Sydnei SmithJordan’s Celebrity-Collected Art On Exhibit In West Deptford

Sydnei SmithJordan is more than an acclaimed visual artist. She’s a thoughtful storyteller whose work bridges generations and communities. 

Known for her vibrant work and historical series, SmithJordan’s art is collected by celebrities such as Denzel Washington, Sylvester Stallone, and Whoopi Goldberg–to name a few.

Her latest exhibition is a blend of her work from over the past four years at the Riverwinds Community Center in West Deptford, showing now through Aug 30. She will be in attendance for an artist’s reception onJuly 10.

Many of the works featured include artwork of Gloria Gammage Davis, Quinton Greene, Robyn Huber, and some pieces from another show called “Misfits and Weirdos” which SmithJordan is based on her friends. 

Originally from Baltimore, Maryland and now residing in Cape May, SmithJordan has been producing art for the last 30 years, SmithJordan has used her art to honor Black history. Her celebrated Negro National League series, inspired by her own research into overlooked stories—such as women playing baseball in the 1800s—reflects her commitment to preserving cultural memory. 

“This is all history that’s being systematically erased and we have the right to narrate our own history. If we don’t remember the sins of the past, we’ll repeat it, and we already are,” SmithJordan explained.

SmithJordan created the series after a five-year hiatus to help raise her granddaughter–a move that is “usually career suicide,” she said. She did not know how big the series would be. 

“People were traveling from out of state to see the work and I’m still getting requests for it to appear at other conventions,” she said.

SmithJordan’s work extends beyond the canvas. The artist recently launched the Legacy Link Mobile Art Studio, an art classroom inside a 32-foot RV that she’s using to bring art to communities across the state with pop-up and hands-on workshops as a tool for healing for youth, seniors, civic groups, and underserved neighborhoods. Some of the activities include painting skateboard decks, bicycles, and sneakers with airbrushes. 

“My studio space at home is just too small for the amount of work I do,” she says. “I saw this as a way of expanding my space. There’s two camps of people I have trouble reaching at times, and that’s the youth and the elderly. As a teacher, there are not many camps for youth over 12 and spaces for the elderly that I teach art at don’t have enough community rooms.”

As she prepared to launch the Legacy Mobile, SmithJordan found common ground amongst the youth and the elderly: communication.

“Grandparents love their grandkids and vice versa, and while they probably won’t be aboard the Legacy Link together, it’s all very much about finding ways to communicate with each other,” she says.

At an art event, SmithJordan found art’s power to bridge divides firsthand when she struck up a conversation with a 93-year-old white WWII veteran, and was moved by his story of being sent to war at 17 and realizing he was “fighting for everybody.” 

“I realized none of us would be here if it weren’t for people like him. We wouldn’t be sitting here right now talking about feminism or racism. Through art we were able to have a dialogue that lowered a wall between us,” she said. “And now we’re like the best of friends. If you look at us, we have absolutely nothing in common and now we can talk about things outside of his own experience in the war. We were able to build that kind of rapport with each other from art.”

The artist reception this Thursday takes place from 5 to 8 p.m. The Riverwinds Community Center is located at 1000 Riverwinds Dr., West Deptford.