OP P ORT U N I TY M A K E R
Q&A
with JANICE
F. SMITH
Janice Smith is a longtime advocate for the arts in Orange County, having served on the board of the Bowers Museum, the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, and the John Wayne Airport Arts Commission. She served on the Claire Trevor School of the Arts Dean’s Arts Board from 2005 to 2020 and sponsored numerous students through the Medici Circle Scholarship Program. In 2005, she received the campus’s highest honor, the UCI Medal.
Q. How did your passion for the arts start? JS: Music has always been a love of mine. I was a music major my college freshman year at Wesleyan in Macon, Georgia, before transferring to Kansas State and changing my major to elementary education. My involvement in Orange County’s arts actually began on one of my children’s school field trips to the Bowers Museum. I enjoyed it so much that I went back and volunteered as a docent, and eventually joined the board of the museum.
To learn more about ways to support CTSA, contact Sarah Strozza, Director of Development, at 949-824-0629 or sstrozza@uci.edu. 24
