By Frank Sinatra, AAP Editor
Dressler Smith, a longtime Pennsauken resident and lifelong artist, is being featured in a special video piece produced by In Touch Ministries, an outreach initiative created by renowned pastor and televangelist Dr. Charles Stanley, whose programs – both radio and TV – are broadcast in over 50 languages throughout the world.
Smith is a painter, author, and colorist with a focus of depicting tranquil landscapes, inspired by “the beauty of things created by God and not by man.” In addition to having her work purchased by celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, the late Coretta Scott King, as well as former Eagles quarterback Randle Cunningham, her work as a stained glass window designer – particularly her work at Saint John Baptist Church in East Camden – turned a chance opportunity for an article into a larger video feature.
Dressler explained that while listening to WFIL, a Philadelphia-based Christian radio station, there was an opportunity to be chosen as the subject of an article on In Touch Ministries’ website.
“I answered a survey because I always listened to Dr. Stanley’s messages because I found them to be uplifting,” said Smith, who has lived in town since age 4 and is one of the women whose photo is etched in glass at the Pennsauken Transit Center on Derousse Ave. “They assigned me a writer. And when he saw the windows I designed at my church, they reached out to a production team to do a short film instead of an article.”
In Touch Ministries flew in three times from Atlanta to interview Dressler for the segment, titled “Glorifying God Through Art,” talking to her about her life as an artist, her schooling, and her approach to the creative process, particularly as she worked on a landscape piece titled, “The Journey.”
“I always begin my paintings with prayer,” explained Smith, who is an adjunct faculty member at Camden County College and teaches at Arts Council of Princeton and in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. “I believe that God gives me the ability to do what I do. That’s where the ability comes from.”
Dressler is still a little in shock about the opportunity she’s received: to be able to share her artist talents with a worldwide audience.
“I am so grateful. I hope the piece inspires others to do their art and make a living,” said Smith. “It’s just been a phenomenal experience that I couldn’t think that would happen to me. To see my work shared across the world is incredible.” Dressler’s story will air this Sunday, Oct. 24, on Fox 29 at 6:00 a.m.; TheGRIO-TV at 7:00 a.m.; and PHL 17 at 11:00 a.m., among other channels. To search for stations airing In Touch Ministries, visit intouch.org/station-finder. To find out more about Dressler and her work, visit DresslerSmith.com.
