PORTLAND, Ind. — Arts Place, a regional arts provider based in Portland, Ind. serving east central Indiana and west central Ohio, welcomes Allison Smiley as the new Visual Arts Director of Arts Place.

Smiley is a Ball State University graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a Concentration in Drawing. Smiley has worked as a Conservation Tales illustrator drawing backgrounds and animals for the Monarch Butterfly and Macaw Books. She has also exhibited at the Ned and Gloria Griner Art Gallery, the Richmond Art Museum, and in the Ball State student run art show “Salon de Refuse.”

Smiley has worked for both the Ball State University School of Art and Disability Services departments, as an Arts in the Parks intern and teaching artist at Arts Place, and as a community outreach specialist for Randolph County Solid Waste Management. Allison was also a Ceramics Guild member during her time at Ball State.

In her spare time, Smiley’s hobbies include drawing, doing makeup, nature walks, volunteering at her church, and selling resin jewelry and hair clips. Smiley and her family currently reside in Ridgeville.

Smily will start her new position on Friday, Jan. 27 at the Jay County Campus of Arts Place.