Jody Hemphill Smith has been a well-collected painter for more than thirty years. Her bold colors and uninhibited expressions light up rooms to create unique living spaces in homes from New York to California. She taught art for seventeen years on elementary, high school and university levels, becoming the first female Art Department Chair at Valparaiso University. She and Mark Paul Smith re-established the Castle as a Fine Art gallery in Fort Wayne Indiana in 1995. Since then it has featured artists from around the world. Hemphill Smith's passed away on October 23rd, 2023. Her paintings of flowers, plants and landscapes reflected her love of nature.