Corbin. Treye won numerous art contests beginning at the age of six years old. He was also enrolled in art programs at Miami University and the Art Academy of Cincinnati where he worked with professional artists and continued to demonstrate a gift for art. Treye continued practicing his gift up until his untimely death. Below is a work, Treye did in 6th grade. They were studying the black artist Richard Johnson.

Animated self portrait of Treye The next few show Treye's love for Black culture. He was proud when he got an 'A' in African American History in high school. He loved reading.